Being a relatively young city it is possible to take a walk through 200 years of Sydney’s architectural history in a two hour tour of the central business district.

Starting at the Hyde Park Barracks, one of Sydney’s oldest pieces of architecture by convict architect Francis Greenway, the journey looks at buildings that replaced brick with grander materials like sandstone, then granite, before moving into more modern materials like terracotta and finally of course concrete.

Terms like skyscraper gothic, beaux artes and art deco are explained in front of buildings like the Sun building in Philip Street one of the few skyscraper gothic representations in Sydney and the difference between the Commonwealth Bank Headquarters in Martin Place which is Beaux Artes designed in the 1920s by architects Herbert Ross and Ruskin Rowe and the MLC Building on the corner of Martin Place and Pitt Street which is Art Deco Egyptian style designed by Bates Smart in the 1930s.

You will also learn about the term adaptive reuse and how it saved the Queen Victoria Building from demolition in the 1970s.

Instructions

Please arrive at the start point 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time.
Bring a hat and/or umbrella - tours operate regardless of weather.