Sirius Apartment Building

Sirius Apartment Building (Draft)

Item details

Name of item:	Sirius Apartment Building (Draft)
Other name/s:	Sirius Apartments
Type of item:	Built
Group/Collection:	Residential buildings (private)
Category:	Public housing
Location:	Lat: -33.85759 Long: 151.2080
Primary address:	36 - 50 Cumberland Street, The Rocks, NSW 2000
Parish:	St Philip
County:	Cumberland
Local govt. area:	Sydney

Property description

Lot/Volume Code	Lot/Volume Number	Section Number	Plan/Folio Code	Plan/Folio Number
LOT	100		DP	264104

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Parish	County	Type
36 - 50 Cumberland Street	The Rocks	Sydney	St Philip	Cumberland	Primary Address

Owner/s

Organisation Name	Owner Category	Date Ownership Updated
Department of Community Services	State Government
Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority	State Government

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Statement of significance:

	The Sirius Apartments building at 36-50 Cumberland Street, The Rocks, designed by Tao (Theodore) Gofers is likely to be of State Heritage Significance as a rare, representative and fine example of the Brutalist architectural style, especially in its use of off-the-form concrete and the stacking of cubic components to create a harmonious whole. It is also significant as an early example of rooftop landscape gardening in NSW and Australia The building is likely to have further State landmark aesthetic significance as an unusual and aesthetically distinctive treatment of high rise accomodation, bookmarking the view of Circular Quay from Sydney Harbour together with the Opera House. The Sirius apartment building is likely to have state heritage significance for its historical values as a major outcome of the Green Bans, a protest movement against theredevelopment of the Rocks and Millers Point area in the 1970s. The Sirius building built to provide affordable public housing in its 79 apartments, for approximately 200 people potentially displaced by other developments in the area. The historical significance of the building is further demonstrated as the socially responsible design of the Sirius Apartment was part of a world wide movement in architecture concerned with social justice and better outcomes for those less advantaged in society. The building is likely to have state level significance for historic associations with the Green Bans of the 1970s, the Green Ban's leader Jack Mundey as well as for its association with its designer, Tao Gofers, a noted architect who pioneered a new modular building style in concrete with specific application to social housing in Australia. The Sirius Apartment Building is likely to have state level heritage significance for its long and strong association with past and present residents of the Millers Point and The Rocks community. Many of The Rocks and Millers Point residents were the descendants of maritime workers who lived and worked in the area for generations. Sirius may also be of social significance to others in NSW who consider it an important achievement that the unique makeup of the Miller's Point and The Rocks community has been preserved for so many generations.
	Date significance updated: 04 Jun 15
	Note: There are incomplete details for a number of items listed in NSW. The Heritage Branch intends to develop or upgrade statements of significance and other information for these items as resources become available.

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Description

Designer/Maker:	Tao (Theodore) Gofers
Builder/Maker:	Built by the Sydney Cove Redevelopment Authority.
Construction years:	1978-1979
Physical description:	This 79-apartment residential building complex consists of repetitive geometric (cubic) elements stacked on top of each other to give a step-like terrace effect rising from under five storeys for much of the northern sections and part of the southern end, to eleven storeys in a high-rise block towards the south. The profile of the apartment building is a landmark in the Central Sydney Precinct. In fact 75 per cent of the building is five storeys or less. It was originally intended to have a white finish to echo the Opera House but, due to budget constraints, the building remained in grey, off-the-form concrete. At the time of construction, one of the main complaints was that the building rose above the level of the Bridge's roadway. The general form is said to have been inspired in part by Moshe Safgdie's Habitat '67 residential complex in Montreal, originally built for Expo '67. Another Housing Commission apartment building designed by Gofers and built as a prototype for the Sirius Apartment Building, was built at 1A Ritchie Street, Sans Souci, on the site of a former trolley-bus, then bus, depot. Floors are concrete slabs, and the window frames are acid-etched. There are 79 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-bedroom apartments, mostly single storey, with two- or three-level walk-ups as well as lifts. Because of the design, each lift foyer on each floor serves only a small number of apartments. The apartments for the aged are located in the tower building and there are no steps at the entrance to the units. The majority of the apartments open onto gardens on the roofs of lower apartments, while there is also a communal garden on the 8th floor and ground floor courtyards. Hanging garden effects soften the appearance of the concrete. Large planter boxes on the top floor, visible from the Sydney Harbour Bridge, were referred to in a 1979 letter to the Sydney Morning Herald as 'those hideous purple bulbous things on the roof'. They are still there but much faded. Inside, the main foyer has a slatted 'waving' timber ceiling and there are three-dimensional wood sculptures designed by the architect, Tao Gofers, based on European cave art figures. There are two community lounges, both with marvelous views, as well as service rooms and on-site parking. The foyer also accomodates a distress call panel indicating one or other of the aged care units should the resident press the alarm. This no longer works but is an important expression of the buyilding desingn's attention to resident's requirements. The building was also well known for a sign announcing 'One Way! Jesus' that has been displayed in the window of Unit 74 facing the Bridge for more than 15 years.
Physical condition and/or Archaeological potential:	The building both externally and internally is in excellent condition.The building is intact and has high integrity. All of its internal fittings and artworks have been retained.
	Date condition updated:05 Feb 15
Modifications and dates:	No known modifications
Further information:	The Sirius building provides affordable public housing for people displaced by other developments in the area.It has been government policy to house a social mix of young and old, and of large and small families. Some apartments were designed with particular families in mind as original occupants.

Current use:	The Sirius building provides affordable public housing for peopledisplaced by other developments in the area.
Former use:	The Sirius building provides affordable public housing for peopledisplaced by other developments in the area.

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History

Historical notes:

The land on which most of the Sirius Apartment Block now stands is the traditional land of the Cadigal Aboriginal people. With European settlement the traditional people were eventually dispossessed of their land. The area where the apartment block now stands was once known as Bunker's Hill, in recognition of Captain Bunker who was granted the land by Governor King in 1806, in return for "services to the Governor". (Mary Suttor 2015 'The Sirius Legacy - A Conversation) Captain Bunker was Master of the Third Fleet and delivered his cargo of 185 convicts to Sydney in 1891. He went on to set up a flourishing whaling enterprise. In around 1800, Bunker established a wattle and daub cottage on Bunkers Hill which was later replaced by a stone villa and store buildings in 1820. The villa and stores became the headquarters of his whaling enterprise. By the 1840s this dwelling was surrounded by a row of sandstone terraces This buildings were demolished in 1909. A number of Housing Board buildings were erected on the site in 1913-1916 after the realignment of Cumberland St. These consisted of bond stores, warehouses and government office buildings. (Mary Suttor 2015 'The Sirius Legacy - A Conversation) According to Jack Burke, Chairman of the Housing Commission when Sirius was designed and built, it replaced an ugly warehouse in dangerous condition with a large neon 'Yamaha' sign on its roof. The remaining section of the warehouse, the Ajax building at the northern end of the site (23 George Street North) is also listed on the SHFA Heritage & Conservation Register and was listed on the National Trust Register in September, 2014. (2015 National Trust Nomination ) The Green Bans The Sirius building was designed by Housing Commission architect Tao (Theodore) Gofers during 1978-1979 and construction was completed in March 1980. Its construction was in response to the 1970s Green Bans movement protests over planned redevelopment in The Rocks and Millers Point. and a move to The Green Bans were instigated by the Builders Labourers Federation (BLF) in 1971 as a powerful protest against a persistent push by developers to pull down large sections of old Sydney and replace these with the often speculative construction of modern high-rise offices, luxury housing and other infrastructure projects. The BLF led, by Jack Mundey, Bob Pringle and Joe Owens, was motivated to protect housing and natural open landscapes for the ordinary people in over the interests of developers. (2011Meredith Burgman and Veruty Burgman. The Green Bans Movement) The first successful campaign was at Kelly's Bush where a large luxury housing development by AV Jennings at Hunters Hill threatened the last scrap of open space in that area. After a public meeting supported by 600 local people, the union placed a green ban on construction there. In a resounding response to Jennings declaration to use non-union labour on the development, workers at another AV Jennings site vowed to leave the office construction half built forever "as a monument to Kelly's Bush." (2011Meredith Burgman and Veruty Burgman. The Green Bans Movement) By 1974 the BLF had placed Green Bans over construction works that threatened the Centennial Parklands, Woolloomooloo, the Botanic Gardens and the Rocks. All these bans were made were with the union's expressed commitment to building socially "useful buildings such as Kindergartens , homes for the aged, hospitals and housing for ordinary people." (1972 Jack Mundey. Letter to the Sydney Morning Herald in 1972 in 2011Meredith Burgman and Veruty Burgman. The Green Bans Movement At the Rocks and Millers Point the Green Ban was resolved when the Sydney Cove Redevelopment Authority agreed a compromise where some development could go ahead on the proviso that some residents were rehoused in quality accommodation but at low, affordable rents. (2015 National Trust Nomination) The Housing Commission's architect Tao Gofers was given the project in 1978anf the building was completed in1979. Gofers design for the Sirius building marked a turning point in public housing design with a refocus on the needs of the tenants and a commitment to providing safe and comfortable accommodation for housing commission residents. Influenced by the world wide movement towards providing quality social housing, and especially the design of the Moshie Safie's Habitat apartments in Montreal, Tao Gofers began his task by speaking directly to the prospective tenants and canvassing their needs and ideas for their own homes. From this consultation the building brief included the requirement that the profile of the building not be monolithic but 'blend into the existing skyline'. The resolution of this requirement was the asymmetrical building consisting of a stepped stack of apartments the roofs of those at a lower level providing a garden space for the apartment above. (2013 Charles Picket Sirius on the Rocks) In another innovation for public housing at the time, the apartment block were intended to house a mix of families and single people and old and young people. This provided another level of security and community to the residents. In his design Gofers located the housing for elderly in the tower the entrance of which was at ground level requiring no steps and the elevators transported tenants to their front door. The apartments in the tower also featured an alarm button which was connected to a distress call panel in the foyer of the block in case of personal emergency. Elsewhere there were apartments of one, two, three and four bedrooms, often designed for particular families. There were a number of two storey flats on the ground level featuring courtyards, others were split level and still others were single storey. (2015 Millers Point Sirius http://millers point community.com.au/the-place/sirius) The amenity of the apartment block was provided in a generous communal garden on level 8, a communal common room named the Phillip Room, a library and a generous foyer decorated with an unusual laminated timber sculpture of animals which was part of the original design.(2015 Millers Point Sirius http://millers point community.com.au/the-place/sirius) The comprehensive redevelopment plans for The Rocks and Millers Point were largely dropped in 1975 after vigorous public and union protests. Sirius was built by the Sydney Cove Redevelopment Authority and leased to the Housing Commission, later going through the hands of the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority. 2015 National Trust Nomination) There was much public outrage at the time of construction and for some time afterwards. The National Trust, in 1979, referred in its Bulletin to 'a lump in The Rocks', viewing Sirius as 'a vast and out-of character building'. Tao Gofers, in 1980, was quoted to the effect: 'I'm not worried about the criticism. People will accept it in 3 or 4 years.' Charles Pickett, writing on the Powerhouse Museum website, comments: 'This prediction proved to be correct.' (2015 National T\rust Nomination) Roads adjoining Sirius were closed in the early 1980s and Gloucester Street became Gloucester Walk, which is now listed on the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority Heritage and Conservation Register. In 2014 the State Government of NSW announced the sale of numerous properties in The Rocks including the Sirius building. Since that time the Housing NSW Relocation Team has set up office in the Phillip Room where it coordinates the movement of tenants out of the ROcks to other social housing accommodation.(2015 Millers Point Sirius http://millers point community.com.au/the-place/sirius)

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Historic themes

Australian theme (abbrev)	New South Wales theme	Local theme
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings	Developing local, regional and national economies-National Theme 3
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	Creating landmark structures and places in urban settings-
7. Governing-Governing	Government and Administration-Activities associated with the governance of local areas, regions, the State and the nation, and the administration of public programs - includes both principled and corrupt activities.	State government-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities.	Architectural styles and periods - 20th century Modern Movement-

Assessment of significance

SHR Criteria a) [Historical significance]	The Sirius apartment building funded, designed and built by the NSW State Government, is likely to have state historical significance as a major outcome of the Green Bans, a protest movement against the development of the Rocks and Millers Point area in the 1970s.This movement was the first such movement in the world committed to protecting open spaces from development, protecting existing housing from infrastructure development and the preservation of older housing stock from replacement with high-rise. The Sirius building was built to provide affordable public housing in its 79 apartments, for approximately 200 people potentially displaced by other developments in the area. The historical significance of the building is further demonstrated as the socially responsible design of the Sirius Apartment was part of a world wide movement in architecture concerned with social justice and better outcomes for those less advantaged in society. Post WWII social housing projects around the world aimed to provide affordable accomodation for a mix of family units, communal facilities and rooftop gardens One of the earliest examples of such social housing projects was Corbussier's Unite d'Habitacion in Marsailles (1947-1952). Other similar building complexes with an eye to provide social housing and community facilities in large urban areas include the Barbican Housing estate (Chamberlain, Powell and Bon 1982) in London and Habitat '67 (Moshe Safgdie) in Montreal .
SHR Criteria b) [Associative significance]	The Sirius Apartment Building is likely to meet this criterion of state significance because it has a special association with Jack Mundey through The Rocks/Millers Point green ban and the negotiations that led to the settling of that green ban. The Apartments also have a strong association with architect Tao Gofers, its designer, who pioneered in Australia a new modular building style in concrete, intended to meet the differing configurations of the single persons and various sized families displaced by development and the apartments also contain his interior designs and artworks.
SHR Criteria c) [Aesthetic significance]	The Sirius Apartment Building at 36-50 Cumberland Street, The Rocks, designed by Tao (Theodore) Gofers is likely to be of State Heritage Significance as a fine example of the Brutalist architectural style, especially in its use of off-the-form concrete and the stacking of cubic components to create a harmonious whole. It is also significant as an early example of rooftop landscape gardening in NSW and Australia. As such it featured in a number of architectural websites and in architectural literature internationally. The building is likely to have further State landmark aesthetic significance as an unusual and aesthetically distinctive treatment of high rise accomodation, bookmarking the view of Circular Quay from Sydney Harbour together with the Opera House. Described in the magazine "Concrete" (Issue 11) as a 'bold and exceptional experiement in low income public housing'. It was a conscious attempt to reduce the monolithic natiure of most high-rise residential developments. The four wooden sculptures in the foyer area are likely to have State aesthetic and technical significance as rare surviving works by architect Tao Gofers. The Sirius Apartments is likely to meet this criterion of state significance because it is a rare example in Australia of Tao Gofer's modular housing design in concrete originally pioneered by Canadian/Israeli architect Moshe Safgdiee. His three-dimensional, prefabricated units for living were a central feature of Expo 67 and an important development in architectural history.
SHR Criteria d) [Social significance]	The Sirius Apartment Building is likely to have state level heritage significance for its long and strong association with past and present residents of the Millers Point and The Rocks community. Many of The Rocks and Millers Point residents were the descendants of maritime workers who lived and worked in the area for generations. Sirius may also be of social significance to others in NSW who consider it an important achievement that the unique makeup of the Miller's Point and The Rocks community has been preserved for so many generations, and are aware that the building was specifically built and designed to house long term residents.
SHR Criteria f) [Rarity]	The Sirius Apartment Building is likely to be of state heritage significance because, with the Ritchie Street, Sans Souci, Tao Gofers building they represent the only two known examples of Gofers pre-fabricated modular social housing.
SHR Criteria g) [Representativeness]	The Sirius Apartment Building is likely to be of state heritage significance because it is the most prominent and intact example of this type of social housing specifically designed for its intended occupants' needs.
Assessment criteria:	Items are assessed against the State Heritage Register (SHR) Criteria to determine the level of significance. Refer to the Listings below for the level of statutory protection.

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Listings

Heritage Listing	Listing Title	Listing Number	Gazette Date	Gazette Number	Gazette Page
Heritage Act - Under consideration for SHR/IHO listing	Graham Quint		05 Feb 15

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References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title	Internet Links
Written		2015	Sirius
Written		2014	Scratching Sydney's Surface - Sirius Apartments
Written		1979	Cove Courier
Written		1979	National Trust Bulletin No 87
Written		1978	'Sirius'
Written	Alex McKinnon	2014	An Entire Subub in Sydney Is Being Evicted
Written	c.Pickett	2013	Serius on the Rocks
Written	Jim McIllroy	2014	Millers Point residents oppose sale of Sirius apartments
Written	Michael Bogle	2012	Beauty of the Beast
Written	Monica Kovac	2015	Sirius Public Housing in The House Hunter blog
Written	Nicole Ahsham	2014	Sydney waterfront publ;ic housing properties to be sold off
Written	Nicole Hasham	2014	Eviction News 'worst day' for Sirius building tenant, 84
Written	Pinterest	2014	‘Architecture according to Apple’ website.
Written	Toby Johnson	2014	Sirius uncertainty at The Rocks

Note: internet links may be to web pages, documents or images.

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Data source

The information for this entry comes from the following source:
Name:	Heritage Office
Database number:	5062575
File number:	EF14/28279

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