Item Type: Series

Linked To

Collection

Queen Victoria Building (QVB)

Organisation

Sydney City Council

Related series

Creating agencies

Related activities

Construction and maintenance of buildings and structures

Plan

Plans in this Series (357)

Box

Boxes in this Series (41)

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Plans of the Queen Victoria Building (QVB), 1892-1930

Description

Unique IDAS-0541DateBetween 1st January 1892 and 1st January 1930Date qualifiercircaFormatPlanShort descriptionThis series consists of the building plans held by Council relating to:
(1) Construction of the Queen Victoria Building during the 1890s
(2) Internal reconstruction of 1916-1918
(3) Subsequent work.DescriptionThis series consists of the building plans held by Council relating to:
(1) Construction of the Queen Victoria Building during the 1890s
(2) Internal reconstruction of 1916-1918
(3) Subsequent work.

They were created by the City Engineering and Building Surveyors Department AG-0061 (01/01/1928 to 01/01/1936) and City Architect and Building Surveyors Department I AG-0078 (01/01/1881 to 01/01/1928).

Many of the plans are undated. They have been assigned dates 01/01/1892 to 31/12/1892 and 01/01/1917 to 31/12/1917 to indicate the approximate dates of drawing.

*** Construction of the QVB

The site of the building is the area bounded by George, Druitt, Market and York Streets. Part of this site had been a market area (the old George Street Markets) since 1810. The Town Clerk's report to Council for 1889 stated that some alternative to the old George Street Markets was being sought, the old markets having become an "eyesore and an inconvenience" and the "new markets in Sussex Street have proved inadequate for present necessities".

On 17 November 1892, the Markets Committee recommended to Council "that the whole of the vacant land available between George, York, Druitt and Market Streets, be utilised for the purpose of building Market Premises". The area on the southern end had been police courts and a watch house which were purchased from the government for £124,000.

Council moved "that the building consist of three storeys and a basement", "that the amended plan marked No. 5, prepared by the City Architect showing the arrangement of the ground floor be recommended to Council", "that the Council authorise the Mayor to invite tenders for the excavation and drainage and erection of foundations of a three-storey building to be subsequently erected in conformity with the ground plan submitted by the City Architect".

Construction of the building began in 1893 with the foundation stone being laid by the Mayor, Alderman Sir William P Manning, on 8 December 1893. It was opened to the public on 21 July 1898 having cost £261,102.

The markets held in the building were relocated to the Haymarket area in 1910 and on March 26, 1918, Council changed the name from the Queen Victoria Market Building to the Queen Victoria Building.

Starting in about 1916 the building was extensively altered to create more lettable space, in an attempt to increase revenue. Most of the plans in this series that are not original constructions drawings relate to the 1916+ alterations.

On 15 May 1934, Council decided to transfer the administration of the Electricity Department to the Queen Victoria Building. Alterations for this were contracted out to Beat Bros Ltd, according to plans prepared by Council's architects. Most of these plans are in [CRS ], Queen Victoria Building Plans - air conditioning and lifts.

*** Post 1930 Plans

The plans created after 1930 were created by outside agencies and have been kept in a separate series.

*** Control Systems

The plans were stamped with a number at some time during the 1950's by the Planning and Building Department. They divided the plans of all of Council's properties into two sets - tracings and prints. Each set was then numbered consecutively and listed in [CRS 334], Index to Plans of Council Properties (Prints and Tracings Books). In this series there is one print and 15 tracings which were not stamped with a number. These have been numbered 1 and 1 - 15 respectively and are listed at the beginning of the accession record.

According to the lists in [CRS 334], there appear to be a number of plans missing from the series.

In 2012/2013 a project to re-list, conserve and digitise the plans was completed. As far as possible the sheets were transferred from flat folders to tube boxes to minimise exposure to further damage if they ever have to be retrieved again from offsite storage. A complete review and update of the item list was done. Plans that are not dated but are signed by McRae or otherwise attributable to the original design process have been dated 1 Jan 1892 (McRae mostly did not date his original drawings but was working on the project from about that date). Some plans were given a TX prefix. These plans lacked a T or P number and were also in fragile condition (most conservation work was applied to these plan sheets). All plans were digitised and access will now normally be given this way, the original sheets are mostly too fragile to produce to researchers.

Relationship summaryRELATED TO: Council Plans I AS-0569 (c. 01/01/1892 to c. 01/01/1930)
RELATED TO: Specifications for Council Properties AS-0130 (c. 01/01/1892 to c. 01/01/1930)
RELATED TO: Construction and maintenance of buildings and structures AY-0001 (01/01/1892 to 01/01/1930) LanguageEnglish (eng)

Plan

Plan - Longitudinal section, Queen Victoria Building (QVB) Sydney, 1892

Plan - Queen Victoria Building (QVB) - Elevation to George Street, Sydney, 1892

Plan - Queen Victoria Building (QVB) - Elevation to George Street, 1892

Plan - Queen Victoria Building (QVB) - Fourth floor, 1892

Plan - Queen Victoria Building (QVB) - Roof and domes, 1892

Plan - Queen Victoria Building (QVB) - Ground floor, 1892

Plan - Queen Victoria Building (QVB) - Third floor, 1892

Plan - Queen Victoria Building (QVB) - Basement, 1892

Plan - Queen Victoria Building (QVB) - Transverse sections - between piers 33-34 and piers 18-19, 1892

Plan - Queen Victoria Building (QVB) - Second floor (part), 1892

Plan - Queen Victoria Building (QVB) - Ground floor (part), 1892

Plan - Queen Victoria Building (QVB) - First floor (part), 1892

Plan - Queen Victoria Building (QVB) - Longitudinal section (part), 1892

Plan - Queen Victoria Building (QVB) - Second floor(part), 1892

Plan - Queen Victoria Building (QVB) - Transverse section through the centre of the building, Sydney, 1892

Plan - Queen Victoria Building (QVB) - Transverse section, Sydney, 1892

Plan - Queen Victoria Building (QVB) - Transverse sections - between piers 33-34 and piers 18-19, 1892

Plan - Queen Victoria Building (QVB) - Longitudinal section, 1892

Plan - Queen Victoria Building (QVB) - Transverse section, 1892

Plan - Queen Victoria Building (QVB) - First floor (Market Street end), 1892

Plan - Queen Victoria Building (QVB) - Basement, 1892

Plan - Queen Victoria Building (QVB) - Roof and domes (part), 1892

Plan - Queen Victoria Building (QVB) - Third floor (part), 1892

Series

Specifications for Council Properties, 1885-1991 [Municipal Council of Sydney / City of Sydney]

Access

Public access statusOpen to public access

Identification and Arrangement

Source system ID541System of arrangementSingle number

Digitisation

Digitisation statusFully digitised

Data Quality

Authenticity & integrityThese are the original records of the Municipal Council of Sydney. The records have been held in the Council’s custody and have a high level of authenticity.

Relationships

CollectionQueen Victoria Building (QVB)OrganisationSydney City CouncilRelated seriesSpecifications for Council Properties, 1885-1991 [Municipal Council of Sydney / City of Sydney]Council Plans I, 1870-1984Creating agenciesCity Architect and Building Surveyor's Department ICity Engineering and Building Surveyor's DepartmentRelated activitiesConstruction and maintenance of buildings and structures

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Plans of the Queen Victoria Building (QVB), 1892-1930