lnspired by the concept of an underground railway delivering commuters to the city centre, this was built by Grace Bros as a purely speculatve venture. Based on the much- publicised Chicago Tribune Building (1922), it reflects the American hybrid of fusing perpendicular Gothic (complete with decorative turret buttresses) with the machine manufactured glazed tile of Art Deco. A Grace Brothers department store occupied the ground floor for a short time, wth offices above.

It was requisitioned by the Government during Word War II as a command centre for General MacArthur’s Pacific operatons, and has been used as offices and a post offce since.

The building was recently refurbished for use as a hotel.

Taken from:Sydney architecture / Jahn, Graham. Published 1997.