page_title: Science House
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Science House / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: Science House is a 1931 Inter-war Commercial Palazzo building in The Rocks precinct of Sydney, Australia. It was originally designed as a home for a consortium of scientific organisations. As of 2019 it was a campus of New York University. It is located at 157-161 Gloucester Street, at the corner with Essex Street.
context_page_description: Science House is a heritage-listed commercial building located at 157–169 Gloucester Street and Essex Street, in the inner city Sydney suburb of The Rocks in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Peddle Thorp & Walker Architects and built in 1931 by John Grant and Sons, Master Builders. It was also known as Sports House from 1978–1991. The property is owned by Property NSW, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 10 May 2002.
context_section_description: This listing includes the significant original interiors. Science House sits on the south-western corner of the intersection of Gloucester and Essex Streets at Church Hill, Sydney. Science House is a six-storey building. The structure of the building consists of a concrete-encased steel frame of columns and reinforced concrete slabs. The external masonry walls of the building are non-load bearing and merely support their own weight. The design of the principal facades in Gloucester and Essex Streets are divided into three architectural zones mirroring the exaggerated ground floor, piano nobile and attic storey of the Florentine Early Renaissance palazzo type. At Science House the exaggerated "ground storey" comprises the Ground Floor and Floor 1; the piano nobile Floors 2, 3 and 4 the attic storey, Floor 5. The exaggerated "ground storey" is built of fine quality ashlar sandstone masonry with rusticated joints. In Gloucester Street, the windows have semi-circular heads rising through two storeys. A decorative metal grille fills the semi-circular arches; below the windows have steel frames. The piano nobile at Science House is stretched through three floors and has the most simple architectural treatment. The walls are built of textured brick of subtle colour variations. The window apertures are regularly spaced in nine bays along Gloucester Street, four bays in Essex Street. Each window aperture consists of a pair of identical double hung timber sash-windows each sash of six panels in the general design and portion of the Georgian style windows. The attic storey is more highly decorated. At window sill level a projecting square profile string course runs along the Gloucester and Essex Street facades.
  Style: Commercial Italian Renaissance Palazzo; Storeys: Six; Facade: Stone and face-brickwork; Internal Walls: The walls are largely undecorated and finished with painted plaster over brickwork.; Floor Frame: Timber (original); Roof Frame: Terracotta pan tiles; Ceilings: Moulded plasterwork embellished ceiling (the main lecture hall); Fire Stairs: South-western corner of the building.; Lifts: Two (opposite the entrance doors), original lift (southern side).
  Items of moveable heritage including chairs, projectors, heaters and numerous other items are temporarily stored in ASN Co building, Bay 4, Circular Quay West.
caption: Gloucester Street frontage of Science House, pictured in 2009.
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