History
With construction starting only months after the arrival of the British First Fleet in 1788, the First Government House dates from the very start of Australian European History. It was the first substantial building to be constructed in Australia. The elevated site was prominent, overlooking Sydney Cove, and the building was at the centre of its colonial government and commerce for the first 60 years. It was demolished in 1845 although significant foundation remains have now been conserved and interpreted. The First Government House site is one of six sites in the Sydney area listed on the Australian Department of Environment and Heritage Australian National Heritage List.
The northern Bridge Street end of the site remained vacant for 50 years. In the 1970s and 80s criticism grew over the hole in the prestigious centre of Sydney’s finance district, an area of imposing sandstone buildings and colonial history, with several modern premium office towers interspersed. In 1982 a development application for a high rise office building was approved but archaeological investigations in 1983 revealed parts of the footings of First Government House. A new-found awareness around Australia of the nation’s history was emerging at the time, and the suggestion of a high rise office building on the top of the virtual cradle of the country’s European history met with wide opposition.
The New South Wales Government found a solution by transferring floor space from, what had virtually become a holy site, to space immediately behind to the south. Space owned by developer Sid Londish was used, who masterminded the amalgamation of the whole site, making the project commercially viable. The resultant site covers a whole block bound by Bridge, Bent, Phillip and Young Streets.
Read more about this topic: Governor Phillip Tower
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