Challis House is a heritage-listed commercial building located at 4–10

Martin Place Martin Place is a pedestrian mall in the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. Martin Place has been described as the "civic heart" of Sydney.

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 ...

, in the

City of Sydney The City of Sydney is the Local government in Australia, local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the Greater Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament ...

local government area of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia. The property was added to the

New South Wales State Heritage Register The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally covered by the Heritag ...

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 (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

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, from Pitt to

George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

Streets between

Hunter Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, ...

and

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

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 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) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

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

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

, the NSW Government Architect, using funds from the Challis Bequest. CHALLIS HOUSE

John Henry Challis John Henry Challis (6 August 1806 – 28 February 1880) was an Anglo-Australian merchant, landowner and philanthropist, whose bequest to the University of Sydney allowed for the establishment of the Challis Professorships. Early life and migrati ...

(1806–1880), an English born merchant and philanthropist left a

bequest A devise is the act of giving real property by will, traditionally referring to real property. A bequest is the act of giving property by will, usually referring to personal property. Today, the two words are often used interchangeably due to thei ...

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 Hennessey may refer to: Places * Hennessey, Oklahoma, United States * Hennessey Formation, Oklahoma, United States * Lake Hennessey, California, United States Other uses * Hennessey (surname), including a list of people with the name * Henne ...

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 (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

style

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

facades above a polished red

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, 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 coo ...

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

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

behind a

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a 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/brea ...

, 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, ci ...

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 and a billionaire. He first gained renown working for Cerruti 1881. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, which eventually expanded into music, sport, and luxury hotels. By 200 ...

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 nearby

Bank of New South Wales The Bank of New South Wales (BNSW), also known as The Wales, was the first bank in Australia. It was established in 1817 in Sydney. During the 19th century, the bank opened branches throughout Australia and New Zealand, expanding into Oceania ...

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

on 2 April 1999.

References

Bibliography

Attribution