ANZAC War Memorial The ANZAC War Memorial , completed in 1934 , is the main commemorative military monument of Sydney , Australia . It was designed by C . Bruce Dellit , with the exterior adorned with monumental figural reliefs and sculptures by Rayner Hoff . The memorial is located at the southern extremity of Hyde Park on the eastern edge of Sydney ' s central business district , and it is the focus of commemoration ceremonies on Anzac Day , Armistice Day and other important occasions . It was built as a memorial to the Australian Imperial Force of World War I . Fund raising for a memorial began on 25 April 1916 , the first anniversary of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps ( ANZAC ) landing at Anzac Cove for the Battle of Gallipoli . It was opened on 24 November 1934 by His Royal Highness Prince Henry , Duke of Gloucester . Design . A competition for the design of the memorial was commissioned in July 1929 and a month later the prize - winning entries were announced by the Governor of New South Wales , Sir Philip Game . Third prize was awarded to Peter Kaad , second prize to John D . Moore and the winner was Bruce Dellit . The successful contractors for the building works were Kell & Rigby . The building is constructed of concrete , with an exterior cladding of pink granite , and consists of a massed square superstructure with typically Art Deco setbacks and buttresses , punctuated on each side by a large arched window of yellow stained glass , and crowned with a ziggurat - inspired stepped roof . It is positioned atop a cruciform pedestal within which are located administrative offices and a small museum . The interior is largely faced in white marble , and features a domed ceiling adorned with 120 , 000 gold stars - one for each of New South Wales ' military volunteers during World War I . Access to the main hall is provided via broad stairways on each side of the building ' s north - south axis , while ground - level doorways on the east and west sides offer entry to the lower section . The main focus of the interior is Rayner Hoff ' s monumental bronze sculpture of a deceased youth , representing a soldier , held aloft on his shield by a caryatid - three female figures , representing his mother , sister and wife . The male figure ' s nudity was considered shocking at the time of the monument ' s opening , and it is said to be the only such representation of a naked male form within any war memorial . Two other even more controversial figural sculptures designed by Hoff — one featuring a naked female figure — were never installed on the eastern and western faces of the structure as intended , partly as a result of opposition from high ranking , reactionary local Catholic Church representatives . The building ' s exterior is adorned with several bronze frieze s , carved granite relief panels and twenty monumental stone figural sculptures symbolising military personnel , also by Hoff . Immediately to the north of the ANZAC Memorial is a large rectangular " Lake of Reflections " flanked by rows of poplars . The poplars , not native to Australia , symbolise the areas of France in which Australian troops fought . Original plans called for the construction of similar pools on each of the other sides of the building , but these were never built .