New South Wales State Heritage Register
Which site was the heritage designation of Customs House, Sydney from Apr 1999 to Apr 2000?
Customs House , Sydney Customs House , Sydney is a heritage-listed museum space , visitor attraction , commercial building and performance space located in the Circular Quay area at 45 Alfred Street , in the Sydney central business district , in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales , Australia . The building served as a customs house prior to Federation and then as the head office of New South Wales operations of the Government of Australia agency Department of Trade and Customs ( and its successors ) until 1988 . The customs function relocated to a new site in 1990 . The initial designs were by Mortimer Lewis and it was built during 1845 by under the administration of Governor Sir George Gipps . It is also known as Customs House ( former ) and Site of former Customs House . The site was added to the Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004 ; and to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999 . Ownership was transferred to the City of Sydney Council in 1994 , when it became a venue for exhibitions and private functions . After being refurbished in 2003 , it has also become the new home of the City of Sydney Library . The ground floor of the building houses a scale model of Sydneys city centre viewed through a glass floor . The model was built by Modelcraft in 1998 and weighs one tonne . Images of the various versions of the building across its history are also displayed on the ground floor . History . People of the Eora tribe are said to have witnessed from the site , in 1788 , the landing of the First Fleet . Convict David OConnor was hanged on the site in 1790 and it is said that his ghost haunts the Customs House to this day , offering people rum . The first Customs house in Sydney was built in 1800 . Its location is presumed to be at or near the spot of the landing and official flagraising on the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 . This event marked the foundation of the colony of New South Wales . The site has been occupied by buildings ever since . The driving force behind the construction of the later sandstone edifice on Circular Quay was Colonel John George Nathaniel Gibbes , the Collector of Customs for New South Wales for a record term of 25 years from 1834 to 1859 . Colonel Gibbes persuaded the Governor of New South Wales , Sir George Gipps , to begin construction of the Customs House in 1844 in response to Sydneys growing volume of maritime trade . The building project also doubled as an unemployment relief measure for stonemasons and laborers during an economic depression which was afflicting the colony at the time . The site at Circular Quay was chosen in 1843 to house the Customs Service for the rapidly growing colony . They were responsible for all imports and exports , excise on locally manufactured goods , immigration control , control of narcotic substances and morally corrupt goods such as books and films . During the war years this included items of enemy origin , or having socialistic or communistic tendencies . Accordingly , areas for storage , administration and public business were included in the original design of the building . As trade increased , so did pressures on space within the Customs House and two new wings were constructed between 1883 and 1889 . These wings provided accommodation for the Shipping Office and Maritime Board . The Customs House opened for business in 1845 and replaced cramped premises at The Rocks . It was partially dismantled and expanded to three levels under the supervision of the then Colonial Architect , James Barnet , in 1887 . Various additions were made over the next century , particularly during the period of World War I , but some significant vestiges of the original Gibbes-Lewis building remain . These demands increased again with the approach of Federation . Customs roles of immigration control and administration of tariffs were major reasons for Federation . They became , at this time , the major revenue raiser for the Commonwealth Government . Extensions were timed to coincide with the change in government . More floors were added to cope with new and expanding duties brought about by the massive political change . More revisions were made between 1915 and 1917 to further accommodate these changes and pressures brought about by the war . Few major structural changes have occurred between 1917 and 1995 . This reflects the movement of international shipping away from Circular Quay to other areas of the City and the State . From 15 June 1990 operations of the Customs Service were relocated to a new site . Ownership was then transferred from the Australian Government to the City of Sydney Council in 1994 . The building underwent several rounds of refurbishment . It was refurbished in 1996-7 to become a venue for exhibitions and private functions . A further round of refurbishment was completed in 1999 , converting the building into the tourism gateway to Sydney ahead of the 2000 Summer Olympics . The building contained galleries , a museum , bars , cafes and a restaurant , as well as performance and exhibition space . The City of Sydneys planning scale model of the City was also moved here from the Town Hall offices . After the Olympics , the building was further refurbished in 2003 to house the main City of Sydney Library , moved here from Town Hall . The site was refurbished and reopened in June 1997 as a combined commercial , performance , tourism and museum space . Description . The two-storey Georgian structure was designed by Mortimer Lewis and featured thirteen large and expensive windows in the facade to afford a clear view of shipping activity in Sydney Cove . Colonel Gibbes , who dwelt opposite Circular Quay on Kirribilli Point , was able to watch progress on the Customs Houses construction from the verandah of his private residence , Wotonga House ( now Admiralty House ) . The building is a composite load-bearing and framed structure . The external masonry walls range from thick , with internal walls approximately . Internal beams vary in fabric from wood to steel . The load-bearing masonry on the perimeter of the building and the steel-framed structure in the core are fairly readily separable in the upper reaches of the building , though the edges of concrete floors do bear on the earlier masonry at the perimeter of the framed structure of the core . The panel walls contained in the 1917 frame are of brick . Floors in the perimeter building are generally suspended timber , joisted with added steel beams , while the framed core has reinforced concrete two-way slabs . Lift shafts exist on the central axis of the building . The roof is a pitched roof on king-post trusses finished with Marseilles tiles of Australian make . Extensive box-gutters run around the perimeter of the 1903 roofs . Internal walls are finished with lime plaster , repaired with cement render . Some areas have significant plaster mouldings . Ceiling types are mixed . Window joinery , doors and architraves are generally french polished or varnished . Windows are timber , of french door and vertical sliding sash types , where overlooking the street . Condition . Recent conservation measures have returned the building to excellent physical condition . The archaeological potential is medium . Modifications and dates . - 1885-1887 : James Barnet architect . Original building partially dismantled and rebuilt to three storeys with side wings , to form a U-shape in plan . - 1896-1903 : W.L . Vernon architect . Two phases of alterations resulting in the addition of two new floors and a wing in the rear courtyard , forming an E-shape in plan . - 19151-17 : George Oakeshott architect . All building enclosed by the former U-shape was replaced by a framed structure . This opened the ground floor as a large space with a lightwell . A sixth storey comprising caretakers quarters was added . - 1925-1990 : various additions by the Commonwealth Department of Works . - 1996-7 : Conservation and Refurbishment Project - opened June 1997 . Heritage listing . On 22 June 2004 , the building was added to the Commonwealth Heritage List . The Sydney Customs House occupies a unique symbolic and physical position on the site of the First Fleet Landing . Its location is a physical reminder of the importance of Circular Quay as the original maritime centre for the colony . The Customs House contains parts of the oldest surviving building of its type in Australia , used continuously for 145 years . It is a physical record of the history of the Customs Service and its importance in the history of Australia . The Customs House embodies the work of three successive and individually distinguished government architects : Mortimer Lewis , James Barnet and Walter Liberty Vernon . Because of the scarcity of documentary evidence about the early stages of construction , the surviving building fabric from these stages constitutes the principal source of additional evidence about the early history of the building and its occupants . Customs House , Sydney was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999 having satisfied the following criteria . The place is important in demonstrating the course , or pattern , of cultural or natural history in New South Wales . The Sydney Customs House occupies a unique symbolic and physical position on the site of the First Fleet landing . This historical event has enormous significance to the history of Australia . Its location is a physical reminder of the importance of Circular Quay as the original maritime centre for the colony and is a significant symbol of British imperial sovereignty and colonial commercial expansion . The Customs Service was the only revenue collector in an outpost of Empire struggling for economic survival . It later became a watchdog over ideas , people and goods coming into the country . The internal and external growth and change of the building reflect these changes in use . The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales . The Customs House embodies the work of three successive and individually distinguished official architects of New South Wales . Although Walter Liberty Vernon and James Barnet greatly altered the work of Mortimer Lewis , they did so using similar external materials and proportions so as to generate an overall unity of construction . The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group in New South Wales for social , cultural or spiritual reasons . The site has significance as the initial point of European invasion of the lands of Aboriginal people . The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales . Because of the scarcity of documentary evidence about the early stages of construction , the surviving building fabric from these stages constitutes the principal source of additional evidence about the early history of the building and its occupants . The place possesses uncommon , rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales . This site has been ranked as extremely significant in its unique reflection of the commercial expansion of the colony and the nationally significant role of the Customs Service . This is especially true for the early phases of the buildings evolution .