NEVER BUILT SYDNEY: Anthony Horderns Brickfield Hill Redevelopment (1964)

Above: A render of the proposed 42-level tower as part of the redevelopment of the Anthony Horderns site at Brickfield Hill (World Square).Full Citation Below.

Welcome to a new series of Never Built Sydney focusing on the buildings and developments that were proposed for Sydney but never went ahead or alternate schemes for existing developments.

In 2016, I posted an entry on a mid 1960's proposal from Anthony Hordern & Sons to redevelop their existing store at Brickfield Hill (now World Square). Since then, I found more clippings about the proposed tower and can share more information.

At the time of the original posting, I mentioned that the plans were dated from 1965, when they were unveiled in 1964. 

The redevelopment proposal was conceived in response to the decline in trade at the Brickfield Hill store associated with the increased appeal of suburban shopping malls appearing across the Sydney metropolitan region. The company was operating at a financial loss. 

 

Source: Anon. 1964. "Anthony Hordern Plans a £9m Building on City Site". The Sydney Morning Herald, October 31: 1. 

In addition, there was a push by local and state governments to revive the southern end of the Sydney CBD, and this project was seen as a catalyst for future development in that section of the city. Given concerns about lost trade, increased commercial and residential development within that area would in turn attract more customers. 

To attract trade, a forty-two-level tower comprising office space and apartments was planned for the rear of the existing building (Liverpool Street side) facing Swan Street. It was projected to rise 527 feet (161 metres) from the George Street end of the tower. Swan Street itself would be redeveloped into a pedestrian "concourse" linking George and Pitt Streets. 

In 1965, it was reported that the tower would be complete by 1968 at the earliest. 

 

Source: Johnson, B. 1965. "They'll live it up on top of the town". The Sun Herald, September 26: 45. 

The estimated cost of construction was $20 million. According to the RBA Inflation Calculator this would be equivalent to around $295 million today. 

There was an advertising campaign in 1966 to promote the redevelopment, but nothing was mentioned about it after that date. 

This advertisement (below) was published in The Sunday Telegraph on 31 July 1966.

The Sydney Morning Herald published a two-page spread on 1 August 1966. 

 

Anthony Hordern & Sons continued to struggle. In 1969, the Brickfield Hill site was closed and the company itself was taken over by Waltons Ltd. in 1970 (Click here to view my entry on the end of Anthony Horderns). The takeover did not include the purchase of the site at Brickfield Hill which was sold separately. 

This tower was one of several "Never Builts" for what is now the site of World Square. You may find the following entries of interest. 

EVOLUTION OF WORLD SQUARE: The original World Square Scheme (1973)

EVOLUTION OF WORLD SQUARE: Kenzo Tange's Original Scheme (1983)

EVOLUTION OF WORLD SQUARE: Kenzo Tange turns World Square into a Lotus Flower (1985)

EVOLUTION OF WORLD SQUARE: The abandoned site (1991)

SYDNEY DEPARTMENT STORES: The end of Anthony Horderns' (1969)

The demise of Sydney department store chain Anthony Horderns' extends for a longer period of time than what this entry will focus on.

This entry will focus on the sale of Anthony Horderns' in 1969 which marked the end of its existence as a department store chain.

In November 1969, the Brickfield Hill store which had traded for a century closed. This generally went unreported by the newspapers. I could not even find any "closing down" advertisements.

The following month saw its compeitors rival for control:

• Buckinghams Holdings Limited (Buckinghams) - $6 million offer
• Waltons Limited - $9.3 million offer

Developer Stocks & Holdings also joined in the frenzy, offering $8.6 million for the company.

   

Source: Riggs, C. 1969. "$8.6m city store bid is accepted". The Daily Mirror, December 3: 2. 

This proposal had been accepted by the company. 

As the fight for control ensued, the company sold its Brickfield Hill site for $8.5 million to the State Superannuation Board.

 

Source: Anon. 1969. "Hordern's Site Owner Named". The Daily Telegraph, December 24: 1. 

On 5 January 1970, Waltons gained majority ownership, when it accquired 36% of the company from its rival bidders - Buckinghams and Tjuringa Securities. 

 

Source: Anon. 1970. "Waltons claims victory". The Daily Mirror, January 5: 26.

Shares in the company (Anthony Hordern & Sons Limited) were delisted from the Sydney Stock Exchange on 8 April 1970, completing the take over process

Source: Anon. 1970. "The last day for Anthony Hordern". The Sun, April 8: 68.

Hordern's Mid City Store closed in 1973. 

1985: The end of the Anthony Horderns Building

In 1985, NSW Environment Minister (and future Premier) Bob Carr announced that the Anthony Horderns Building would be demolished, but the Mark Foys building would be protected.

The argument was that the building had become "derelict", was built with "sub standard materials" and "poor workmanship". Given its uses over the years (even as a carpark in its later years), the reasoning behind its demolition has to be questioned.

It also allowed for Ipoh to proceed with their proposal to redevelop the site and the block bounded by George, Liverpool, Pitt and Goulburn Street into World Square. 

Demolition of the Anthony Horderns building occurred the following year.

Source: Glascott, J. 1985. "Hordern emporium for demolition". The Sydney Morning Herald, February 25: 5. 

Evolution of World Square Postscript: New finding

A fortnight ago, I mentioned that our series on World Square had concluded, but there is a postscript. From time to time, there is always something new that can be found once the research is presented. Just recently, I came across a 1965 proposal to build a 38 level tower right atop the Anthony Horderns Building.

How did I come across it? The Sydney Morning Herald has given its archives for 1955-95 a huge makeover and provides more thorough search results on anything that one wants to find.  Simply playing around with the upgraded features gave me access to articles that I would not have found under the old website.

I had thought that the first World Square scheme was from 1973, but getting to where it is now was a process that spanned forty years, not the thirty or twenty years that I may have once thought.

The idea for a tower built above Anthony Horderns was a simple idea and was seen as a way of trying to renew the southern end of the city, which newspapers were highlighting that year. It went as far as reporting that it was unsafe to venture in the streets around there. The plan included three floors of underground parking, five floors of retail, 31 levels of office space and three floors of apartments at the top of the building.

It could have been the best of both worlds, but I think the 38 storey tower would appear dated against other city buildings, not to mention the fact it might have warranted a heritage listing today as one of the first major highrises down that end of the city.

They were optimistic that it would be ready by 1968.

Source: Johnson, B. 1965. "A green light for up-town Sydney". The Sun Herald, September 26: 45.

EVOLUTION OF WORLD SQUARE: The original World Square Scheme (1973)

I had always thought the Kenzo Tange's 1985 design for World Square was the original scheme for World Square.

Photo by the Author.

But the first World Square Scheme dates back to 1973, when Stocks and Holdings proposed a $150 million scheme for the site of Anthony Horderns and surrounding buildings on the block bounded by George, Liverpool, Pitt and Castlereagh Streets.

Source: Anonymous. 1973. "Huge Block Plans". The Sun Herald, March 25: 9.

At the time, it was the biggest ever proposal for a single block in Sydney. The podium would have included a retail complex, dining spaces along with theatres and clubs along with a possible hotel. The credit crisis was to follow and it would claim Stocks and Holdings. 

1989: A Hole lot of work

An interesting report from The Daily Telegraph in 1989, where it looks at the early stages of the construction of the failed World Square project in central Sydney. Demolition work had begun on the former site of the Anthony Horderns department store three years earlier in 1986. Now the entire site was a hole in the ground. A year later, disputes led to the collapse of the project. By then the basement levels were under construction and a lift core for one of the four proposed towers was well above ground. It was not until the late 1990's that work would resume on the site (well part of it at least) with the construction of the first tower known as Hordern Towers, a hotel and residential apartment tower at the corner of Liverpool and Pitt Street. 

Construction work on the four towers and shared retail podium was estimated to cost about $1.5 billion. Completion was set for 1992, a quite ambitious goal given the scale of the project. 

Source: Deegan, L. 1989. "A hole lot of work: City digs deep for a $1.5 billion job," The Daily Telegraph, March 8:17.