Image Gallery - Exterior of Parliament House

Exterior Images of New South Wales Parliament House, Macquarie Street, Sydney - Contemporary and Historic

The central colonnaded section of Parliament House, facing Macquarie Street, was completed in 1816 as the surgeon's accommodation in Sydney's first permanent hospital. The Chambers on either side were added in 1843 and 1856, although the facades of both have since been extended towards Macquarie Street. Many other additions were made to the Parliament buildings over the years but these proved inadequate to the needs of a modern Parliament. Finally, in 1975-85, all of the old buildings behind the historic hospital and Chamber buildings on Macquarie Street were removed and major new sections were added to the Parliament building. Even though these included a new twelve-storey structure, the new sections were designed to ensure that they did not overwhelm the small scale of the historic Macquarie Street frontage. Set back and partly underground, they are, in fact, hardly visible from Macquarie Street.

Parliament House is located on Sydney's historic Macquarie Street. Various parts of the building date from different stages in the history of NSW, ranging from 1816 through to the mid-1980s. At its Macquarie Street frontage it is a small two-storey Georgian building flanked by the facades of the Victorian era Parliamentary Chambers. This part of the building is then linked via a 'square doughnut' section around a central fountain to a contemporary twelve-storey office block which looks out onto the parkland of Sydney's Domain and to Sydney Harbour beyond.

2007: From The Domain, the large area of public parkland behind the Parliament, the new sections of Parliament House are clearly visible, although even here they seem relatively modest against Sydney's soaring skyline. Much of the twelve-storey building is underground, greatly reducing its visual impact.

1998: A similar scene to above from The Domain before the construction of severl new city skyscrapers.

Another point of view of the Parliament is offered by the almost secret Roof Garden, two levels above Macquarie Street. Built around a light-well looking down into the Fountain Court, it offers a pleasant space for functions and relaxation.

Another view of Parliament's Roof Garden

Another garden - the Speaker's Garden with statue of Sir Thomas More

Statue of Governor Lachlan Macquarie in the forecourt of Parliament House on Macquarie Street, Sydney. Macquarie ordered the building of a new hospital, of which the northern wing eventually became part of Parliament House.

Beginnings - the Parliament House buildings began as the northern wing of the 1816 Sydney Hospital, known as the 'Rum Hospital'.

1843 - a new legislative chamber is added to the northern end of the old 'Rum Hospital' building. This chamber will be used by the newly partly-elected Legislative Council from 1843 to 1855. From 1856 it became the Legislative Assembly Chamber, which it remains as today.

1856 - Responsible Government in NSW and a bicameral parliament. A second legislative chamber is added to the southern end of the parliament building. This will be used by the Legislative Council while the new Legislative Assembly uses the former Council Chamber on the northern end. The new Council Chamber is a pre-fabricated iron building.

1864 - the Parliamentary buildings are approximately in the centre of the row of buildings on the left side of Macquarie Street. On the far left, on the site of today's State Library, is the imposing facade of St Stephens Iron Church which after 1874 became a library before being moved to Lidcombe around 1900. To the right of the parliament is the long colonnaded facade of the original ward block of the Rum Hospital, of which the parliament building had been part. It was demolished four years later and eventually replaced by the 1894 buildings of Sydney Hospital.

The new Parliamentary dining room completed in 1869. It was demolished in the twentieth century, its site being approximately where the Fountain Court is today.

Federation 1901- Macquarie Street looking north opposite Parliament House. The street is decked out for the celebration of the Federation of the Australian colonies into a new nation.

1931 - Macquarie Street. Looking down on the buildings of Parliament (foreground) and Sydney Hospital. Far left is the Parliament's bowling green, with a small section of the tennis court behind - their site is now occupied by the 1988 State Library building.

1952 - the Parliamentary buildings in a post-war Macquarie Street.

1954 - the first Royal Visit. Queen Elizabeth II arrives to a guard of honour in an enthusiastically decorated Macquarie Street and Parliament. The stone facades of the western side of the street were mostly soon to fall to the jackhammers, giving way to steel and glass.

1976 - Demolition underway of the assortment of old Parliamentary buildings on the Hospital Road side of Parliament House to make way for new parliamentary accommodation including the 12 storey building and the Fountain Court. The historic Macquarie Street buildings, the chambers and the Jubilee Room will be retained and restored.

Last modified 21/02/2008 18:12:01 : Update this page