Hong Kong House - 80 Druitt Street - Sydney - New South Wales

Hong Kong House holds the Druitt and York corner opposite the Town Hall–QVB civic pair — five storeys of Victorian Free Classical stone that still behaves like a hotel even though the guests are diplomats and office workers. Architect Ambrose Thornley drew it in 1890 as the Central Hotel; it opened in 1891, later traded as the Gresham Hotel, and kept a banking chamber on the York Street ground floor from the 1890s (City Bank of Sydney and its successors).

Tooth & Co were among later hotel owners; the late 1980s conversion to offices prepared the building for its present role. Since 1995 it has housed the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office — hence the name on the awning — and it sits on the State Heritage Register (listed 1999) as a Town Hall-precinct landmark whose exterior is remarkably intact.

Humanise the live note, keep Thornley / 1891 / Central→Gresham / 1995 ETO, and cross-link the QVB and Town Hall essays rather than re-describing the whole intersection. Soft-correct “Prominant” / “Flor” typos if any old lines remain below.

Hong Kong House




Built - 1891
Board.



Architect - Ambrose Thornley


For Well Over 100 Years, Hong Kong House Has Been A Central Feature In The Cityscape And Development Of  Sydney.. A Beautiful Example Of Victorian Architecture, The Building's Ornate Facade Gives A Special Place In The City's Cultural And Heritage Landscape. Hong Kong House Occupies A Prominant Site At The Corner Of Druitt Street And York Street, Adjacent To Two of Central Sydney's Most Important Landmarks - The Town Hall And The Queen Victoria Building.


Constructed in 1891 To A Design By Architect Ambrose Thornley, The Building Was Originally Named Central Hotel, And Became The Gresham Hotel in 1906. For Much Of Its Life It Was A Hotel, With A Banking Chamber On the Ground Flor Of The York Street Frontage. The Building Was Converted Into Office Suites In The Late 1980's, And Purchased By The Hong Kong Government In The Mid 1990's, When It Became The Hong Kong Economic And Trade Office, The Hong Kong Trade Development Council And The Hong Kong Tourism