The Strand Arcade

Interior of The Strand

The Strand Arcade is a Victorian-style shopping arcade in Sydney, New South Wales. The Strand Arcade is located in the heart of the Sydney central business district, between Pitt Street Mall and George Street. The arcade was one of the first Victorian buildings in Sydney.

Being three storeys high, the arcade has the traditional-styled protruding galleries, cedar staircases, tiled floors, cast iron balusters and timber framed shop fronts, under a prominent, tinted glass roof to reduce glare. The arcade contains the preliminary boutiques that characterized the Sydney shopping experience of the 1890s.

When the arcade opened in 1892, it was said to be the very latest in shopping centre designs and was described as, "The finest public thoroughfare in the Australian colonies". The arcade has endured two depressions, two World Wars and two major fires. The restored shop fronts are an exact replica of the original internal shopping facades.

History

The Strand Arcade in 1937, in the aftermath of a gunshot.

Designed by English architect John Spencer, The Strand was built in 1891 and opened on 1 April 1892,[1] as the fifth and last of the arcades built in Sydney in the Victorian era. It is the only one remaining in its original form today. The arcade was to be 340 feet (or 104 metres) long, and three storeys high.

The Arcade was originally known as the 'City Arcade' and sometimes as 'Arcade Street'. In 1891 it was named after the famous London Street that links the City of London and the City of Westminster. The Strand was London's smartest theatre, hotel and shopping street in the early 1900s. The Nut Shop, which still operates today, opened in 1939.

The arcade became run down as time went by. Restoration work was carried out in the 1970s, but a fire broke out on the morning of 25 May 1976. The arcade was partly destroyed. Restoration began again and the arcade, now back to its original grandeur, re-opened in 1977.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "THE STRAND". The Sydney Morning Herald (16, 858). New South Wales, Australia. 2 April 1892. p. 5. Retrieved 27 October 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ↑ About-Strand Retrieved 4 April 2011
  • The Strand Arcade strandarcade.com.au
  • The Strand Arcade sydneyarchitecture.com
  • Laila Ellmoos (2008). "Strand Arcade". Dictionary of Sydney. Dictionary of Sydney Trust. Retrieved 11 October 2015. [CC-By-SA]

Coordinates: 33°52′10″S 151°12′27″E / 33.8694°S 151.2076°E / -33.8694; 151.2076

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