Parliament House in Sydney is a complex of buildings housing the Parliament of New South Wales, a state of Australia. It is located on the east side of Macquarie Street in Sydney, the state capital. The facade consists of a two storey Georgian building, the oldest public building in the City of Sydney, flanked by two Victorian additions containing the parliamentary chambers. These buildings are linked to a 1970s 12 storey block at the rear, facing onto the Domain. The Parliament of New South Wales consists of the Governor of New South Wales, the New South Wales Legislative Council and the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. ... Capital Sydney Government Const. ... Macquarie Street, Sydney, is the most eastern street of Sydneys CBD. Extending from Hyde Park at its southern end to the Sydney Opera House at its northern end, Macquarie Street is arguably Australias most beautiful and prominent avenue. ... The Sydney Opera House on Sydney Harbour Sydney (pronounced ) is the most populous city in Australia with a metropolitan area population of over 4. ... This article is about the local government area. ... Manchester Town Hall is an example of Victorian architecture found in Manchester, UK. The Carson Mansion is an example of a Victorian home in Eureka, California, USA The term Victorian architecture can refer to one of a number of architectural styles predominantly in the Victorian era. ... The Domain is a large open space in Sydney, Australia, immediately east of the central business district. ...

Parliament House, Sydney

Layout

The main entrances are contained in a two storey building with a colonnaded front verandah. On the ground floor, there are two entrance halls. Between these halls is the Greenway Room, which is used for small committee meetings and events. The upstairs rooms are used by Hansard.^[1] To the north of this building is the chamber of the Legislative Assembly, the lower house. The colour scheme in the chamber is green, reflecting the colours in the United Kingdom House of Commons. At one end of the room is the speaker's chair, and in front of this is a table holding the mace. Government members sit in the two rows of seating to the speaker's right, and opposition members to the left. There are galleries for the press behind the speaker, Hansard to the speaker's left, guests of the speaker opposite the speaker and the public above the speaker's gallery and to the speaker's right.^[2] Hansard is the traditional name for the printed transcripts of parliamentary debates in the Westminster system of government. ... The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. ... A lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. ... The House of Commons is a component of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also includes the Sovereign and the House of Lords. ...

At the opposite end of the entrance building is the Legislative Council chamber. Here, the colour scheme is in red, mirroring the House of Lords. This chamber contains a vice-regal chair, for use by the Queen or her representative, the governor, and the chair of the president of the council. Both chairs are made from red cedar, the vice-regal chair in 1856 and the president's chair in 1886. The table in front of the chairs was also made in 1856 from red cedar.The wall behind the two chairs is covered by bookshelves holding the Hansard records. The chamber is also decorated with seven busts, four depicting early presidents of the council in ceremonial dress and three of other prominent former members in Roman togas. As in the lower house, government members sit on the president's right and opposition members on the left.^[3] The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. ... This article is about the British House of Lords. ... Queen Elizabeth II, the current Queen of Australia. ... the flag of the Governor of New South Wales The Governor of New South Wales is the representative in the Australian state of New South Wales of Australias head of state, Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia. ... Redcedar is an alternative name for two North American species in the cypress family Cupressaceae: Eastern Redcedar or Eastern Juniper (Juniperus virginiana) Western Redcedar (Thuja plicata) It is also the name of an Australian species in the mahogany family Meliaceae: Australian Redcedar (Toona australis) Neither is a true Cedar (Cedrus... Roman clad in toga The toga was a distinctive garment of Ancient Rome. ...

Parliament House, Sydney

Behind the entrance building is the Jubilee Room, used for committee meetings and public functions. In this area, which is open to the public, there is also the Fountain Court, an exhibition venue containing a fountain by Robert Woodward. Beneath the Fountain Court is a 175 seat theatrette and above it a roof garden sometimes used for functions. Together with a small post office, these 1970s features form a 'square doughnut' shaped building linking the streetfront buildings with a 12 storey block at the rear. This block, with views over the Domain contains offices for members and other staff and meetings rooms, as well as dining facilities, a fitness area and car parking and service areas. The building has a power co-generation unit that serves Sydney Hospital and the State Library of New South Wales as well as Parliament House.^[4] The Domain is a large open space in Sydney, Australia, immediately east of the central business district. ... This article needs cleanup. ... Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales The State Library of New South Wales is a large public library owned by the state of New South Wales. ...

History

The oldest part of Parliament House was first built as the north wing of the Rum Hospital. Macquarie Street was created and land in the Domain was set aside by Governor Macquarie in 1910. As there was no funding from the British government, a contract to build the hospital was arranged involving convict labour and a monopoly on rum imports. The building of three two storey colonnaded buildings was completed in 1816 and was praised as 'elegant and Commodious' but also criticised for both its design and construction by Francis Greenway.^[5] Defects resulting from short cuts taken by the builders were still being discovered in the 1980s.^[1] This article needs cleanup. ... Major General Lachlan Macquarie, Governor of New South Wales Major-General Lachlan Macquarie CB (31 January 1762 – 1 July 1824), British military officer and colonial administrator, served as Governor of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821 and had a leading role in the social, economic and architectural development of... Caribbean rum, circa 1941 Rum is a distilled beverage made from sugarcane by-products such as molasses and sugarcane juice by a process of fermentation and distillation. ... Francis Greenway, as shown on the 1966 Australian $10 note. ...

The north wing was the Chief Surgeon's quarters, although at one point it was used as law courts. When the Legislative Council was formed in 1824, it did not have a permanent home and met in places such as the old Government House. In 1829, the Council's membership increased from five to 15 members, and it began to meet in the downstairs northern room of the Surgeon's quarters from 21 August. Only two rooms were left for the Chief Surgeon, with the remaining five rooms used as offices by the Clerk of the Executive and Legislative Councils and other government officials. From 1931 to 1936, the Clerk was also the curator of Australia's first museum, a small natural history collection which became beginning of the Australian Museum collection.^[1] The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. ... Government House is located in Sydney and was the official residence of the Governor of New South Wales, Australia. ... August 21 is the 233rd day of the year (234th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... The Australian Museum is the oldest museum in Australia, centering on natural history and anthropology, with collections centering on vertebrate and invertebrate zoology, as well as minerology, palaeontology, and anthropology. ...

The Legislative Council was increased to 36 members by the new colonial constitution in 1843. The room in the old building was no longer large enough, and so a new chamber was added to the north of the building. This chamber became the home of the new Legislative Assembly when a bicameral system was introduced in 1856. The Legislative Council was moved to a prefabricated iron building that was assembled at the southern end of the original hospital building. The iron building was built in England and originally shipped to Melbourne. It was purchased for £1,835. The cost of erecting and furnishing the building as well as the new offices was £4,475. The incomplete building was first used for the official opening of the new parliament on 22 May 1856.^[3] The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. ... In government, bicameralism is the practice of having two legislative or parliamentary chambers. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... Melbournes Yarra River is a popular area for walking, jogging, cycling, rowing and for relaxing on the banks with a picnic Melbourne (pronounced ) is the second most populous city in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 3. ... May 22 is the 142nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (143rd in leap years). ... 1856 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

The new chamber was not without its problems. The walls, originally lined with packing boards covered with hessian and plastered, and the curved iron roof cause problems with acoustics, lighting and ventilation. The roof was replaced with slate in 1959. Other changes followed as the facade was moved 3 m closer to the street in 1892-93. Deterioration in the southern wall became apparent in the 1920s, and wooden props were added to the outside of the southern wall and inside the chamber to hold up the ceiling. The southern wall was entirely rebuilt in the 1930s.^[3] The metre, or meter (U.S.), is a measure of length. ...

In the meantime, a dining room was constructed behind the hospital building by 1969 and the Parliamentary Library, which in 1850 had taken over the original Legislative Council chamber, expanded and moved back into the two remaining ground floor rooms, which were united to form the Greenway Room. The Jubilee Room was built as a reading room for the library in 1906.^[1]

A major rebuilding program was begun in 1974. The library was moved to the new 12 storey office block facing the Domain completed in 1980. As the last part of the rebuilding program, completed in 1985, the interiors of the two chambers were restored according to documentation on their appearance in 1892. The old Surgeon's Quarters were also restored.

References

Coordinates: 33°52′02″S, 151°12′46″E Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...