page_title: Corn Exchange, Sydney
section_title: Heritage listing
hierarchical_section_title: Corn Exchange, Sydney / Heritage listing
caption_attribution_description: English: Corn Exchange building located in Sussex Street in the en:Sydney central business district in the en:City of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
context_page_description: The Corn Exchange is a heritage-listed former market building located at 173-185 Sussex Street, in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by George McRae and built from 1887. It formerly housed PACT Youth Theatre. It was incorporated into the Nikko Hotel development in the 1980s, but has been commercial office space since the 1990s. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 28 June 2002.
context_section_description: The Corn Exchange and the Central Warehouse (No. 139-151) are the last remaining remnants of this warehousing and commercial area which serviced Sydney's developing commercial and trading sector in the mid to later 19th century. These mid to late 19th century warehouse and commercial buildings, together with other remaining buildings of this era in Sussex Street, comprise a homogenous group which demonstrate a careful attention to design, materials, and workmanship.
  The Corn Exchange is the earliest remaining market building in Sydney. It was designed by the noted architect George McRae, who later designed the Queen Victoria Building. It is a landmark building; forming part of the city portal at Pyrmont Bridge.
  The Corn Exchange was extensively restored, reconstructed and adapted for retail purposes as part of the hotel redevelopment in the early 1990s, but still remains a fine representative example of a late 19th century warehouse complex. It demonstrates the essential role that warehouse development has played in the development of Sydney as a commercial and trading centre.
  Corn Exchange was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 28 June 2002 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 development of the Corn Exchange and Central Warehouse Buildings demonstrates the development of commercial activities in Sydney Central Business District (CBD). Their original use as a market and warehouses, then office spaces followed by a period of neglect before an adaptive reuse development for commercial and retail tenancies reflects the evolution of built uses in this part of Sydney. The most recent use represents a conscious acceptance of adaptive reuse of existing building stock by government and private enterprise, reflecting the changing attitudes to heritage development in Sydney.
  The Corn Exchange is the earliest remaining market building in Sydney. As a fruit market, and then as a private grain market it played an important part in the commercial development of Sydney in the 19th and 20th centuries.
  The Corn Exchange was designed by George McRae, the City Architect, who later designed the Queen Victoria Building.
  The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.
  The Corn Exchange and Central Warehouse Buildings comprise a sample of mid to late 19th century warehouse buildings, that together with other remaining buildings of this era in Sussex Street comprise a homogenous group with careful attention to design, materials and workmanship. At the city portal to Pyrmont Bridge, they form a key part of an admirable streetscape. Together with a similar contribution to this part of Sydney.
  The Corn Exchange is a landmark building as part of the City portal of Pyrmont Bridge. It still features an unusually richly detailed Queen Anne style warehouse facade, of a type now rare in Sydney. Its incorporation of an imported proprietary fire-resistant cast-iron structural system is an early Sydney example of developing building science being used to address safety issues.
  The place possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales.
  The Corn Exchange and Central Warehouse Buildings are the last remnants of this warehousing area, which serviced Sydney's developing commercial sector. The Corn Exchange is the earliest remaining market building in Sydney. It is an uncommonly intact example of a late 19th century public building built for market purposes.
caption: Sussex Street view, 2019
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