The Rockdale Town Hall is a civic building located on the corner of the

Princes Highway Princes Highway is a major road in Australia, extending from Sydney via Melbourne to Adelaide through the states of New South Wales, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and South Australia. It has a length of (along Highway 1) or via the former ...

and Bryant Street in Rockdale, a suburb of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

History

Rockdale Town Hall was opened by The Rt Hon. The Lord Wakehurst ,

Governor of New South Wales The governor of New South Wales is the viceregal representative of the Australian monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governors of the ...

, on 12 October 1940. The building was designed by then-local architect

Douglas Gardiner Douglas Babbington Gardiner (26 February 1905 – 23 May 2001) was an Australian architect active in the mid 20th century as a partner of Bates Smart & McCutcheon.Goad, P. ''Bates Smart: 150 years of Australian Architecture'' Thames & Hudson Au ...

, who became a

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

-based partner of Bates Smart & McCutcheon after World War II. Built at a cost of

A£ The pound (Sign: £, £A for distinction) was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 14 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. As with other £sd currencies, it was subdivided into 20 shillings (denoted by the symbol s ...

20,000, the council chamber was at the time of construction and the auditorium was . It is built of face brick detailed with stone at copings and around window architraves. The building entrance is marked by a stone portico and brick tower. The hall's interiors have elaborate art deco style plaster details to it walls and ceiling. The building is listed on local government heritage register within the

New South Wales Heritage Database New South Wales Heritage Database, or State Heritage Inventory, is an online database of information about historic sites in New South Wales, Australia with statutory heritage listings. Contents It holds the information about sites listed on t ...

as "a fine representative example of a late inter-war

stripped classical Stripped Classicism (or "Starved Classicism" or "Grecian Moderne") Jstor is primarily a 20th-century Classical architecture, classicist architectural style stripped of most or all Ornament (art), ornamentation, frequently employed by governmen ...

building with functionalist influences".

References

{{Town halls in Sydney Government buildings completed in 1940 Town halls in Sydney Art Deco architecture in Sydney 1940 establishments in Australia

History

See also

References