ASN Co. Building
The Australasian Steam Navigation Company building is located in The Rocks, Sydney, New South Wales. Completed in 1885 in the Pre-Federation Anglo-Dutch style under the direction of William Wardell and his associate, Walter Liberty Vernon, the building served as the principal offices and warehouse for the ASN Co. until 1887, when the Government of New South Wales acquired the land for use for ordnance facilities and later as government administration offices.
Since 1989 the building has been owned by the Sydney Cove Redevelopment Authority and its successors. The building is currently used as an art gallery to display the works of Ken Done. The building is listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register and on the non-statutory National Trust of Australia heritage register.
The original building is a five-storey, four-bay warehouse with an attached single bay of four stories of office space. The design is a 'Romantic composition in polychrome brick and sandstone capped by picturesque Dutch gables'. The four bays of warehouse are structurally defined as separate areas. Evidence uncovered on the ground, second, third and four floor indicates that the four warehouse bays were linked by a single arched opening, except Bays 4 and 5 which had two openings. The building is described in the Sydney Morning Herald on the date of opening, 25 July 1885, as:
'The new buildings are five storeys high, the first storey being of stone and the remaining ones of brick. Among the offices is a spacious board room, available for public meetings of the share-holders. The lowest floor of offices, level with the wharves, and entered there from, comprises the shipping office, marine superintendents office. the traffic superintendent's office and an apartment for the reception of Carter's tickets and general wharf business'.
The building was one of the earliest in Sydney to be fitted with a water sprinkler system to combat fire (c.1894), and is possibly the earliest surviving in Sydney.
In 1892-94 the water tower (beyond the clock tower above) was constructed. As Wardell was alive at this time it is possible that Wardell or Vernon designed the tower. In the 1950s the building was converted to offices which introduced openings through the load bearing walls, and introduced materials such as plywood and fibrous plaster to create offices, concealing the structure.
In 1990 Bay 5 of the building was adapted for use as part of The Story of Sydney. This use ceased in 1991. In 1992-3, the building was restored to its original 1880s appearance both inside and out, including the reinstatement of the large timber windows and doors and removal of the 1950s office partitions. - Details from the NSW Heritage Council web page about the building.
The eyesore vehicular ramp that cuts across the image provides access for vehicles to the Overseas Passenger Terminal (off to the left of the image), which hosts many of the major cruise ships visiting Sydney. The decorative roundabout in the foreground is the terminus of the Circular Quay West road.
ASN Co. Building
The Australasian Steam Navigation Company building is located in The Rocks, Sydney, New South Wales. Completed in 1885 in the Pre-Federation Anglo-Dutch style under the direction of William Wardell and his associate, Walter Liberty Vernon, the building served as the principal offices and warehouse for the ASN Co. until 1887, when the Government of New South Wales acquired the land for use for ordnance facilities and later as government administration offices.
Since 1989 the building has been owned by the Sydney Cove Redevelopment Authority and its successors. The building is currently used as an art gallery to display the works of Ken Done. The building is listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register and on the non-statutory National Trust of Australia heritage register.
The original building is a five-storey, four-bay warehouse with an attached single bay of four stories of office space. The design is a 'Romantic composition in polychrome brick and sandstone capped by picturesque Dutch gables'. The four bays of warehouse are structurally defined as separate areas. Evidence uncovered on the ground, second, third and four floor indicates that the four warehouse bays were linked by a single arched opening, except Bays 4 and 5 which had two openings. The building is described in the Sydney Morning Herald on the date of opening, 25 July 1885, as:
'The new buildings are five storeys high, the first storey being of stone and the remaining ones of brick. Among the offices is a spacious board room, available for public meetings of the share-holders. The lowest floor of offices, level with the wharves, and entered there from, comprises the shipping office, marine superintendents office. the traffic superintendent's office and an apartment for the reception of Carter's tickets and general wharf business'.
The building was one of the earliest in Sydney to be fitted with a water sprinkler system to combat fire (c.1894), and is possibly the earliest surviving in Sydney.
In 1892-94 the water tower (beyond the clock tower above) was constructed. As Wardell was alive at this time it is possible that Wardell or Vernon designed the tower. In the 1950s the building was converted to offices which introduced openings through the load bearing walls, and introduced materials such as plywood and fibrous plaster to create offices, concealing the structure.
In 1990 Bay 5 of the building was adapted for use as part of The Story of Sydney. This use ceased in 1991. In 1992-3, the building was restored to its original 1880s appearance both inside and out, including the reinstatement of the large timber windows and doors and removal of the 1950s office partitions. - Details from the NSW Heritage Council web page about the building.
The eyesore vehicular ramp that cuts across the image provides access for vehicles to the Overseas Passenger Terminal (off to the left of the image), which hosts many of the major cruise ships visiting Sydney. The decorative roundabout in the foreground is the terminus of the Circular Quay West road.