6 of the Best Buildings and Architecture on George Street in Sydney

Lined by skyscrapers, busy with cars, crowds, and lightrail, if you were walking down George Street a few hundred years ago, you were probably going fishing. 

Sydney's first high street was once a walking track following the contours of the land to fishing spots in what’s now called Sydney Harbour. 

Today, when you're walking down George Street, from Railway Square to The Rocks, you're walking down the oldest street in modern Australia. Along the way, you'll pass a show-stopping list of architectural highlights that tell the story of a young colony establishing a foothold on the world stage. We've listed them in order along George St, from St Andrew's Cathedral in the CBD, to the last stop, historic Cadman's Cottage, in The Rocks.  

Plan your walk to start or finish at the Mercure Sydney at Railway Square, and take a walk through design history with our list of six of the best buildings and architecture along George St, Sydney. 

When it was built in 1837, St Andrew's Cathedral marked the edge of Sydney Town. Now, it's in the city centre.  

Replacing a temporary cathedral on the same site, architect Edmund Blacket took his design cues from the great English cathedrals of Winchester, York and Canterbury (where he's now buried) and built what's now Australia's oldest cathedral in the Perpendicular Gothic style.  

Look up at the richly coloured stained-glass windows and dramatically high ceilings in the narrow, sandstone building, and don't miss the Great Bible of 1539, one of the cathedral's greatest treasures. Services are still held daily in the cathedral, with a choir of boys and men performing Evensong twice weekly, regular organ recitals and even a company of bellringers.  

Blacket went on to become the Colonial Architect for six years from 1849, and designed Sydney University's Great Hall, the Sydney Grammar School and more than 100 mostly Anglican churches found around the country.  

Address: Corner of George and Bathurst St, Sydney 

What’s a town without a town hall? Built on the site of the first European cemetery, the Sydney Town Hall is one of the few buildings of the period to retain its original purpose till today. Architect JH Willson’s drawing won the competition to design the town hall in 1868, and it eventually opened in 1889, with a public holiday that drew the crowds. 

Like many buildings of its time, it is constructed from sandstone quarried in Pyrmont, now in inner-city Sydney. The flamboyant style, described as High Victorian or French Second Empire style, earned Sydney Town Hall the nickname 'the wedding cake' for its opulent roofs, balustrades and turrets, thanks to architect JH Willson. 

Step inside to see the gold, gilded Grand Organ; built in the UK and sent to Australia in 94 packages, it was installed in 1890 with more than 10,000 pipes. Then the world's biggest organ, it is still used regularly today. 

The Town Hall sits alongside the Queen Victoria Building, creating a dramatic stretch of architecture along George Street. If you're catching up with a Sydneysider, chances are they'll suggest meeting by its broad steps. 

Address: 483 George St, Sydney 

Gorgeous glass domes and dramatic elongated windows are the signature of the Queen Victoria Building (everyone just calls it the QVB). The original design brief was for a marketplace but clearly, 28-year-old architect George McRae went a little overboard, as demonstrated when it officially opened in 1898. 

The QVB was designed in the Romanesque revival style by Scotsman McRae, who'd immigrated to Sydney, later becoming the Government Architect of NSW after he'd designed this landmark building.   

Not everyone’s loved the QVB over its lifespan; in the 1960s, there was a campaign to rip it down and replace it with a park and parking lot. Happily, the proposal was overturned, and the building remained, to survive the next hurdle, the Hilton Hotel bombing in 1978, which blew its windows out. 

Look up today to spy some of the sandstone building’s 21 copper domes, and step inside to take high tea in the tearooms, once the Grand Ballroom of the QVB. 

McRae’s imprint remains on Sydney; as well as the QVB, other buildings he designed include the Corn Exchange building in Sussex Street, the grand Department of Education Building in Bridge Street and St James Station, which was completed after his death. 

Address: 455 George St, Sydney 

When the lights were switched on in Sydney, the Strand Arcade was one of the first to have electricity, and the crowds loved it. Mind you, they'd loved it the minute architect John Spencer unveiled the plans for a Victorian Romanesque arcade in the mid-1880s. Running more than 100 metres long between George and Pitt Street Mall, with elaborate tiled floors, a glass dome, cast-iron balustrades and sweeping cedar staircases, what was not to adore? 

The Strand opened in 1892 to more applause; immediately becoming a place to see and be seen. It would host nightclubs in the 1920s and 1950s, austerity during wars and the Depression, a devastating fire in the 1970s that saw a full restoration of its upper floors. 

The NutShop opened in 1939 and continues to sell their signature Vienna almonds and Vienna hazelnuts today, now in its fourth generation, and the Strand Hatters, "the best little hat shop in Sydney," continues a tradition of millinery in the arcade.   

Address: 412-414 George St, Sydney 

Sydney's oldest continuously licensed hotel opened in The Rocks in 1828, run by a former convict, Samuel Terry. From its position beside the port, it became the first and last port of call for sailors and soldiers on their way to and from service.  

Built on the site of the first hospital that came out with the Second Fleet, the hotel was demolished by new owners Tooth & Co. brewers, who opened the current Californian Bungalow-style building in 1921. 

Fun fact: during 1900, the bubonic plague broke out in The Rocks, and many buildings were destroyed in an attempt to eradicate the disease.  

Address: 137 George St, The Rocks 

Built in 1816, when the Sydney colony was less than 30 years old, Cadman’s Cottage is the oldest surviving building on George Street and Sydney’s oldest remaining residential cottage. It was designed by Sydney’s first government architect, Francis Greenway, who arrived in the colony convicted of forgery. He designed the two-storey, white sandstone house in the classic Colonial Georgian style. 

The house was built as a barracks for coxswains, who were responsible for steering ships into port. When it was built, it would have been right at the water’s edge – the construction of Circular Quay has seen the cottage shifted away from its previous waterfront location. It earned its name as the home of John Cadman, a convicted horse thief sent to Sydney, who rose to the position of first government coxswain, managing the government’s ships.  

Ironically, Australia’s first decimal $10 banknote featured a portrait of Greenway - the convicted forger - with a montage of the buildings he designed, including Hyde Park Barracks, which provided accommodation for convicts. 

Address: 110 George St, The Rocks 

George St in Sydney is brimming with heritage-listed buildings, including the Queen Victoria Building, Sydney Town Hall, the Strand Arcade, and Cadman’s Cottage, which is one of the few buildings that remain from the first 30 years of the colony. 

The oldest surviving building on George St is Cadman’s Cottage. Built in 1816, it was built as a barracks for coxswains, who steer ships into port. It was named after the government coxswain John Cadman, who arrived in the colony as a convict and eventually was pardoned and rose through the ranks to this role. 

The grand General Post Office (GPO) was built in 1866 from Sydney sandstone, opening in 1874 on what is now Martin Place, in the centre of George Street. Its design, by the NSW Colonial Architect James Barnet, is the Victorian Italian Renaissance Style and in 1891, the bells in its distinctive clock tower first tolled. It had Sydney’s first telephone exchange and remained the headquarters of Australia Post until 1996. It remains Martin Place and one of Sydney’s most significant buildings in its early European history. 

Australia’s first European colony was set up on Gadigal land in 1788 when Sydney’s convict settlement was established at The Rocks. The first buildings of the new colony were constructed along George Street, Sydney, which became modern Australia’s first street.

The Queen Victoria Building (QVB) was built between 1893 and 1898 in the ornate Romanesque Revival style, designed by architect George McRae. Originally, it had a concert hall, cafés, warehouses and, at one point, housed the city library.  

George Street is the oldest street in Sydney, and the oldest street in modern Australia. It runs from Railway Square to The Rocks, beside Sydney Harbour. Originally called the High Street, Governor Lachlan Macquarie renamed it George Street in 1810 after King George III.