167 is a heritage-listed electrical substation at 93 Parramatta Road, Auburn, Cumberland Council, New South Wales, Australia.

[1] The substation was substantially and sympathetically extended c. 1929 in response to increased demand for electricity driven by the rapid growth of the Auburn area.

The MCS supplied electricity to retail customers around the inner city, inner west and lower north shore and provided bulk power to outer western and northern suburbs such as Penrith, Hornsby and Manly.

The scale of SCC's operations consistently made it the largest local authority in Australia throughout the second half of the 20th century.

One-off designed substations did continue to be built well into the mid-20th century though these tended to be restricted to what the SCC referred to as "high class" suburbs in Sydney's east.

While in the early years of network construction many substations had unique characteristics and were sited in response to a particular need, from the late 1920s standardised designs were generally used and expansion was based on a need to establish and expand the electricity grid rather than in response to localised or site-specific issues.

From that point on, the freestanding metal kiosk-style substation was progressively introduced, while buildings, where they were constructed, tended towards strictly functional unadorned brick enclosures.

By contrast, the modern trend is to make substations essentially invisible, through incorporating them into larger buildings, placing them wholly underground or within anonymous small steel boxes which tend to be ignored in urban environments.

The ELPSC substations tend to be functionalist brick boxes with only the slightest degree of architectural detailing or ornamentation, whereas the substations constructed by municipalities, while often reusing the same underlying design with minor variation, tend to be more finely detailed and in many instances are designed to match the architecture of the surrounding area.

On 15 August 1934 it was decided that a new Merz Price Balanced Voltage System was to be installed once the Clyde Engineering Works substation was online.

[1] In 2008-09, 2 new transformer bays of precast concrete panels and columns lined with a brick facade were added, with new equipment installed.

Built in 1924, it was designed by the City Architect of the Municipal Council of Sydney (Mr Broderick) in the Interwar Art Nouveau style.

It was substantially and sympathetically extended in 1929 (by MCS City Architect WF White) to become the largest of its style of substation built by the Municipal Council of Sydney.

[1] It has been reported to be in generally good condition, excepting that the timber windows required painting and minor graffiti existed.

[1] It is representative of the Municipal Council's extension of its role as a regional electricity supplier to what were then outlying areas of Sydney.

Auburn marks the western extent of the Council's network, with power further west being supplied from a private company based in Parramatta.

167 was the most substantial piece of early electrical infrastructure constructed in western Sydney in the 1920s and is the only one which remains in service for its original purpose.

It is the largest of this style of substation and externally retains its character as an early 20th century industrial building.

[1] The building was substantially and sympathetically extended in the late 1920s by the Municipal Council of Sydney in response to the rapid growth of the Auburn area and increased demand for electricity.

349, Randwick (1930), both of which were prestige structures in the Mediterranean/Spanish Mission styles designed to complement the building stock of these suburbs.

[1] The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.

[1] The place possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales.

167 is significant at state level as the largest and most intact of the zone substations constructed by the Municipal Council of Sydney in the Interwar Art Nouveau style.

129, Hunters Hill (1928, located in Gladesville), is another smaller example of the style which was originally of a similar design to Auburn Zone Substation No.

129 has, however, been considerably altered, including the demolition of a two-storey portion of the building on the front facade which has been replaced with a brick wall.

[1] The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural or natural places/environments in New South Wales.

167 is significant at state level as typical, in scale and function, of the high voltage substations built throughout Sydney in the 1920s and 1930s for the expansion of the electricity network.