fuRKS NFftCE &€Hfl o t.t\ tU6txibhLA o TIIE COTJNCILOF THE CITY OF SYDNEY , N ftftnstl*tu*N t. t't (e41? o 42f7 o MASTERPLAN AND PLAN OF MANAGEMENT o for o o o{{'tc(fu'13'a o o t o O o o o o MACQUAR IE PLACE o 1990 o prepared by LesterTropman & Associates o ARCHITECTS lnrcriot Intcrpte&rion o 'ii:r* ri- * iriilil l: fi::jjiF;:TYilF'iliifr o '.'i ,',,,. .tt , ,'.:,=.',t . ,, ;.' i,";-.:'jti"T ';'ll o :..::1,,-:i.rit:li::\i:: ;'1,.1:iai.iil,i?-:.j:t::.: {r i;':,,ii; Iir.J ilri:.i;il,liiiil;iri o o o o TABLE OF CONTENTS SEC'NONI: PAGE o INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Location of Study 2 o 1.2 Definitions J o SECTIoNII: CONSERVATIONAND MANACEMENT ASSESSMENT )l o 2.1 Historical Summary 4 2.2 Statement of Significance 23 o 2.3 UrbanContext 24 o 2.4 Usageof thePark 26 SECTIONM: o MACQUARIEPLACE MASTDRPLAN o 3.1 ConservationPolicy 27 o 3.2 Masterplan 28 SECTIoNIV: I MANACEMENTRECOMMENDATIONS 29 4.1 STRUCTURESOF HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE 29 o 4.1.1 Macquarie'sobelisk 29 i1a 'Sirius' anchor and cannon 30 4.r.3 T. S. Mon statue 2J o 4.1.4 Covereddrinkin g fountain 34 4.1.5 Dwarf sandstonewall 36 4.1.6 Stonegate posts 36 I 4.t.7 Edwardianlavatory at o 4.1.8 kwerc'fountain 38 o o o o o a o O 4.2 FLINCIoNAL CoNSDERAI'IONS 40 4.2,1 Pavingtreatrnent 40 o 4.2.2 Grassedareas A.t 4.2,3 Drainage 45 4.2.4 Podiumalong Macquarie Place 46 o 4.2.5 Parkfumiture 48 o 4.3 ESTABLISHEDTREES 48 4.3.l Ficusnacrophylla 48 4.3.2 Fictuhillii 49 o 4,3.3 Plaarusacerifolia 49 4.3.4 Schinusareiri 50 o 4,3 .5 Streliaiaalba 50 4.4 MACeUARIEPLACE STREETSCAPE 52 o SECTIONV: o IMPLEMENTATION 56 5.1 PROGRAMMEOF PRIORITY WORKS )b o 5.1.1 Priority oneworks 57 5.1.2 hiority two wotks 57 o 5.2 FUNDING 58 o ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 59 BIBLIOGRAPHY 60 o APPEI-,IDD(A; A RestorationReport on the Obetsk MacquariePlace, Sydney for Council of The City of Sydney o by Cox, TannerPty Ltd Architects ArchitecturalResearch and Restoration o September1981 APPENDIXB: ConservationAnalysis of the 'sirius' o Cannonand Anchor by Dr Colin Pearson Cultural HertiageScience Division o CanberraCollege of AdvancedEducation o Julv 1988 o o o o o o SECTION I o INTRODUCTION o Council hasfor many yearsrealised the value of it's parks and the needto identify methods o nxmagementto assurethat they areconserved and enjoyedto their maximumpotential. o MacquariePlace is greatly valued as an open spacein the intenselyurbanised commercialprecinct of the city. The historic monumentsin MacquariePlace, such o Macquarie'sobelisk and the anchor and cannon from HMS Sirius, pay tribute to it' o important role as a public spacein Sydneyover the last 200 years. The historic character the precinct and it's surroundingsmake il a fascinatingplace wherc l9th CenturySydney o still be glimpsed. In 1989 Council, with the assistanceof The Council of rhe City of o Sydney,appointed Lester Tropman and Associatesas consultantsto preparea Plan Managementand Masterplan for the conservationof Macquarie Place and the o historic monumentswithin it. o There is an urgent needto addressthe many conservationand managementissues o Macquarie Place today, such as the deterioration of the historic monuments,the effects o changedmicro-climatic conditions due to overshadowing,and the need to incorporatenew developmentin the areasunounding dre Park. The Plan of Management o Masterplanoffer solutionsto the variousproblems facing MacquariePlace. Drawing o the information containedin numerousconservadon repora relating o the Park that have prcpared gver the last ten years,it will allow Council to conserveand upgrade o Place according to it's heriage significance so that it may continue to function well as o imponantpublic placeand greenspace within drecity. o This sody servesas a plan for the preservation,conservation, reconstn:ction and adaption o MacquariePlace and the importanthistoric monumentswiftin iL o o o o 1.I LOCA,TIONOF STUDY o MacquariePlace is locatedin the northerncommercial precinct of the city, close to o Quay. It is a riangular portion of land boundedto the southby Bridge Streetand to ilre by Ioftus Sneetwith the MacquariePlace stre€rscape completing the triangle. The land has o westerly aspectand forms part of the easternbank of the former Tank Saeam valley. o map below showsthe location of the study area. o o o o o o o o o o o o O o o ffi] MAP 1 o Location of the study area. o o o o o I.2 DEFINITIONS The following terms usedthroughout the report, are defined in The Burra Chaner which o the Australian adaptionof the Intemational Chanerfor the.Conservation and Restoration o Monumentsand Sites. (Venice1966). CONSERVA,IoN o 'Conservation meansall the processesof looking after a place so as to retain o cultural significance. It includesmaintenance and may accordingto include preservation,restoration, reconstruction and adaptionand will be o a combinationof more than one of these'. o MANTENANCE Maintenancemeans the continuousprotecdve care of the fabric. contentsand o of a place, and is to be distinguishedfrom repair. Repair involves restoration reconstrucdonand it shouldbe teated accordingly'. o PRESERVATION 'Preservadon o . meansmaintaining the fabric of a place in its existing state retarding deterioration'. o RESTORATION 'Restoration . means retuming the existing fabric of a place to a lcrown earlier state o removing accretions or by reassemblingexisting components without introducticn of new rnaterial'. o RECONSTRUCTION 'Reconstuction o meansreturning a placeas nearly aspossible to a known earlier o and is distinguishedby the inaoduction of materials(new and old) into the fabric'. ADAPTIoN o . 'Adaption meansmodifying a placeto suit proposedcompatible uses.' o COMPATIBLEUSE . In addition'Compatible use means a usewhich involvesno changeto the culturally o significant fabric, changeswhich are substantially reversible, or changeswhich o require a minimal impact. o 3 o o o o SECTION II CONSERVATIONAND o MANAGEMENT ASSESSMENT o 2.I HISTORICAL SUMMARY o Macquarie Placeoccupies the land that was once the easternbank of the Tank Sream o whereit flowed into SydneyCove. Artists' sketchesfrom as early as 1793show the that was to becomeMacquarie Place as a triangular area adjoining the garden of the o GovemmentHouse (see plate 2.1). The triangleof MacquariePlace and the alignment o Bridge Steet are alsovisible on plans of Sydneydated ftom as early as 1800. Bridge S so namedbecause it was the location of the bridge acrossthe Tank Stream,formed o westemapproach to the First GovernmentHouse. o o o I o o o o o PLATE 2.1 A Sketchof Sydneyby FerdinandBrambila in 1793,only five yearsafter the o formation of the colony, showingthe large triangularspace which Place o Macquarie orignally occupied,with a view up Bridge Street. o 4 o o o o The alignmentof MacquariePlace beganas a contour path that followed the ori topographyof the Tank Streamvalley. The early 19th Centurystreet frontages of o Place marked the boundary betweenthe GovemmentHouse grounds and the o privatercsidential allotrnents. o The propertiessurrounding the leserve were owned by the elite of the early colony. To o west of MacquariePlace were allotmentsleased to SimeonI-ord, Thos Randall, Chapman,and Thos and Mary Reiby, To the south were the allotrnents set aside for o housesand offices of the Colonial Secretaryand the JudgeAdvocate, the chief civic o of the colony after the govemor (seemap 4). o The reservewas the dividing spacebetween Govemment House and the "common land" o the Rocks area, thercfore it represented,in effect, the centre of the colony. The importanceof the reservewas increasedby GovernorMacquarie in I 8 I 8 when he located o famousobelisk in the cenne of the triangular space. This obelisk designedby o Greenwaywas to mark the geographiccentre of the colony, from which all distanceswere o be measured,and was inscribedwith the mileagesto other colonial centres(see plate 2.2). o In the foiiowing year, Macquariecommissioned Francis Greenway to designthe fountain which was located at the westerncorner of the Park. Both thesemonuments o consideredlandmarks of the colony and are markedon most mapsof the perio4 as well o being favourite subjectsfor artisrs(see plates 2.3 afi2.4). o Governor Macquarie planned the Park fomrally to create an appropriate approach o GovemmentHouse. A path systemwas developedto encirclethe Park and lead to the obelisk,as seenin Harpers Planof Sydney,1823. An engravingfrom 1829shows the o surroundedby a low sandstonewall andpalisade fence (see plate 2.5). o o 5 o o o o o -n1| o .s ,.a o j. o o o o o o o o o o o o o o PLATE2.2 o Theobelisk inscribed with themileages to othercolonial centres (cl890's) o o o o o o o o o o IrL I s tt laec|'laitc ataca o ,;efi7=w:izffi- o PLATE2,3 Sketchesshowing the doric fountain and obelisk from JosephForvles, o publicarionSydnev in 1848. o o o o o a o o PLATE2.4 o MACQUARIEPLACE, CI87O, IOOKiNg N-E The Park was surroundedby a palisadefence, and FrancisGreenway's &inking fountain o was locatedwhere the T. S. Mon statuestands today, o 7 o o o o a o o o o o o o PT-ATE2.5 SYDT.IEYFROM TIc DOMAINNEAR GoVERNMENT HOUSE o From SELES_yEUS_OE:pIEL 1829. This is the fust skerchto show rhepalisade fence surrounding the Park. This fencewas o probably rcplacedwhen Loftus Streetwas extendedthrough the Park. o o It was duing the 1830'sthat the alignment of the Sydney streetsbegan to changeto a system \rith a noftVsouth orientation, Ieading to Circular Quay, The relocation o GovernmentHousc to the Domain, and the levelling of the topography(including o covering of the Tank Sream), madeit possibleto extend CastlereaghSueet to the resulting in the reduction of Macquarie Place to the size that it is today.