Trust Building

Item details


Name of item:	Trust Building
Type of item:	Built
Location:	Lat: -33.8693325596 Long: 151.2098647580
Primary address:	72-72a Castlereagh Street, Sydney, NSW 2000
Parish:	St James
County:	Cumberland
Local govt. area:	Sydney

Property description

Lot/Volume Code	Lot/Volume Number	Plan/Folio Code	Plan/Folio Number
		CP/SP	46528
		CP/SP	46528
LOT	1	SP	46528
LOT	10	SP	46528
LOT	11	SP	46528
LOT	12	SP	46528
LOT	13	SP	46528
LOT	14	SP	46528
LOT	15	SP	46528
LOT	16	SP	46528
LOT	17	SP	46528
LOT	18	SP	46528
LOT	19	SP	46528
LOT	2	SP	46528
LOT	20	SP	46528
LOT	21	SP	46528
LOT	22	SP	46528
LOT	23	SP	46528
LOT	24	SP	46528
LOT	25	SP	46528
LOT	26	SP	46528
LOT	27	SP	46528
LOT	28	SP	46528
LOT	29	SP	46528
LOT	3	SP	46528
LOT	30	SP	46528
LOT	31	SP	46528
LOT	32	SP	46528
LOT	34	SP	46528
LOT	36	SP	46528
LOT	37	SP	46528
LOT	38	SP	46528
LOT	39	SP	46528
LOT	4	SP	46528
LOT	40	SP	46528
LOT	41	SP	46528
LOT	42	SP	46528
LOT	43	SP	46528
LOT	44	SP	46528
LOT	45	SP	46528
LOT	47	SP	46528
LOT	48	SP	46528
LOT	49	SP	46528
LOT	5	SP	46528
LOT	50	SP	46528
LOT	51	SP	46528
LOT	52	SP	46528
LOT	53	SP	46528
LOT	54	SP	46528
LOT	55	SP	46528
LOT	56	SP	46528
LOT	57	SP	46528
LOT	58	SP	46528
LOT	59	SP	46528
LOT	6	SP	46528
LOT	60	SP	46528
LOT	61	SP	46528
LOT	62	SP	46528
LOT	63	SP	46528
LOT	64	SP	46528
LOT	65	SP	46528
LOT	67	SP	46528
LOT	68	SP	46528
LOT	69	SP	46528
LOT	7	SP	46528
LOT	70	SP	46528
LOT	71	SP	46528
LOT	72	SP	46528
LOT	73	SP	46528
LOT	74	SP	46528
LOT	75	SP	46528
LOT	76	SP	46528
LOT	77	SP	46528
LOT	78	SP	46528
LOT	79	SP	46528
LOT	8	SP	46528
LOT	80	SP	46528
LOT	81	SP	46528
LOT	82	SP	46528
LOT	83	SP	46528
LOT	84	SP	46528
LOT	85	SP	46528
LOT	86	SP	46528
LOT	87	SP	46528
LOT	88	SP	46528
LOT	89	SP	46528
LOT	9	SP	46528
LOT	90	SP	46528
LOT	91	SP	46528
LOT	100	SP	47697
LOT	92	SP	47697
LOT	93	SP	47697
LOT	94	SP	47697
LOT	95	SP	47697
LOT	96	SP	47697
LOT	97	SP	47697
LOT	98	SP	47697
LOT	99	SP	47697
LOT	101	SP	49274
LOT	102	SP	49274
LOT	103	SP	49274
LOT	104	SP	49274
LOT	105	SP	49274
LOT	106	SP	49274
LOT	107	SP	49274
LOT	108	SP	49274
LOT	109	SP	49274
LOT	110	SP	49274
LOT	111	SP	49274
LOT	112	SP	49274
LOT	113	SP	49274
LOT	114	SP	49274
LOT	115	SP	49274
LOT	116	SP	49274
LOT	117	SP	49274
LOT	118	SP	49274
LOT	119	SP	49274
LOT	120	SP	49274
LOT	121	SP	49274
LOT	122	SP	49274
LOT	134	SP	90001

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Parish	County	Type
72-72a Castlereagh Street	Sydney	Sydney	St James	Cumberland	Primary Address
155-159 King Street	Sydney	Sydney	St James	Cumberland	Alternate Address

Statement of significance:


	The Trust Building is of State significance as one of the major buildings erected in Sydney in the pre-World War I period. It is an unsurpassed example of architecture in the Interwar Commercial Palazzo style. The exterior of the building is the leading example of the first generation skyscrapers in Sydney. It is also a rare commercial purpose built building surviving in Sydney from the Edwardian Period. The Trust Building is the site of the former Daily Telegraph offices, the highest circulating daily newspaper of the time. This building is one of four surviving newspaper offices built between 1900 and 1930.
	Note: The State Heritage Inventory provides information about heritage items listed by local and State government agencies. The State Heritage Inventory is continually being updated by local and State agencies as new information becomes available. Read the OEH copyright and disclaimer.

Description


Designer/Maker:	Robertson & Marks
Builder/Maker:	Stuart Brothers
Construction years:	1914-1916
Physical description:	The Trust Building located at 155 King Street, on the corner of Castlereagh Street Sydney. The Building is a twelve story concrete and steel framed building with three additional basement levels. The building has stone exterior walls and a steel mansard roof (originally slate). The base courses were originally rock faced trachyte and the upper floors were dressed Pyrmont sandstone. The interior was a combination finish of marble, tiles and plasterwork. (Abrahams and Stapleton, 1989, p14) The Art Deco banking chamber, two foyers, corridors and lift lobbies are substantially intact.


Current use:	Westpac bank
Former use:	Aboriginal land, town lot, Newspaper offices, hotel, bank multi-purpose offices

History

Historical notes:

The "Eora people" was the name given to the coastal Aborigines around Sydney. Central Sydney is therefore often referred to as "Eora Country". Within the City of Sydney local government area, the traditional owners are the Cadigal and Wangal bands of the Eora. There is no written record of the name of the language spoken and currently there are debates as whether the coastal peoples spoke a separate language "Eora" or whether this was actually a dialect of the Dharug language. Remnant bushland in places like Blackwattle Bay retain elements of traditional plant, bird and animal life, including fish and rock oysters.

With the invasion of the Sydney region, the Cadigal and Wangal people were decimated but there are descendants still living in Sydney today. All cities include many immigrants in their population. Aboriginal people from across the state have been attracted to suburbs such as Pyrmont, Balmain, Rozelle, Glebe and Redfern since the 1930s. Changes in government legislation in the 1960s provided freedom of movement enabling more Aboriginal people to choose to live in Sydney (sourced from Anita Heiss, "Aboriginal People and Place", Barani: Indigenous History of Sydney City http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/barani ).

Trust Building:
The Trust Building was constructed between 1914 and 1916 to home the offices of the Daily Telegraph, the leading broadsheet newspaper of the day. (Daily Telegraph Newspaper Co. Ltd. Annual Reports, 1912). The building was designed by the firm Robertson and Marks architects in the Interwar Commercial Palazzo style. The building was erected by the Stuart Brothers (Abrahams and Stapleton, 1989, p10).

The foundation stone for the Trust Building was laid by the president of the Daily Telegraph newspaper company, Mr. J Randall Carey in February 1914 (Sydney Morning Herald, 23/2/1914). The Daily Telegraph began operations within the building in 1916 and the first tenant occupied the upper floors in 1917 (Sands, Daily Telegraph Annual Report, 1913-32/33).

The original designs of the building incorporated all the functions of a newspaper production office. The basement floors were occupied by giant printing machines that could be seen working from the street through small windows.
The main entrance to the building was at the corner and it opened into a large advertising hall (Drawings submitted to Sydney City Council).

The Daily Telegraph offices remained at the Trust Building until 1929. After the newspaper left the building, floors 5-8 were leased to various architects, dentists and financers with the majority of the offices going to solicitors. A leading pastoralist and entrepreneur Sir Rupert Clarke leased out the 7th floor. (Sands, 1913-32/33)

After the relocation of the Daily Telegraph Newspaper Co. Ltd. in 1929 following its sale to Associated Newspapers Limited, the building was purchased by a Sydney consortium named King Street Freehold Limited. King Street Freehold Ltd. set up the Hotel Savoy there in 1929 (Sydney Morning Herald 2/9/1936).

The building was refurbished from designs by Ross and Rowe. The lower ground floor became a two level bar in the 'Spanish Style' of the time. The ground floor became the main lounge and the upper floor was divided into smaller rooms where bathrooms were added. There was also a lounge room added to each floor. The original corner entrance was removed and a side street entrance was constructed (Drawings submitted to Sydney City Council).

The Hotel Savoy failed three years later at the height of the Great Depression. The Trust Building was then sold and became the insurance premises for the Southern British National Trust after it was refurbished by the architect Samuel Lipson. New entrances were added at both King and Castlereagh Streets and the lower floors were remodelled in polished trachyte. The new interior was in the "Art Deco" style. Other additions to the building included a new conference room, banking chamber and upper storey corridors. The remaining interior fabric of the building up until the last recorded survey in February to April 1989 (Abrahams and Stapleton, 1989) is from this time. All this work was completed by 1934 and the building was named the Trust Building (Abrahams and Stapleton, 1989, 15).

In 1936 the building was bought by the Bank of New South Wales, presently known as the Westpac Corporation (Abrahams and Stapleton, 1989, p15)

Architects Robertson and Marks were reassigned to the building. They added lower ground floor shops including Cornelius Furs which was still present there in 1989 at the time of the last survey. Auxiliary columns and an electrical substation were added to the basement in 1938.

In 1985 new classical lift interiors were installed. The lift lobbies have been altered by the installation of new lift doors and surrounds. The clocks and bronze indication frieze have been partially reproduced to resemble the Trust Building's appearance in 1934. Minor repairs and alterations have continued to occur up until 1989 at the time of the last survey of the building (Westpac archives Drawings). Tenants, primarily solicitors and jewellers, have remained on the top floors since c. 1936.

In 2020 a full floor on level one of the Trust building hit the real estate market. The building is now home to luxury retail brand Hermes' flagship store on teh ground floor, after the company bought several floors in 2019 before undertaking a multi-million dollar refurbishment. The upper levels are owner-occupied by retailers, jewellers and professional services, including lawyers and medical practitioners (Fuary-Wagner, 12/11/2020).

Historic themes

Australian theme (abbrev)	New South Wales theme	Local theme
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments	Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures.	Changing the environment-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Commerce-Activities relating to buying, selling and exchanging goods and services	Banking-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Communication-Activities relating to the creation and conveyance of information	Communicating by the printed word-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings	Developing local, regional and national economies-National Theme 3
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Events-Activities and processes that mark the consequences of natural and cultural occurences	Developing local landmarks-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Accommodation-Activities associated with the provision of accommodation, and particular types of accommodation – does not include architectural styles – use the theme of Creative Endeavour for such activities.	Building settlements, towns and cities-National Theme 4
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Accommodation-Activities associated with the provision of accommodation, and particular types of accommodation – does not include architectural styles – use the theme of Creative Endeavour for such activities.	Accommodating travellers and tourists-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities.	Architectural styles and periods - Interwar Commercial Palazzo-
9. Phases of Life-Marking the phases of life	Persons-Activities of, and associations with, identifiable individuals, families and communal groups	Associations with Robertson and Marks, architect firm-

Assessment of significance


SHR Criteria b) [Associative significance]	The Trust Building is of State significance as the former offices of the Daily Telegraph, Sydney's highest circulating daily newspaper at the time of its construction. It is one of four surviving former newspaper offices from the period 1900-1930. The Trust Building is of significance as the Sydney office of Sir Rupert Clarke, a leading Victorian pastoralist and entrepreneur.
SHR Criteria c) [Aesthetic significance]	The Trust Building is of State significance as a leading example of the first generation of Sydney skyscrapers.
SHR Criteria f) [Rarity]	The Trust Building is of State significance as a rare surviving commercial building of the Edwardian period.
Assessment criteria:	Items are assessed against the State Heritage Register (SHR) Criteria to determine the level of significance. Refer to the Listings below for the level of statutory protection.

Recommended management:

Recommendations

Management Category	Description	Date Updated
Recommended Management	Review a Conservation Management Plan (CMP)
Recommended Management	Prepare a maintenance schedule or guidelines
Recommended Management	Carry out interpretation, promotion and/or education

Procedures /Exemptions

Section of act	Description	Title	Comments	Action date
57(2)	Exemption to allow work	Heritage Act - Site Specific Exemptions	Order Under Section 57(2) to exempt the following activities from Section 57(1): The maintenance of the item where maintenance means the continuous protective care of existing material.	Sep 2 1988
57(2)	Exemption to allow work	Heritage Act - Site Specific Exemptions	Order Under Section 57(2) to exempt the following activities from Section 57(1): (1) The maintenance of the item on the site where maintenance means the continuous protective care of existing materials. (2) Change of use of the building.	Aug 25 1989
57(2)	Exemption to allow work	Heritage Act - Site Specific Exemptions	Order Under Section 57(2) to exempt the following activities from Section 57(1): (a) alterations to the interior of the building on floors 2 to 10 (inclusive), except insofar as such work would affect: (i) the lift lobbies and stairs; (ii) the marble lined and glazed internal corridors, provided that such alterations are carried out in a way that has regard to the heritage significance of the building, will cause minimal damage to the significant fabric , and is reversible; (b) conservation and restoration works in accordance with the Draft Conservation Analysis and suggested Conservation Guidelines approved by the Heritage Council of New South Wales; (c)the maintenance of the item where maintenance means the continuous protective care of existing materials; (d) change of use.	Jul 17 1992
57(2)	Exemption to allow work	Standard Exemptions	ORDER UNDER SECTION 57(2) OF THE HERITAGE ACT 1977 Standard exemptions for engaging in or carrying out activities / works otherwise prohibited by section 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977. I, Donald Harwin, the Special Minister of State pursuant to subsection 57(2) of the Heritage Act 1977, on the recommendation of the Heritage Council of New South Wales do by this Order, effective 1 December 2020: 1. revoke the order made on 11 July 2008 and published on pages 91177 to 9182 of Government Gazette Number 110 of 5 September 2008 and varied by notice published in the Government Gazette on 5 March 2015; and 2. grant the exemptions from subsection 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977 that are described in the attached Schedule. Donald Harwin Special Minister of State Signed this 9th Day of November 2020. To view the standard exemptions for engaging in or carrying out activities / works otherwise prohibited by section 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977 click on the link below.	Nov 13 2020

Standard exemptions for works requiring Heritage Council approval

Listings

Heritage Listing	Listing Title	Listing Number	Gazette Date	Gazette Number	Gazette Page
Heritage Act - State Heritage Register		00676	02 Apr 99	27	1546
Heritage Act - Permanent Conservation Order - former		00676	18 Aug 89	89	5056
Heritage Act - Interim Conservation Order - Lapsed			17 Jul 92		5062
Local Environmental Plan	CSH Local Environmental Plan 4		07 Apr 00
Register of the National Estate			28 Sep 82

References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title	Internet Links
Written	Clive Lucas, Stapleton & Partners	1989	The Trust Building 155 King Street, Sydney NSW Australia: Draft Conservation Analysis and Suggested Conservation Guidelines
Written	Fuary-Wagner, Ingrid	2020	First level in Sydney's heritage Trust Building hits the market	View detail

Note: internet links may be to web pages, documents or images.

(Click on thumbnail for full size image and image details)

Data source


The information for this entry comes from the following source:
Name:	Heritage NSW
Database number:	5045394
File number:	S90/03328 & HC 87/2421

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