Sydney Hospital & Eye Hospital
Macquarie Street, Sydney
1880-94 Thomas Rowe, John Kirkpatrick
1994-96 New buildings by State projects Rod Militech and
McConnel Smith & Johnson - Alan Rintoul (Director in
Charge)
Originally named the Sydney infirmary, this building was designed to replace the deteriorated centre wing of Governor Macquarie’s ‘Rum Hospital’. Three sandstone buildings and two gatehouses along Macquarie Street emerged from an architectural competition held in 1880 and won by Thomas Rowe (1829-1899). The brief was rewritten.
Rowe was heavily criticised by his peers for the practice of under quoting building costs in order to win a competition, and the Sydney Infirmary and this project were his causes célébres. Work halted for some years after partial construction, awaiting the approval of additional funds from the New South Wales parliament.
Recent work includes the relocation of the Sydney Eye Hospital to the site, the construction of an eight level car park, ground floor emergency with eye hospital outpatients, two levels of wards and an operating theatre on the top floor. The new work enabled the demolition of the Travers building, long considered an eyesore, thereby allowing the campus to be opened up to The Domain.
Information appearing in this section is reproduced from Sydney Architecture, with the kind permission of the author, Graham Jahn, a well known Sydney architect and former City of Sydney Councillor. Sydney Architecture, rrp $35.00, is available from all good book stores or from the publisher, Watermark Press, Telephone: 02 9818 5677.
Last Updated: Wednesday 12 December, 2007