Bond Street - Laneways - Sydney - New South Wales

Bond Street - Laneways - Sydney - NSW

Bond Street Remains On The Grid, But Most Of It's Buildings Were Swept Away For The Construction of Australia Square, Opened In 1967. In The Early Decades Of The 20th Century, Bond Street Was A Honeycomb Of Small Shops And Businesses, Inccluding Printers And Publishers. The Influential Magazine Art Australia Was Published From Here, & Bond Street Studios Attracted Tenants Such As Artist Ure Smith And Photographer Max Dupain

Tank Stream Way - Laneways - Sydney - New South Wales

Tank Stream Way - Laneways - Sydney - NSW

Tank Stream Way Was Once Part Of Hamilton Street Which ran From Bridge And Hunter Streets, Named After Hamilton's Biscuit Factory. Most Of It Disappeared Underneath The Australia Square Development, Leaving Two Remnant Laneways, And This Section Was Renamed In 1981. In Bridge Lane, Once The Site Of The Towns first Lumber Yards, Look For The Old Warehouse Doorway, Now The Entrance To The Establishment Hotel. As Late As The 1860's  There Was Still Vacant Land Sliced Between The Cottages In This Area, But By The End Of The 19th Century It Had Become A Favoured Location for Warehouses, Including Several Tea Merchants Stores. 

Australia Square - 264 George Street - Sydney

Australia Square - 264 George Street - Sydney 

Built - 1961 - 1967

Architect - Harry Seidler - Harry Seidler & Associates




Australia Square Broke New Architectural Ground When It Was Completed In 1967. At 50 Storeys High, It Was Both Sydney's Tallest Building (Until 1976) And The World Tallest Reinforced Concrete Structure, Yet It Occupies Less Than A Quarter Of The Sote, Which Is Shared With A Low Rise Retail Plaza Building.



Australia Square Was Not Only A Building Of International Standing, But A Global Collaboration As Well. Seidler Delivered His Round Tower With The Help Of World Renowned Engineer Pier Luigi Nervi. The Towers Circular Form And Street Setback Helped To Avoid What Seidler Called The "Dark Canyon Effect" Of Conventional Rectangular Towers. Its External Vertical Supports Left Large, Column Free Office Floor Plates. The Dramatic Transparent Lobby Was Designed As A Grand Circualr Promenade, With Glass Walls Open To The Street And Soaring Ceilings On Which Nervi's Interlocking Concrete Ribs Were Exposed.


The Lobby Displayed Artworks By Le Corbusier And Victor Vasarely To The Street; These Tapestries Were Replaced In 2003 (For Fear Of Fading) With A Mural By New York Artist Sol LeWitt. For The Plaza - An "Open But Contained Space" Based On the Medievil City - Seidler Commissioned A Sculpture By Alexander Calder, Crossed Blades.

You Know Its A Very Funny Thing...... 

Well It’s Quite Sad Really... 

But The Beautiful Tank Stream That Once Maintained Life Here When Our Ancestors First Landed On Our Shores

 recess sydneysiders would have no idea about how the Tank Stream made it's way through to Hyde Park from Circular Quay and it wouldn't really be able to get the dimensions of it because 5200 feet of Circular Quay with reclaimed land.

I can remember when the Waterline came to crack the start of Crown Street and you could actually row your boat and more your boat at the start of Crown Street and I have the ability in my memory so that was 150 years ago