Council’s City Plan Is Failing to Protect Art Deco Buildings and heritage precinct

The Art Deco Society register lists the Kings Cross-Darlinghurst Ridge as an area of National Significance. The International Art Deco Congress is visiting Sydney in April 2007. Astonishingly, many of the most important buildings and built areas on Darlinghurst-Kings Cross ridge are not protected by City Council’s heritage register or in existing heritage conservation areas.

Part of Lowe’s Ltd buildings designed by Mackellar & Partridge in Art Deco style, at 31-33 Oxford Street. (Now Patchs' upsatirs.) Proposed for heritage listing.	Louise Apartments, a bank and flat building built in 1918 in Federation free style, at 140-142 Liverpool Street (near Whitlam Squre). Proposed for heritage listing.	Former Olympia Theatre, the oldest theatre in Paddington, which opened in 1911 at 1 Oxford Street. Proposed for heritage listing.

To tackle the crisis, in June 2004 DRAG and the Art Deco Society invited the new city councillors to walk the area and look at positive ways to preserve our heritage. All seven councillors who took part (Clover Moore and Michael Lee couldn’t attend) agreed that council urgently must initiate a study of individual items and either extend existing Heritage Conservation Areas or create a new area. DRAG confirmed this in writing.

The new City of Sydney ‘City Plan’ and associated development controls must integrate heritage, cultural, social and environmental issues. Central to the City Plan is a new Local Environment Plan which involves detailed reviews of heritage, height, floor space ratio (FSR), parking, urban character and amenity. The proposed heritage items study and a precinct or area study logically is a vital first step in council’s LEP amendments process.

New controls would link St John’s Church-Darlinghurst ridge area with the ‘other side’ of Darlingurst Road in Kings Cross. Architecturally, historically and socially both are halves of one original 1920s City Beautiful town plan, a whole now separated by the Kings Cross expressway.

Council can either take the option of simply extending current conservation areas to encompass Darlo’s ‘Bermuda triangle’ on the ridge or initiate a new heritage conservation area. Nothing doing. In November 2006 council announced only a slight conservation area boundary adjustment to encompass Foley Lane (just behind council owned buildings in Oxford Street). No individual item study has been undertaken.

Instead of proper controls, a ‘heritage streetscape’ study is being passed off as something that will do the trick. Streetscape controls offer neither individual item protection nor the comparative protection of precinct controls. Streetscape studies are designed to introduce ‘step-back’ developments behind streetscape height controls. Typically, this move is pro-developer not pro-heritage. Tricking up is not the solution.

Credit is due, however, to council for advertising a ‘housekeeping’ list of thirty-six new heritage items for inclusion in the City Plan Local Environmental Plan. The exhibition period closed late last year for comment with a further statutory period of public exhibition during 2007.

Art Deco on Oxford Street. Zink's Taylors is proposed for heritage listing.	City East Telephone Exchange at 320 Liverpool Street where DRAG and council are opposing a massive over-development. A stripped classical style public works building designed by prominent architect E.H. Henderson. Proposed for heritage listing.

There are eight important additions in City East. In Darlinghurst the proposal to protect City East Telephone Exchange in Liverpool Street is welcomed by residents fighting developers. Architect E.H. Henderson designed this handsome stripped classical style public works building. The other Darlo addition is Louise Apartments, a Federation free style bank and flat building completed in 1918, standing in upper Liverpool St near Whitlam Square.

Several buildings are proposed on Oxford Street: the council-owned Daniel’s and Darnley Buildings associated with architects Edwin Orchard and George Grant respectively; the Art Deco former Lowe’s Ltd designed by Mackellar & Partridge (now Patch’s and IGA supermarket at 23-29 Oxford) and Olympia Theatre, Paddington’s oldest theatre at 1 Oxford Street.

In The Cross the two gateway buildings are proposed. They are Minton House designed by architects Julius and Julius in the early 1920s in restrained Inter-War Free Classical style and Kings Cross Hotel built in 1918 for Tooheys Brewery. (Currently under scaffolding.)

Last but not least is Sharpies Golf House sign on Elizabeth Street near Central Railway, a beacon to generations of country folks arriving at the country trains terminal at Central. We especially thank our heritage pro-active councillors Phillip Black and Robyn Kemmis. Phillip, of course, is a stalwart of the South Sydney Heritage Society and is helping protect Sydney’s neon heritage. In 2004 DRAG worked with the National Trust and Art Deco Society to win recognition for the heritage value of Art Deco Neon in Darlinghurst Road and encouraged council to initiate a Neon Precinct.

Classic neon: Sharpies Golf House sign on Elizabeth Street near Central Railway is a beacon to generations arriving on the country trains. Proposed for heritage listing.	This area and these buildings are not on councils’ heritage list but they should be. View of proposed St John’s Heritage Conservation Area showing the Art Deco Royal Soverign Hotel (Darlo Bar) and Savoy flats.

But, there is a parade of inappropriate development applications in City East. Far too much of our resources (the time and finances of residents and council) are being consumed fighting problems arising from an ill-considered LEP and the failure to heritage protect even major public works buildings (like the old Automatic Telephone Exchange), churches (the recent partial demolition of Sacred Heart Church is a tragic loss) and numerous applications to demolish or intensify use of key buildings in private ownership. Until these vital heritage studies are undertaken and incorporated, council’s new plan has failed to undertake due care and diligence.

YOU CAN PROTECT OUR HERITAGE

Check and see if your building is on council’s individual item register. You may have a nasty surprise. It is likely that your building is on a professional register such as those maintained by the Institute of Architects, Art Deco Society, National Trust or local history mobs, but these listings only have moral not statutory authority. The Cahors Company on Macleay Street recently found their famed Art Deco flat building is not listed!

On Darlinghurst ridgeline, many flats were designed and built by architects like Claude Hamilton (Byron Hall, Savoy, Kenilworth) and other associates of British-Australian architect and town planner Sir John Sulman. For several decades Sulman was the mover and shaker in Sydney's architectural and planning circles.Sulman was the principal advocate of the Garden City-style planning for residential development and chaired the Federal Capital Advisory Committee and.

On Darlinghurst ridgeline, these buildings are not protected: none on Darlo Road from St Johns to the Jewish Museum; none on Burton Street (north between Darlinghurst Road and Victoria Street), none on Hardie Street, none on Liverpool Street (between Victoria Street and Darlinghurst Road).

No flat building from St Johns Flats (241 Darlinghurst Road opposite St John’s church) to William Street is listed. Ditto most buildings in the Rosebank sub-division again harmoniously and gloriously built in the City Beautiful style (most of the Kirketon Road, Farrell Avenue and Clapton Place residential flat groups.)

MORE INFORMATION: ask at Council’s service centre or at the helpful Kings Cross Library. Or, phone Chery Kemp council’s Heritage Specialist for City East. (T 9246 7760, E ckemp@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au) If it’s not on council’s register please email DRAG.

DRAG ALERTS

Help save the BARON’S BUILDING and the character of Roslyn Street, Kings Cross.

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