Challis House is a heritage-listed commercial building located at 4-10 Martin Place in the

Sydney central business district The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or c ...

, in the City of Sydney local government area of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. The property was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

History

Challis House is located on land resumed by the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

in 1889 from W. H. Paling and the estates of Thomas Perkins and Thomas Holt as part of the scheme to establish an important public street to the north of the

GPO GPO may refer to: Government and politics * General Post Office, Dublin * General Post Office, in Britain * Social Security Government Pension Offset, a provision reducing benefits * Government Pharmaceutical Organization, a Thai state enterpris ...

, from Pitt to

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

Streets between

Hunter Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

and

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Streets. Holt's land, to the east of the

Tank Stream The Tank Stream is a heritage-listed former fresh water tributary of Sydney Cove and now tunnel and watercourse located in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. The Ta ...

, had originally been granted to John Connell, a free settler in 1837. Connell had leased the land prior to the grant. Perkins' and Palings' land was located to the west of the Tank Stream. In 1807 the major portion of this area was under lease to William Jameson with the remainder vacant. By 1834 this area was owned by

James Chisholm James Chisholm may refer to: * James Chisholm (bishop) (died c. 1545), Scottish Roman Catholic clergyman who was Bishop of Dunblane from 1487 to 1526 * James Chisholm (merchant) (1772–1837), early settler in colonial Australia who served in the ...

and Hugh MacDonald. By the 1870s the land was owned by Thomas Perkins.Rosen & Sheedy, 1990 The original building was constructed by

Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's six ...

in 1906-7 under the supervision of Messers. Robertson and Marks with

Walter Liberty Vernon Colonel Walter Liberty Vernon (11 August 184617 January 1914) was an English architect who migrated to Australia and pursued his career as an architect in Sydney, New South Wales. In his role as the New South Wales Government Architect he is ...

, the NSW Government Architect, using funds from the Challis Bequest. John Henry Challis (1806-1880), an English born merchant and philanthropist left a bequest of to The University of Sydney. Upon construction, the building immediately assumed the function of a commercial city building that was closely linked with tourism due to the occupants of the lower floors being the Railways Ticketing Office and Government Tourist Bureau. In 1912, an additional room was constructed for the caretaker. The place was virtually reconstructed in 1936, with

Hennessey and Hennessey Hennessy & Hennessy was an architectural firm established in 1912 in Sydney, Australia that was responsible for a series of large scale office buildings in the 1930s in all capital cities in Australia, as well as New Zealand and South Africa, de ...

appointed as architects, resulting a completely different facade, repaired in 1963 and refurbished in 1973, when the place underwent major redevelopment under the supervision of Edmund-Dykes, Coward and Chaplin. The building was internally gutted except for the elevators and fire stairs. Air conditioning was installed and a shopping arcade established in the former railway ticket offices fronting the plaza with a restaurant below the arcade.

Description

Challis House is a 12/13 storey reinforced concrete framed structure with 1930s

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

style

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

facades above a polished red

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

base to Martin Place and Angel Place with, a bronze coloured

mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The ...

behind a

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

, and a loft tower to the eastern end. There are symmetrical, slightly recessed

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...

for floors 1-9 with large shopfront windows with bronze panels below to the ground floor. Windows to the upper floors are bronze coloured anodized aluminium framed.Cracknell & Lonergan Architects, 2005. The building is predominantly used for office space above ground floor level with retail travel offices and shops on the ground floor and a cocktail bar/nightclub in the basement. The building has the appearance of a 1990s interior refurbishment with some areas exhibiting even more recent fit outs. The original Challis House had a lower ground floor (below pavement level) in the eastern half of the building with a sub-basement below. The west side of the building had only a basement area (untenanted) below pavement level. When the building was reconstructed in 1936 it was increased in height, the structural framework was completely removed and replaced and the appearance of the building was totally altered. The present building exterior and structure essentially dates from 1937 although there are some elements that date from 1907. The 1974 internal refurbishment has removed all visible traces of the 1937 reconstruction. Since 1937, the most obvious external change to the building has been the addition of the mansard roof, although removal of the awning to the central entrance at ground level (to Martin Place), removal of original doors and window spandrels and the addition of new entrance steps.

Giorgio Armani Giorgio Armani (; born 11 July 1934) is an Italian fashion designer. He first gained notoriety working for Cerruti and then for many others, including Allegri, Bagutta and Hilton. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, which eventually expande ...

was a ground-floor tenant in the building.

Heritage listing

As at 7 February 2005, Challis House has historic and aesthetic significance at a State level. The facades of Challis House are good examples of restrained 1930s architectural Art Deco design. The elevation to Martin Place in particular has exceptional significance by virtue of the contribution it makes to this important "civic" precinct in terms of its sensitive scale, sympathetic sandstone, granite and bronze materials and complementary fenestration to the other nearby 19th Century and early 20th Century buildings. The 1937 rebuilding of Challis House signifies a major reconstruction period of many buildings in the Martin Place precinct. The skilful incorporation of a major part of the original 1907 Challis House facades into the present building is probably unique in New South Wales; technologically it was a significant achievement for its day. The height of the masonry facade reflects the 1938 prevailing building height limit of ; Challis House was then aligned with the adjacent

City Mutual Life Assurance Building The City Mutual Life Assurance Building is a heritage-listed commercial building located at 60-66 Hunter Street, Sydney, Hunter Street, in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Aus ...

, the nearby Bank of New South Wales and Commercial Banking Company former bank head office buildings in George Street. Since 1907 the name Challis House has referred to a building on this site that has been synonymous with Overseas, Australian and New South Wales travel activities. The building and its name has an important association with John Henry Challis and Sydney University; Challis House commemorates the bequest of that body. In its previous and present form the building has served as a backdrop for many important celebrations and has often been accordingly decorated. Since the establishment of the

Sydney Cenotaph The Sydney Cenotaph is a heritage-listed monument located in Martin Place, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Bertram Mackennal and built from 1927 to 1929 by Dorman Long & Co. It is also known as Martin Place Memorial ...

in 1928 has provided a suitable setting for the national ceremonies conducted immediately in front. Challis House was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

References

Bibliography

Attribution