Francis Greenway designed an orphans’ school for the corner of King Street and Elizabeth Street, but part way through construction, Commissioner Bigge directed that the building become a court house. Growing with the needs of the colony, that first building has undergone numerous extensions, alterations and additions. Generally,little evidence of Greenway remains except for the handsome geometric staircase and the unique dome visible from Elizabeth Street.

The chronology of the buildings records the economy and attitudes of the times – Greenway’s brickwork, the sandstone of Dawson’s Registry Office and Vernon’s use of mechanically made bricks in the Old Banco Court.

Recent work on the complex required unique responses to the site’s peculiarities such as the laser drilled drainage cut through the bedrock to relieve sub-soil pressure, and has revealed tessellated flooring and many unique stencils and decorations.

National Trust (NSW) Heritage Award, Conservation Built Heritage Commendation, 2004

Text courtesy of the Attorney General’s Department. Open courtesy of the Chief Justice of New South Wales and the Attorney General’s Department

ADDRESS
cnr King and Elizabeth streets

DATE BUILT | ARCHITECT
1819 | Francis Greenway, design
1859–1862 | Alexander Dawson, registry  office
1865–1890 | James Barnet, colonnade, extensions
1895–1896 | W L Vernon, Old Banco Court, Court 1
1978 | NSW Government Architect and Philip Cox & Partners, renovations
1997–2008 | PTW Architects, conservation, restoration and adaptive reuse