Recent from talks
General Post Office, Sydney
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
General Post Office, Sydney
The General Post Office (abbreviation GPO, commonly known as the Sydney GPO) is a heritage-listed landmark building located in Martin Place, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The original building was constructed in two stages beginning in 1866 and was designed under the guidance of Colonial Architect James Barnet. Composed primarily of local Sydney sandstone, mined in Pyrmont, the primary load-bearing northern façade has been described as "the finest example of the Victorian Italian Renaissance Style in NSW" and stretches 114 metres (374 ft) along Martin Place, making it one of the largest sandstone buildings in Sydney.
The building served as the headquarters of Australia Post from its completion until 1996 when it was privatised and refurbished. The scaled back day-to-day counter postal services are now located on the George Street frontage and the outlet is known as the Sydney GPO Post Shop. The old General Post Office post boxes and Poste restante services are now located in the Australia Post site in the Hunter Connection, on the corner of George Street and Hunter Street. Despite significant internal alterations and additions, the façade has remained virtually unchanged and is listed both on the Commonwealth Heritage List and the New South Wales State Heritage Register, as recognition of its architectural and social significance to the history of Australia.
The site of the GPO falls within the traditional country of the Cadigal people, a part of the Eora Aboriginal nation within the Sydney region and one of the many hundreds of communities which make up the Aboriginal peoples of Australia. Historically noted for being a harbour-dwelling clan, the Cadigal people inhabited the shorelines stretching from inner South Head to the Eastern Suburbs, and west to Warrane (or War-ran, now known as Sydney Cove) and also along parts of today's City of Sydney to Gomora (now known as Darling Harbour). The current site of the General Post Office is also situated over the now entirely enclosed Tank Stream, which was once the primary source of fresh water for the Penal Colony of New South Wales, shortly after the arrival the First Fleet on 26 January 1788, under the direction of Arthur Philip, the First Governor.
Today, the General Post Office is located along the western end of Martin Place (No. 1 Martin Place) and spans the entire length of this section of public plaza between George and Pitt Streets. Its geographical location within one of Sydney's key central business district (CBD) public spaces makes it a recognisable public landmark, alongside other significant buildings such as the State Savings Bank Building and the MLC Centre. The central axis of its primary façade is also aligned with the ANZAC Cenotaph, a memorial located at the centre of Martin Place, dedicated to the soldiers who fought in World War I.[citation needed]
It has been said by several influential architectural historians[who?] that the development and creation of Martin Place stems greatly from the construction of the General Post Office. When Barnet was first commissioned to build the new post office, the main façade faced George Street and the colonnade faced a tiny lane only 3 metres (9.8 ft) wide. Through the articulation of the northern façade, with a well maintained continuity in proportion between the three types of openings along the levels of the GPO generated a harmonious module which allowed the full sense of grandeur to be realised. The use of government funds was granted so that land was purchased north of the GPO to provide an "appropriately scaled civic setting for the GPO." Barnet's deliberate insertion of an arcade, proportional intents and the centring of the campanile along what was once a lane way were all architectural moves designed to develop a space which would link Pitt and George Streets. Some argue that Martin Place "was never planned. Nor was it entirely accidental"; rather the public square evolved through a "serendipitous mixture of architectural flair, public debate and individual determination."
Others have however been more certain in the relationship between Martin Place and the GPO, saying for example that Barnet's "understanding of civic propriety and of the role of public buildings coincided with the Victorian concept of decorum: civic order and urban legibility established through public buildings." In this view, the GPO and the subsequent construction of Martin Place show the "power of the building's presence to force the clearing of lesser buildings, to create a public space, reinforces this as does the design of a facing building that clearly understood its need to be complementary and referential." It has been argued that the granite and sandstone arcade offers a transition between the public domain and interior spaces of the GPO, where a strong presence which "forced the clearing of lesser buildings" generates a public square. The existence of Martin Place is largely "owed to the construction of the General Post Office"; Barnet knew changes would be made "because the completed building would clearly lack what was appropriate to it, a dignified square."
The original building was constructed in two stages beginning in 1866 and was designed under the guidance of Colonial Architect James Barnet. It was regarded as a building that would come to symbolise Sydney in the same way the Houses of Parliament in Westminster represent London and the Eiffel Tower, Paris.
Prior to the construction of the current GPO building, Sydney's first post office was built along Bent Street in 1819. The current site of the GPO did not become associated with the postal service until 1830, when the Bent Street post office was moved to its site on George Street. It was also at this time that a former police office (designed by Francis Greenway), situated on the current George Street facing site of the GPO was also converted to be part of the postal service in the 1830s. It was documented that this land had been purchased many years earlier by the then-Governor, Lachlan Macquarie for "a hogshead of brandy and either £30 or £50."
Hub AI
General Post Office, Sydney AI simulator
(@General Post Office, Sydney_simulator)
General Post Office, Sydney
The General Post Office (abbreviation GPO, commonly known as the Sydney GPO) is a heritage-listed landmark building located in Martin Place, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The original building was constructed in two stages beginning in 1866 and was designed under the guidance of Colonial Architect James Barnet. Composed primarily of local Sydney sandstone, mined in Pyrmont, the primary load-bearing northern façade has been described as "the finest example of the Victorian Italian Renaissance Style in NSW" and stretches 114 metres (374 ft) along Martin Place, making it one of the largest sandstone buildings in Sydney.
The building served as the headquarters of Australia Post from its completion until 1996 when it was privatised and refurbished. The scaled back day-to-day counter postal services are now located on the George Street frontage and the outlet is known as the Sydney GPO Post Shop. The old General Post Office post boxes and Poste restante services are now located in the Australia Post site in the Hunter Connection, on the corner of George Street and Hunter Street. Despite significant internal alterations and additions, the façade has remained virtually unchanged and is listed both on the Commonwealth Heritage List and the New South Wales State Heritage Register, as recognition of its architectural and social significance to the history of Australia.
The site of the GPO falls within the traditional country of the Cadigal people, a part of the Eora Aboriginal nation within the Sydney region and one of the many hundreds of communities which make up the Aboriginal peoples of Australia. Historically noted for being a harbour-dwelling clan, the Cadigal people inhabited the shorelines stretching from inner South Head to the Eastern Suburbs, and west to Warrane (or War-ran, now known as Sydney Cove) and also along parts of today's City of Sydney to Gomora (now known as Darling Harbour). The current site of the General Post Office is also situated over the now entirely enclosed Tank Stream, which was once the primary source of fresh water for the Penal Colony of New South Wales, shortly after the arrival the First Fleet on 26 January 1788, under the direction of Arthur Philip, the First Governor.
Today, the General Post Office is located along the western end of Martin Place (No. 1 Martin Place) and spans the entire length of this section of public plaza between George and Pitt Streets. Its geographical location within one of Sydney's key central business district (CBD) public spaces makes it a recognisable public landmark, alongside other significant buildings such as the State Savings Bank Building and the MLC Centre. The central axis of its primary façade is also aligned with the ANZAC Cenotaph, a memorial located at the centre of Martin Place, dedicated to the soldiers who fought in World War I.[citation needed]
It has been said by several influential architectural historians[who?] that the development and creation of Martin Place stems greatly from the construction of the General Post Office. When Barnet was first commissioned to build the new post office, the main façade faced George Street and the colonnade faced a tiny lane only 3 metres (9.8 ft) wide. Through the articulation of the northern façade, with a well maintained continuity in proportion between the three types of openings along the levels of the GPO generated a harmonious module which allowed the full sense of grandeur to be realised. The use of government funds was granted so that land was purchased north of the GPO to provide an "appropriately scaled civic setting for the GPO." Barnet's deliberate insertion of an arcade, proportional intents and the centring of the campanile along what was once a lane way were all architectural moves designed to develop a space which would link Pitt and George Streets. Some argue that Martin Place "was never planned. Nor was it entirely accidental"; rather the public square evolved through a "serendipitous mixture of architectural flair, public debate and individual determination."
Others have however been more certain in the relationship between Martin Place and the GPO, saying for example that Barnet's "understanding of civic propriety and of the role of public buildings coincided with the Victorian concept of decorum: civic order and urban legibility established through public buildings." In this view, the GPO and the subsequent construction of Martin Place show the "power of the building's presence to force the clearing of lesser buildings, to create a public space, reinforces this as does the design of a facing building that clearly understood its need to be complementary and referential." It has been argued that the granite and sandstone arcade offers a transition between the public domain and interior spaces of the GPO, where a strong presence which "forced the clearing of lesser buildings" generates a public square. The existence of Martin Place is largely "owed to the construction of the General Post Office"; Barnet knew changes would be made "because the completed building would clearly lack what was appropriate to it, a dignified square."
The original building was constructed in two stages beginning in 1866 and was designed under the guidance of Colonial Architect James Barnet. It was regarded as a building that would come to symbolise Sydney in the same way the Houses of Parliament in Westminster represent London and the Eiffel Tower, Paris.
Prior to the construction of the current GPO building, Sydney's first post office was built along Bent Street in 1819. The current site of the GPO did not become associated with the postal service until 1830, when the Bent Street post office was moved to its site on George Street. It was also at this time that a former police office (designed by Francis Greenway), situated on the current George Street facing site of the GPO was also converted to be part of the postal service in the 1830s. It was documented that this land had been purchased many years earlier by the then-Governor, Lachlan Macquarie for "a hogshead of brandy and either £30 or £50."
Recent media