 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Sydney Architecture Images-
The Rocks
Brooklyn Hotel |
|
|
architect |
The work of NSW government architect W L Vernon, assisted by William Moyes, who trained under Charles Rennie Macintosh in Glasgow. |
|
location |
225 George St, Sydney CBD (cnr Grosvenor St), (02) 9247-6744 |
|
date |
1912 |
|
style |
Federation Free Style |
|
construction |
A blood-and-bandages design centred on a dominant arch. |
|
type |
pub |
 |
|
  |
|
| The Royal Naval House next door. | |
  |
|
|
Part of a homogeneous and well detailed Edwardian streetscape without
equal in Sydney. The work of NSW government architect W L Vernon,
assisted by William Moyes, who trained under Charles Rennie Macintosh in
Glasgow. As such, this building has a direct link with one of the
pioneers of Modern design. As a group, the buildings (Federation Hall,
Royal Naval House, Johnson's Building, 231 George Street & Brooklyn
Hotel) have considerable significance. All facades contribute to the
overall richness of the group, with Royal Naval House the focal point
and the Johnson's Building leading nicely around the corner to a 'coda'
of two small but heavily textured facades which seem to be a logical end
to the whole. The trees, which are deciduous, give an added quality to
the richness of the facades and have considerable significance. The
facades as a group have important landmark qualities with their location
on the north-west corner of a major intersection, providing an entry
point to The Rocks. Brooklyn Hotel: The building is significant for its
facade and shopfront , which are typical of the period, with bay windows
and a deep recessed verandah, the whole surmounted by a gable end with
interesting stone trims. The top verandah is interesting in a
picturesque manner flanked by two Ionic columns. The whole facade has
high quality stone detailing. The awning forms an important part of this
composition and the shopfront below, which is probably contemporary with
the building, is unique. The interiors of the ground and first floor
bars are significant and well designed for their purpose. (SCRA 1982:
103-106) The Brooklyn Hotel site was once part of the original Parade
Ground of the Colony and the site's changing use reflects the urban,
economic and social development of the area from the very early days of
the colony to the present. The redevelopment of the site in the late
20th century is a demonstration of the compromises that were made to
accommodate new development. Historical Notes or Provenance: The Brooklyn Hotel site was once part of the original Parade Ground of the Colony. The land was claimed by Robert Howe on the basis of a land grant promised to his father by Governor Macquarie. In 1845, the 'Printing Office' was owned by Flowers, Alding & Co. and the tenant was Stratham & Foster. By 1848 the original grant fronting George Street comprised 'Mr. Dawson's House', a passage and the first of a series of terraced shops and houses. The subdivision and the houses built upon it remained essentially unchanged until 1884. The passage and the house and shop to the north represent, approximately, the site of the present hotel. In the period 1882-84 these terraces were demolished and a new four storey Italianate building was erected. The first bay of this new building was a hotel, named sequentially: 1884-1888 - The Sydney and Melbourne Hotel; 1889-1897- The Sydney Palace Hotel; 1898-1982- The Brooklyn Hotel). In 1911 an application was lodged by T Bennett with the City Council to demolish the Brooklyn Hotel, and in 1912 the current Brooklyn Hotel was erected at the same time as the Johnson's Building. (SCRA 1982: 7-8) From 1980 negotiations proceeded with the private sector on proposals for mixed development and recycling on the land bounded by George, Grosvenor, Harrington and Essex Streets, known as Sites D5, D6 and D11. The agreement for the Grosvenor Place project was signed in June, 1983 involving the renovation of Royal Naval House and four adjacent buildings, including the Brooklyn Hotel. Work on Grosvenor Place commenced in 1984 and was completed in 1988. In 1987, work commenced on the$12.5m reconstruction and renovation of Royal Naval House and Federation Hall in Grosvenor Street to enable the buildings to house the Sydney Futures Exchange. The reconstruction and renovation of the three remaining historic buildings on the site, including the Brooklyn Hotel, was carried out in 1989 for use as bars and restaurant. (SCRA Annual Reports 1980-1989) |
|
|
The Brooklyn Hotel The Brooklyn is a clean, comfortable, stylish sort of place. It is well patronised and does a roaring trade after knock-off time. But somehow it remains strangely soulless. The Brooklyn reminds me of some Agatha Christie-esque 1920´s hotel lobby. It´s the black and white chequerboard tiles and potted aspidistras that do it, I suppose. The walls are a sandstone colour. Copper coloured pillars hold up a pressed-tin ceiling. Timber venetians hang in the long window frontage, where we sat and watched the world walk by. A roundish, fenced-off raised platform serves as the restaurant area. Out the back is the pokie bar, and beyond that a cold, shadowy, borderless concrete wasteland beneath the overhanging Grosvenor Building with some plastic furniture. I guess they call this a beer garden. This is a ´schmiddie´ pub. Regular readers will already be aware of my dislike for these neither-a-schooner-nor-a-middie glasses that some publicans think lend an air of civility to their poshly renovated establishments. Here it is compounded with its sister crime (and pet hate of mine): ask for a schooner and a schmiddie is plonked down in front of you without any explanation. The customer is left to wonder whether they don´t serve schooners, or the barkeep misheard the order, or if you´re a first timer, whether this 300ml thing is actually a schooner. How hard is it to say, ´Sorry sir, we don´t have any glasses of that size, will this piddling little tumbler suffice? ´ High-Horse Alert: While I´m on the subject of schmiddies, they play merry hell with people trying to calculate how many standard drinks they´ve had (as Flynny´s extended and laboured arithmetic all over my research notes shows). So the Brooklyn: a nice place for a drink, but zero personality, warmth, ambience, soul. And what´s with that weird logo / artwork dangling from the ceiling? Is it a dismembered Partridge Family symbol? Is it a fully engorged leech? |
|
|
|
www.sydneyarchitecture.com |
|
links |
http://www.brooklynhotel.com.au/ |