When people think of Sydney landmarks, the Opera House and Harbour Bridge steal the spotlight. But tucked away behind Circular Quay is another of Sydney’s architectural gems: the InterContinental Hotel which combines 170 years of history, blending colonial-era architecture with contemporary usage in a way that few buildings achieve. A development I’ve long admired.
Long before guests ever checked in for their harbour-view suites and rooftop cocktails, the site was the small colony of Sydney’s first ever vegetable garden.
The gold rushes of the1850s brought rapid growth, transforming the small settlement into an important commercial centre and the government needed a permanent and impressive headquarters to manage its public finances. The Neo-Classical and Italian Palazzo influenced New South Wales Treasury Building became the colony's first purpose-built government office. The epicentre of the colony's money management, it was designed to inspire confidence, its elegant symmetry, arched windows, and carefully proportioned details conveying authority and stability.
A NEW FUTURE
But by the 1960s, the government left the treasury building largely vacant, at risk of the wrecker’s ball. Fortunately, a new vision emerged as a development group, inspired by Britain’s Lord McAlpine, sought to preserve the building with a totally new purpose.
Transforming the building into a luxury hotel was ambitious, the architects preserving the historic façades, restoring key interior features and adding a 32-storey tower behind the heritage building. Opened in 1985, the combination of old and new make the InterContinental Sydney a fascinating architectural project.
Today, guests experience both worlds - beautifully restored heritage spaces filled with sandstone walls, grand staircases, a rejuvenated wrought iron ‘birdcage’ lift and other historic details, together with contemporary guest rooms and a rooftop bar offering an expansive harbour views.
Instead of freezing history in time, the building to evolved, the result a hotel both timeless and contemporary. In a city famous for iconic landmarks, this nineteenth-century sandstone landmark has found a new life in the heart of modern Sydney.
PITY THE HOSPITALITY DOESN’T MATCH THE BUILDING
As the author had always admired the building, a few years ago he reserved a ‘staycation’ there as part of a Sydney visit, including drinks and eats in the rooftop bar. The booking was a promotional, advance purchase booking, which provided for a refund providing cancellation was made a week before occupancy.
As circumstances changed, we cancelled our reservation through the hotel’s reservation department and confirmed the cancellation by email, quoting the two reservations officers who had been advised of the cancellation.
For an organisation with the supposed reputation of the InterContinental brand, we were horrified that the management ignored our cancellation and to refused a refund.
ALL PART OF THE STORY
Despite experiencing InterContinental’s questionable integrity, the author still chose the building for an important segment in the action-adventure novel Outback Danger.
Inspired by his chivalrous upbringing, Marton Landor, the novel’s lead character, plots to rid the world of what he sees to be a festering sore, and the hotel’s surrounds provide him with an ideal location for a transfer of items critical to the success of his plot.
OUTBACK VENGEANCE NOVEL: https://www.williamsimsbooks.com/outbackvengeance
FURTHER READING: https://www.sydney.intercontinental.com/hotel/history/
HISTORY MEETING MODERN LUXURY