Archives behind the scenes - buildings plans
In this episode we take a look at some public buildings in the Government Architect plans.
We have over 3,400 of these plans in the State Archives Collection and 438 have been digitised. The plans include a variety public buildings around New South Wales for example: police stations, courthouses, gaols, public schools and post offices. You will also find Sydney buildings such as the Registrar General's Office, the Colonial Secretary's building and the Treasury building. Some plans are Closed to Public Access for security reasons - for instance if a gaol, police station or a courthouse is still operating as a gaol, police station or a courthouse.
You can find the digitised copies in Collection Search
Related
Colonial (Government) Architect guide
The Colonial Architect's Department was responsible for the planning & supervision of the construction & repair of public buildings
Plans of public buildings
A sample of digitised building plans showing gaols, hospitals, pilot stations, post and telegraph offices, schools and tramways
Published on
More Architecture & design
On This Day
20 Dec 1926 - Sydney underground railway opened
On 20 December 1926 the first section of underground railway in Sydney began operating
On This Day
27 Nov 1889 - Sydney Town Hall opened
On 27 November 1889 the Sydney Town Hall was officially opened. The Town Hall was built on Gadigal land, throughout the 1880s, on the site of an old cemetery using local Sydney sandstone
A global design story
Their original owner and use remain a mystery, but these striking tiles hold an intriguing connection to a significant international design story
A new way of living
Once word spread about the newly built Rose Seidler House in 1950, it was the ‘most talked about house in Sydney’. Seventy years on, it's impossible to deny the strength and daring of Seidler's vision