Town Hall House

Town Hall House is an office block in the city of Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, Australia.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Town Hall House is expected to be protected by the local council despite ongoing urban development.

[2] Sydney Council approves the identity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, who are the traditional keepers of Australian land.

Their territory ranged from present-day Sydney Harbour to Petersham, including the land area of Town Hall House.

The Gadigal people were dispossessed when Europeans arrived on Australian shores in 1788, and the area of New South Wales, particularly modern-day Sydney, and the rest of the continent became a colony of Britain.

[3] The land on which Town Hall House was built originally belonged to Francis Lascelles Wallace, according to 1833 survey plans map of Sydney.

[6] The location was chosen to be a power station to supply electricity by Major Cardew, a famous trade expert, on March 22, 1900.

The new building was built by Mainline Corporation at a cost of $18 million[8] with construction completed in 1977 and allowed all council staff to work together.

Cameron Logan, who is director of heritage conservation in the Faculty of Architecture, Design, and Planning at the University of Sydney, feels although some people view modernist architecture as "an attack on the civic decorum of the city" or "just plain ugly", it has gained greater acceptance.

"I think what is fundamentally important, and has often been missed, is that many buildings of this period had a strong civic intent and presence, and Town Hall House is an excellent example."

He added: "We need to reimagine or redefine our past in terms of city-making, it can't be a dead letter, fixed idea.

An example is a curved stairway between the first two floors restored to its original Brutalist sculptural form, with the detailed brass and stone.

[18] The interior of the public areas of Town Hall House was refurbished by Smart Design Studio in 2015 with recommendations from Tom Woolley, the building's architect.

[13] Another company, Built, also completed the refurbishment of Town Hall House in 2015, including Levels 1, 2, 3, and the roof.

There are also tender boxes and a concierge on the ground floor to assist people in booking tours and providing several basic services for the building occupants.

In terms of daily life, citizens can apply for parking and street parade permits, book a pick-up for white goods and furniture, and drop off batteries, bulbs, etc... for recycling.

The library service provides equipment, WiFi, public access computers, a reading area and a lounge.