Statement of Significance
Pitt Street facade is fine remaining city example of Sydney's Edwardian architecture. Example of fine workmanship, high quality detail and materials used during this period, makes significant contribution to an otherwise dull streetscape.
Description
Five storey facade with attic above, of red brick with sandstone dressings. Fine workmanship, luxurious detail and ornament, well scaled mouldings all succeed in giving great pleasure to pedestrians.
Condition and Integrity
June 2001: The facade and part of the building are to be retained and incorporated into a residential development.
Taken from: YMCA Building Facade (former), 323-327 Pitt St, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Former "YmcA" Building Including Interiors
Statement of significance:
The original front section of the former YMCA building facing Pitt Street, has historic significance as the home of the YMCA movement in Sydney for nearly 100 years, and for associations with a number of prominent people, including founder Sir James Fairfax and architect Charles Slatyer. It is aesthetically significant as a fine and elaborately ornamented example of the Federation Free Style, and retains many fine decorative elements of this period including moulded plaster, carved stonework and coloured leadlight glass. The building has social significance as a physical reminder of the activities and important influence of the Young Men's Christian Association in Sydney, and an exemplar of the typical development pattern of the time with retail uses at street level.
Date significance updated: 20 Mar 06
Note: The State Heritage Inventory provides information about heritage items listed by local and State government agencies. The State Heritage Inventory is continually being updated by local and State agencies as new information becomes available. Read the OEH copyright and disclaimer.
Description
Designer/Maker: Charles A. Slatyer (1907)
Builder/Maker: Stuart Bros (1907)
Construction years: 1907-1907
Physical description: The building at 323-327 Pitt Street was constructed in 1907 as the second phase of the existing L-shaped building. The 1907 building has a face brick facade with stone trims and windows of both steel and timber frames. Internally both sections of the building have timber framed floors and plastered walls; the structure has concrete encased steel framing on the lower floors, with brick internal walls. Ceilings in the building are variously of pressed metal and plaster on metal lath. At the time of inspection the upper areas of the Pitt Street section were water-damaged. The retained former YMCA includes the front section of the original building, it is at least two rooms deep and includes the original stair and open lift shaft. The hall beyond was fire damaged and was demolished.
Category:Individual building. Style:Federation Free style. Storeys:7 plus basement. Facade:Face brick & sandstone. Side/Rear Walls:Rendered masonry. Internal Walls:Plastered brick. Roof Cladding:Metal tile ; Corrugated steel sheeting ; Waterproof membrane. Internal Structure:Loadbearing walls & timber beams ; Timber post and beam ; Conc. encased steel columns. Floor:Timber joists & boards / linoleum ; Reinf. conc. slab / ceramic tiles. Roof:Timber trusses ; Timber framing. Ceilings:Pressed metal ; Fibrous plaster ; Lath-and-plaster. Stairs:Timber, around lift well. Fire Stairs:External steel. Lifts:Metal cage.
Physical condition and/or
Archaeological potential: The Pitt Street building has original WC & shower cubicles with marble dividers, a timber panelled duct and some early fire hoses in the stair; original enamelled room numbers, and many items of original hardware. The timber floors at the top level of this building are extensively rotted. At ground level there are substantially intact sections of original shopfronts, together with a foundation stone and a National Trust plaque. Intrusive Elements:Window air conditioners, monorail.
Date condition updated:11 Jan 06
Modifications and dates: 1907; Rear part of building demolished 2001, and remaining part of the former YMCA building refurbished in 2001 (see DA1997/711, C2000/226, C2000/281).
Further information: High Significance:Fabric associated with the 1907 and 1914 construction phases, including sandstone and face brick in facade, timber and steel structures, lead light windows, timber joinery and stairs, bathroom fittings and fixtures, signage, plaster and pressed metal ceilings, metal cage lift and early shopfronts. Major internal spaces such as stair lobbies, dining room and reading room. Medium Significance:Dividing walls to bedroom areas. Bedroom and kitchen spaces. Low Significance:Kitchen fitouts, modern roof coverings, modern shopfronts adaptations.
Heritage Inventory sheets are often not comprehensive, and should be regarded as a general guide only. Inventory sheets are based on information available, and often do not include the social history of sites and buildings. Inventory sheets are constantly updated by the City as further information becomes available. An inventory sheet with little information may simply indicate that there has been no building work done to the item recently: it does not mean that items are not significant. Further research is always recommended as part of preparation of development proposals for heritage items, and is necessary in preparation of Heritage Impact Assessments and Conservation Management Plans, so that the significance of heritage items can be fully assessed prior to submitting development applications.
Former use: Private hotel ; Club ; Mixed Uses
History
Historical notes: The "Eora people" was the name given to the coastal Aborigines around Sydney. Central Sydney is therefore often referred to as "Eora Country". Within the City of Sydney local government area, the traditional owners are the Cadigal and Wangal bands of the Eora. There is no written record of the name of the language spoken and currently there are debates as whether the coastal peoples spoke a separate language "Eora" or whether this was actually a dialect of the Dharug language. Remnant bushland in places like Blackwattle Bay retain elements of traditional plant, bird and animal life, including fish and rock oysters.
With the invasion of the Sydney region, the Cadigal and Wangal people were decimated but there are descendants still living in Sydney today. All cities include many immigrants in their population. Aboriginal people from across the state have been attracted to suburbs such as Pyrmont, Balmain, Rozelle, Glebe and Redfern since the 1930s. Changes in government legislation in the 1960s provided freedom of movement enabling more Aboriginal people to choose to live in Sydney.
(Information sourced from Anita Heiss, "Aboriginal People and Place", Barani: Indigenous History of Sydney City (
visit link) )
The YMCA was founded in England in 1844 to promote the spiritual, intellectual and physical welfare of young men. The YMCA was established in Sydney in 1853, with Sir James Fairfax being one of the founders and a continuing supporter over many years. The Association purchased the present site in 1882 and opened their new building in 1885, the rear part of which remains as the Bathurst Street section of the present complex.
By 1907 the YMCA had commissioned Charles Slatyer to design extensions to their building (to the north of their original premises). He designed a six storey building with a basement and roof garden area. The 1907 building was face brick with sandstone trim, designed in the Federation Free style. A seventh floor was added in 1914, eliminating the roof garden area. The surviving early 20th century shopfronts in the Bathurst Street building may also date from this period.
In 1928 there was a move to sell the whole of the earlier building on the corner, but the property was passed in at auction. In the 1950s the Commercial Banking Co purchased the front part of the earlier building (on the corner of Bathurst and Pitt Streets), demolished it and constructed a new building on this part of the site leaving the YMCA building in an L-shaped configuration. The YMCA appears to have ceased occupation of the building about the time of the fire in the Bathurst Street building which occurred in 1975.
Assessment of significance
SHR Criteria a)
[Historical significance] The building was the home of the YMCA in Sydney for nearly 100 years. It is associated with a number of prominent people, including founder Sir James Fairfax and architect Charles Slatyer.
SHR Criteria c)
[Aesthetic significance] Cultural:The Pitt Street section of the YMCA is a fine example of the Federation Free Style, and retains many characteristic elements of the style including the "rising sun" arch above the entrance and early steel framed windows. This building also includes many fine decorative elements of the period, such as moulded plaster ceilings and column capitals, and coloured leadlight glass.
SHR Criteria d)
[Social significance] The building is a physical reminder of the activities and influence of the Young Men's Christian Association in Sydney since 1853. It is also a record of the typical development pattern of the period of its construction, having always had retail uses at street level, with the YMCA activities (accommodation, reading and training rooms, dining areas and accommodation) housed on upper levels.The Pitt Street section of the YMCA is a fine example of the Federation Free Style, and retains many characteristic elements of the style including the "rising sun" arch above the entrance and early steel framed windows. This building also includes many fine decorative elements of the period, such as moulded plaster ceilings and column capitals, and coloured leadlight glass.
SHR Criteria f)
[Rarity] The building is a fine example of the Federation Free Style, with particularly elaborate detail and ornament displayed on the facade.
Assessment criteria: Items are assessed against the PDF State Heritage Register (SHR) Criteria to determine the level of significance. Refer to the Listings below for the level of statutory protection.
Recommended management:
General: The YMCA building in Pitt Street should be retained and conserved as a physical reminder of the early use of the site by the YMCA, and as a fine and elaborately decorated example of the Federation Free Style. The building should continue to be used for retail purposes at street level, and should retain an association with the Bathurst Street building. As the most significant interiors occur within the portion of the building closest to the street, the preservation of this portion (the section back to and including the stair lobbies) is particularly desirable. Exterior: Evidence of early shops and building entrances to Pitt Street should be retained. Facades at street level where previously subject to inappropriate alterations should be redesigned in sympathy with earlier surviving elements. Timber and steel framed windows should be preserved and maintained. Early roof structures and roofing should be retained, and later roof coverings replaced with elements replicating the original. Original signage, street numbers, foundation stones and the like should be preserved. Surfaces never intended for painting (face brick and sandstone) should remain unpainted; other painted elements should continue to be painted in appropriate colours. Interior: Early structural members should be preserved. Early elements such as pressed metal and fibrous plaster ceilings, decorative plasterwork, stained glass and joinery should if possible be retained. Major internal spaces such as the stair lobbies, main entrance and reading room should be reconstructed using available evidence, including measuring of water damaged elements prior to removal. Upper floor bedrooms and service areas could be adapted. The building should be retained and conserved. A Heritage Assessment and Heritage Impact Statement, or a Conservation Management Plan, should be prepared for the building prior to any major works being undertaken. There shall be no vertical additions to the building and no alterations to the façade of the building other than to reinstate original features. The principal room layout and planning configuration as well as significant internal original features including ceilings, cornices, joinery, flooring and fireplaces should be retained and conserved. Any additions and alterations should be confined to the rear in areas of less significance, should not be visibly prominent and shall be in accordance with the relevant planning controls.
Taken from: (
visit link)