Orwell Street is one of a number of smaller streets in the Potts Point area.

It may be diminutive in size but is significant in terms of its role in the matrix of intricate smaller public spaces. It forms a vital link between Macleay Street, the area’s main street artery, and Victoria Street to its west. Orwell Street is named after the important 1829 11-acre estate called “Orwell” which formerly occupied the whole block and was owned by Judge John Stephen (1771-1833), from Aberdeen, Scotland. He was the first Supreme Court junior judge and the first NSW Solicitor-General. Orwell is a parish in Kinross-shire, Scotland which may explain a Scottish link and the provenance of its name.

An 1856 drawing in the Mitchell Library shows Orwell House as a grand two-storey, mansion with wrought iron verandah posts, a stone gateway, shuttered windows and at least four chimney pots, a status symbol of its comfortable, cosy contents, and probably appreciated by the judge’s wife and six children. It was designed by Samuel Gill. In the early 1870s it was owned by the Mr and Mrs Phillips, whose son, Orwell, was born there and was named after the house. Orwell House was demolished in 1937 and the Minerva Theatre was built on the site. The theatre is a grand castle of Art Deco exuberance and is a heritage-listed landmark now ear-marked for adaptive reuse or rejuvenation as part of an arts precinct.

Number 10 Orwell Street is a four-level block of brick apartments with a roof top common area with city-scape views, many with original period detailing and Cyprus pine floors. Its terrazzo entrance steps, wooden post boxes and interior foyer with striking ziggurat ceiling mouldings, chromed door handles and frosted glass doors are all reminiscent of its 1938 Art Deco origins. The exterior design emphasises its verticality and includes bricks in differentiating light and dark colours. The original, wooden sash, eight-paned windows are an unusual feature. They are over-sized, apparently to provide additional interior light. Similar large windows also appear in Sandringham, 20-22, Springfield Avenue, nearby, designed by Mr.C.Hamilton, but now lack their original configuration.

The architect of number 10 is currently unknown.

“Our first purpose-built apartment building was around 1900,” says Charles Pickett, co-author of “Homes in the Sky: Apartment living in Australia”. “Most apartment buildings in Australia are walk-ups. They’re three or four floors high.” One of the first major high-rise apartment blocks was the 13-storey Astor building, 123 Macquarie Street, Sydney, built in 1923. “And that’s when high-rise in Australia really started,” he says.

Apartments for rent sprung up in Melbourne’s Collins Street and in Sydney’s Macquarie Street, followed quickly by fancy inner-city suburbs such as Elizabeth Bay. “The only large flats were for quite well-off people,” says Pickett. As more employment opportunities opened up, particularly for women, “it was getting harder and harder to get servants,” explains Pickett. Without servants to maintain the large homes, the wealthy flocked to these new apartments where “they had common servants, servants who would work for the whole place, and that was the attraction”.

In the 1920s and 1930s, bohemian enclaves such as St Kilda and Kings Cross sprouted more affordable apartments. But, “people moving into flats was considered a weird thing to do”, says Pickett. “It was seen as un-Australian and immoral.”

Sands’ Suburban Directory indicates the 10 Orwell Street site was previously a house occupied by Mrs Watson in 1927. By 1929 it was Phillip Lodge Flats run by Mr Moloney and then Phillip Moloney. A search of Sydney Council’s archives and its Building Department’s site development card reveals a building application number 823/37 for Number 10 was approved on 15^thOctober 1937 for “Demolition … & erect building (flats)”. This is today’s building.

In 1938 the area nearby was also the site of a government First Aid Post which contained various rooms including a “shock” room, a patient waiting room, a staff room and an emergency surgery room. These city-wide posts may have been in preparation for World War II precautions and were often manned by St John’s Ambulance volunteers.

The apartment site was strata titled in 1976.

In 1986 Springfield Gardens opposite was completed. They are an urban oasis and a place for locals to escape the hum and thrum of their high octane living. Michael Snape’s iron red metal sculpture, Reflections, of abstract silhouetted metal figures absorbed in silent communion, blends with the earthen colours of the plaza’s brickwork and creates a focus within the gardens.

Orwell Street is a niche neighbourhood.

Mr. Phillip Reynolds, a resident for over 35 years and local flaneur, says, “This is the epicentre of Sydney: it has everything on tap including all amenities. It’s cosmopolitan, with a lovely ambience, interesting architecture and eclectic residents who still share homogeneous values.”

by Andrew Woodhouse

Heritage Solutions