30-42 Lower Fort Street, Millers Point

30–42 Lower Fort Street, Millers Point
30–42 Lower Fort Street, Millers Point
	Disused and boarded up former public housing located at 30–42 Lower Fort Street (left) and 2–4 Trinity Avenue (right), pictured in 2019.
Location	30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42 Lower Fort Street, Millers Point, City of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Coordinates	33°51′26″S 151°12′25″E / 33.8571°S 151.2070°E
Built	c. 1910
Architect	NSW Government Architect
Architectural style	Federation Arts and Crafts
New South Wales Heritage Register
Official name	Residence
Type	State heritage (built)
Designated	2 April 1999
Reference no.	894
Type	Historic site
	Location of 30–42 Lower Fort Street, Millers Point in Sydney 30-42 Lower Fort Street, Millers Point (Australia)

The apartment buildings at this address are notable as an early example of government-built housing the Sydney docks area, built in 1910. The set of 25 flats are known by their address, 30–42 Lower Fort Street, Millers Point, in the City of Sydney, in Australia.^[1]

History

Millers Point, adjacent to The Rocks and Circular Quay, is one of the earliest areas of European settlement in Australia, and a focus for maritime activities. By the mid 19th century, the areas became known for its substandard and crowded housing, populated especially by dock workers. It was the centre for an outbreak of the Black Plague in 1900, which led to government intervention to provide a better, more hygienic, standard of housing.^[2]

One result was this set of apartments built in 1910, designed by the NSW Government Architect under Walter Liberty Vernon.^[1] They were managed by the Sydney Harbour Trust, later the Maritime Services Board, then eventually the NSW Department of Housing from 1982.^[1]

The property was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

In 2014 it was slated for sale as part of the State Government's program of divestment of high-value social housing in the area, promising to build more and higher quality housing elsewhere, and the sale took place in 2017.^[3]

In 2025, the renovation of the blocks into updated apartments for sale was completed. Designed by Neeson Murcutt Neille, it won the Award For Heritage (creative Adaptation) in 2025 as part of the NSW Architecture Awards.^[4]

Description

Arranged somewhat like terraces, but described as 'Dublin Tenements', they consist of six blocks of three floors, separated by a few metres and access stairs, and backing onto a high cliff. Each block has two flats per floor, arranged side-by-side, with one half-block with one flat per floor. Most were built with two bedrooms, while the set on the angled street corner has three. They had laundry facilities and a pantry but no kitchen, and many of the rooms had little light.^[5]

All exterior walls are in face brick, in a restrained Federation Arts and Crafts style. The roofs are corrugated iron, and there are timber bracketed sun hoods to the first floor front windows, with cast iron balconettes.^[1]

The renovation works involved some opening out of the interiors, while retaining many original features, creating contemporary kitchens and bathrooms, and adding a bedroom to the rear.^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Residence". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H00894. Retrieved 13 October 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
^ "Bubonic plague epidemic 1900 | The Dictionary of Sydney". dictionaryofsydney.org. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
^ NSW, Homes (23 April 2025). "Millers Point Program | NSW Government". www.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
^ "Former Workmen's Dwellings Lower Fort Street | Neeson Murcutt Neille". Australian Institute of Architects.
^ "Workmen's Dwellings in Lower Fort Street No 1 16 February 1910 | The Dictionary of Sydney". dictionaryofsydney.org. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
^ Power, Julie (18 June 2025). "From ugly duckling to glamour puss: The heritage homes winning friends and influencers". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 October 2025.

Bibliography

Brooks & Associates (1998). Department of Housing s170 Register.

Attribution

This Wikipedia article was originally based on Residence, entry number 894 in the New South Wales State Heritage Register published by the State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 13 October 2018.

External links

Media related to 30-42 Lower Fort Street, Millers Point at Wikimedia Commons

Paul Davies Pty Ltd (March 2007). "Millers Point and Walsh Bay Heritage Review" (PDF). City of Sydney.
"Lower Fort Street". Millers Point Community. n.d. Retrieved 1 December 2018.

[nswshr-894-1] "Residence". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H00894. Retrieved 13 October 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.

[2] "Bubonic plague epidemic 1900 | The Dictionary of Sydney". dictionaryofsydney.org. Retrieved 11 October 2025.

[3] NSW, Homes (23 April 2025). "Millers Point Program | NSW Government". www.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 11 October 2025.

[4] "Former Workmen's Dwellings Lower Fort Street | Neeson Murcutt Neille". Australian Institute of Architects.

[5] "Workmen's Dwellings in Lower Fort Street No 1 16 February 1910 | The Dictionary of Sydney". dictionaryofsydney.org. Retrieved 11 October 2025.

[6] Power, Julie (18 June 2025). "From ugly duckling to glamour puss: The heritage homes winning friends and influencers". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 October 2025.

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Millers Point historical attractions
Residential buildings	Alfred's Terrace Argyle Place Nos. 1–7 Nos. 6–8 No. 9 Nos. 10–12a Nos. 22–32 No. 34 Nos. 36–38 Nos. 40–44 Nos. 46–48 No. 50 Nos. 52–60 Nos. 62–64 Argyle House Bettington Street Nos. 56–60 Nos. 66–68 Blyth Terrace Clydebank Dalgety Road Terraces Nos. 7–13 Nos. 15–25 Nos. 27a–35a Darling House Eagleton Terrace Hexam Terrace High Street Nos. 2–36 Nos. 3–9 Nos. 38–72 Nos. 74–80 House of Bodleigh Katoomba House Kent Street Nos. 18–22 Nos. 24–26 Nos. 21–29 No. 28 No. 30 Nos. 32–40 Nos. 37–47 No. 42 No. 44 No. 46 Nos. 48–50 Nos. 49–51 Nos. 52–54 Nos. 53–55 Nos. 56–58 Nos. 59–63 Nos. 60–62 Nos. 71–73 Nos. 75–79 No. 81 Nos. 82–88 Nos. 83–85 Nos. 90–92 Nos. 115–121 Nos. 123–125 Linsley Terrace Lower Fort Street Nos. 1–19 No. 20 Nos. 21–23 No. 22 Nos. 24–26 Nos. 25–35 No. 28 Nos. 30–42 Nos. 39–41 No. 43 Nos. 47–53 No. 55 Nos. 57–61 Nos. 63–65 Nos. 67–73 Nos. 75–77 No. 79 Merriman Street Nos. 14–16 No. 18 Nos. 20–48 Milton Terrace 18–20a Munn Street Osborne House Regency Townhouses Stevens Terrace Toxteth Trinity Avenue Nos. 2–4 Nos. 14–22 Undercliffe Cottage Undercliffe Terrace Vermont Terrace Windmill Street Nos. 1–63 No. 65 No. 69 No. 71 No. 73 Nos. 82–84 Nos. 86–88 Nos. 90–92 Winsbury Terrace
Commercial buildings	Argyle Street Railway Substation Dalgety's Bond Stores Grafton Bond Store MSB Stores Complex Oswald Bond Store Post Office Sydney Observatory Windmill Street No. 67
Churches	Garrison Anglican Church Precinct St Brigid's Roman Catholic Church
Pubs and hotels	Captain Cook Harbour View Hero of Waterloo Lord Nelson Palisade Shipwrights Arms
Other significant historical features	Millers Point & Dawes Point Village Precinct Walsh Bay Wharves Precinct