It was the first of the early Sydney suburbs that was not self-sufficient – its inhabitants, unlike those of Balmain or Newtown, where work was available in local industries, had to go away each day to their places of employment.

John Palmer, the settlement's commissary, refused to allow people to cross his land grant ('Woolloomooloo'), so the road had to follow a roundabout way through Paddington to bypass his 40 hectares (100 acres).

[2] From 1848 when Victoria Barracks had been opened (designed by Lt.-Col. George Barney) and homes for the soldiers and their families had been erected, Paddington began to assume a real identity.

Stone was mostly quarried in the area: the stonemasons were free settlers who had worked on erection of the Customs House at what was then Semi-Circular Quay.

[2] It is hard to imagine that in 1822 the mansion Juniper Hall (the opposite southern corner of Oxford Street from the Reservoir site) stood alone, without the many neighbours it has today.

Juniper Hall was built for Robert Cooper, distiller and emancipist merchant, who with partners James Underwood and Francis Ewen Forbes, had received 40 hectares (100 acres) from Governor Brisbane in c. 1818, covering the whole of north Paddington, and they agreed to erect 3 mansions and a distillery there.

A distillery was built at the foot of Cascade Street near Taylor Square and Cooper bought out his partners, and only Juniper Hall was erected.

The bazaar, which has operated since the mid 1970s, draws visitors from all over the city and has contributed to Paddington's development as one of Sydney's favourite tourist spots, along with Bondi Beach and The Rocks.

This water scheme, developed by Edward Bell and Will Wadsworth proposed a number of reservoirs at critical points around the city.

[5][2] However, due to its limited elevation, only the top two metres (five feet) of water from the reservoir could be provided to buildings in excess of one storey.

[5] Drawings held by the Council of South Sydney show modifications to the structure in 1925 to accommodate the removal of a number of internal columns.

[9] The Water Board leased the eastern chamber of the facility and continued to use it for motor vehicle and general storage until the late 1950s.

[10][2] The site was classified by the National Trust of Australia (NSW) in 1985 and in that year an interim conservation order was placed over the property.

[5] When Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects and JMD Design were commissioned in 2006 to convert the reservoir to an urban park, the general expectation was that the site would be capped off and a brand new arrangement be built on top.

However the architects were captivated by the possibilities of revealing the 19th century structures as a ruin through which the public could wander, taking in the dramatic spaces.

An accessible sunken garden and pond, surrounded by pre-case concrete boardwalk, has been inserted into the conserved ruin of the western chamber.

The eastern chamber has been conserved with new timber columns and a waterproof concrete structure over, stabilising the brickwork and forming the base for the new landscaped park above.

It is a large semisubmerged rectangular structure of brick construction supported by timber columns and overlaid by a grassed park.

As at 27 February 2014, the reservoir was decommissioned in the late nineteenth century and subsequently used for storage and latterly as a mechanical workshop associated with a service station on Oxford Street.

It is an integral part of the original Sydney Water Supply System and is a unique example of construction methods and technology advances in Australia in the nineteenth century.

The grassed roof area also provides a valuable public recreation space within the inner city precinct which is of high significance to the local community.

[2] Paddington Reservoir was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999 having satisfied the following criteria.

Paddington Reservoir is an integral part of the original Sydney Water Supply System and is a unique example of construction methods and technology advances in Australia in the nineteenth century.

The two reservoirs of the Botany Swamps Scheme, Crown Street and Paddington are thought to have been designed in the early 1850s by Edward Bell, the City Engineer.

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