General Post Office - 1 Martin Place, Sydney, Australia - Australian Heritage Sites on Waymarking.com

The Sydney GPO, built from the 1860s onwards on the site of the earlier Sydney post office, is historically highly significant on account of its association with the delivery and development of postal services in NSW over more than a century. It is also important for its role in the development of an integrated national postal and telecommunications system after Federation; it was the venue for major conferences on this subject in 1896 and 1900.

The building is a key example of Victorian Free Classical architectural style. The style is reflected in the GPO's symmetry, prominent clock tower, parapets and skyline elements, extensive arcade, and pilasters and pediments.

Sydney's GPO, possessing the city's finest stone facade, is the most impressive post office building in the state, and with Melbourne's GPO is the grandest such building in Australia. With its monumental scale and massing, its clock tower and its Classical styling, the GPO possesses landmark qualities and is a key element in the Martin Place streetscape of central Sydney.

The GPO has additional significance owing to its association with Colonial Architect James Barnet. The building is regarded as one of Barnet's finest creations.

The marker, located in the basement of the Westin Hotel in the General Post Office building, reads:

"The appearance of this substantial Italian Palazzo style public building was inspired by the colonnaded structures of Renaissance Italy. Designed by NSW Colonial Architect James Barnet in 1865, the first stage of the General Post Office, on George Street, was constructed between 1866 - 1874. Although is was clearly the most impressive structure in Sydney at its opening in 1874, the building attracted early criticism due to the cost of construction and the relatively small internal spaces.
An extension to the GPO, running east to Pitt Street including the clock tower, was completed in 1887. At the turn of the century an additional floor was added to the building.
The first stage of the building was constructed from stone quarried locally at Pyrmont, It was built on a massive base of grey granite from Moruya on the south coast of NSW. The same material, highly polished was also used in the pillars that form the external colonnade.
Today this massive and elaborate structure stands as a monument to the confidence of colonial New South Wales in the late nineteenth century."

Source: (visit link)

List: Register of the National Estate Place ID: 1836 Place File No: 1/12/036/0045 URL database reference: [Web Link] Status: None Selected Year built: 1860s

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