QVB - Queen Victoria Building, Sydney

 

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I took some pictures of QVB in Sydney back in 2008 while I was roaming in the city. Tried to collect some information about this iconic building. 

Designed by City Architect George McRae in 1898, this spacious and ornate building of Romanesque design was created as a produce market and functioned as such for two decades. After surviving numerous threats of demolition and various uses including that of the City Library, it was refurbished at a cost of $75 million and reopened in its present form in 1986.

Perhaps the most exciting and mysterious of the displays in the Queen Victoria Building is a sealed letter written by Queen Elizabeth II. The letter is to be read in 2085 by the future Lord Mayor of Sydney. But no-one knows what the letter says and it is buried somewhere in the off-limits dome at the top of QVB. The dome itself is restricted to the public but is opened on occasions for 'hidden tour' groups.

The building was constructed around a steel girder frame with brick vaulting between the beams. 75 columns made of Bowral trachyte support rows of the arches. The grand staircase is made of Bowral basalt, the decorative exterior is of Pyrmont sandstone. The roof features a 20-metre diameter copper dome which is surrounded by twenty smaller copper cupolas.

The use of columns, arches, and a prodigal amount of detail such as was used by McRae in the chosen design are typical of late 19th century Romanesque, an eclectic architectural style. Stained-glass windows, including a cartwheel window depicting the arms of the City of Sydney, allow light into the central area, and the roof itself incorporates arched skylights running lengthways north and south from the central dome. The colonnades, arches, balustrades and cupolas are of typically intricate Victorian style.

Prior to the erection of the Queen Victoria Building, the site was occupied by a Police Station (1810) designed by Francis Greenway which was converted into the Sydney Post Office and Magistrate's Court in 1846. The site was purchased at a cost of £124,000 in 1882 by the City Council for the construction of the market building. [1]

The Queen Victoria Building represents an important shift in heritage consciousness in Sydney during the 1980s because of the public outcry that brought about its conservation and, in particular, the historical restoration approach taken for its refurbishment. It also reflects, through its building development concessions, the importance of heritage conservation in more recent government strategies. At the time of its restoration by the 1980s, few original internal features remained such as some column capitals, trachyte stairs and some tessellated tiles surfaces. The present interiors of the building demonstrate an interpretive reconstruction from the 1980s intended to recreate the imagery of a grand Victorian style arcade with considerable concessions made to ensure the place was commercially viable as an ongoing retail shopping centre.

The Queen Victoria Building is a major landmark of Sydney, occupying a full city block, allowing it to be viewed in the round, and forming a major pedestrian link of Sydney City, both at ground level and underground. It makes a significant contribution to the streetscape of the four main streets of the City centre that encircle the building. The building also forms one of the precinct of three key Victorian buildings exemplifying ecclesiastical, government and commercial architecture in Sydney, together with St Andrews Cathedral and Sydney Town Hall. The Queen Victoria Building and these Victorian buildings have a strong presence as the centre of Sydney City. [2]

Governor Lachlan Macquarie moved the produce markets from The Rocks to the present site of the Queen Victoria Building in 1810 because of its proximity to Darling Harbour. Most of the produce for the market was transported to Sydney by sea and unloaded at the Market Wharf on the eastern shores of Darling Harbour, roughly where Pyrmont Bridge is now. Market Street, which runs along the northern perimeter of the former markets site, follows the route from the Market Wharf to the market place. The markets were also well sited for the road west to the fertile farming districts around Parramatta, and the Hawkesbury beyond. Macquarie oversaw the upgrading of Parramatta Road early in his governorship, which assisted the transport of market produce by road.

A series of market buildings was erected on the site by 1813, although they were intended to be temporary. In 1820, the convict architect Francis Greenway designed a distinctive market building south of the temporary sheds, to replace them.

In the early 1830s, under Governor Richard Bourke, the temporary market buildings were demolished and four simple two-storey sheds built. As part of this rebuilding program, the Greenway-designed market building was converted for use as the Central Police Station and Police Court. Druitt Street was formed between the the police buildings, and land occupied by the old burial ground (later the site of the Sydney Town Hall).

Initially, grain, livestock, butchered meat and fruit and vegetables were sold the central markets. In the early 1830s, the sale of livestock was moved to a new site further south along George Street, followed by the corn and hay markets, which eventually gave the Haymarket district its name.

Sydney City Council took responsibility for managing and controlling the central markets from the colonial government in the early 1840s. Under the Sydney Corporation Act 1842 , the council gained authority to establish and administer produce markets for the sale of fruit, vegetables and livestock. The council remodelled the markets in the late 1850s, covering the courtyard to provide more stall space and installing verandahs around the entire structure.

In 1959, the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Harry Jensen, announced a plan to demolish the Queen Victoria Building and to replace it with a civic square and car park. Debate about the fate of the building continued throughout the 1960s, and by 1971 the council demonstrated its appreciation of the building's heritage value by agreeing to preserve it. It was classified by the National Trust in 1974, and although the council agreed to restore the building that year, it would take another six years for refurbishment to begin.

In 1980, the council accepted a bid by the Malaysian developer Ipoh Garden Berhad to restore the building on a 99-year profit-sharing lease. Restoration was a major undertaking, requiring the demolition of internal accretions including offices, floors and partitions, to restore it to its former glory. The Queen Victoria Building was reopened in 1986, and finally became one of Sydney's most popular shopping arcades and tourist attractions. [3]