World Square
{{Short description|Shopping center in Sydney, Australia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Use Australian English|date=July 2013}}
{{Infobox urban feature
| name =
| native_name =
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| place_type = City square
| other_names =
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| image_place = World tower, Sydney.jpg
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| image_alt =
| image_caption = World Square Tower from Liverpool Street in 2009 with the now demolished Sydney Monorail in the foreground
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| construction = {{circa|1990}}{{spaced endash}}{{circa|2007}}
| complete = 1999
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| amenities = {{ubl|Residential apartments|Commercial offices|Retail|Restaurants|Hotel and serviced apartments|Parking|Childcare facilities|Open civic square}}
| area = {{convert|16,567.5|sqm}}
| surface = {{convert|1.52|ha}}
| architectural_style = Modernist
| dedicated_to =
| owner = {{ubl|50% ISPT Core Fund (50%)|Acadia Funds Management (50%)}}
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| location = Bounded by George, Liverpool, Pitt and Goulburn Streets, Brickfield Hill, Sydney CBD, Australia
| address1 = 644 George Street
| address2 = Sydney NSW 2000
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| map_caption =
| pushpin_map = Australia Sydney central
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_mapsize = 270
| pushpin_relief = 1
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| pushpin_map_caption = Location in the Sydney central business district
| coordinates = {{coord|33|52|39|S|151|12|24|E|region:AU-NSW_type:landmark|display=title,inline}}
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| website = {{URL|worldsquare.com.au}}
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}}
World Square is a residential, shopping, dining and event precinct located in the Sydney Central Business District. It fills an entire Sydney city block, bounded by George, Liverpool, Pitt and Goulburn Streets, on what was a small hill called Brickfield Hill.
World Square features a shopping centre, hotels, office buildings and residential apartment towers. Liverpool Lane, off Liverpool Street, is part of World Square and features restaurants, cafes and take away shops. It is also the home of Southern Cross Austereo's Sydney radio stations Triple M and 2Day FM.
File:Anthony Hordern and Sons- 20th December 1936 (18832395934).jpg' Palace Emporium]]
Buildings
- Rydges World Square Hotel (formerly the Avillion Hotel Sydney), corner of Pitt Street and Liverpool Street. 10 floors of hotel, restaurants and commercial space. Construction ended in 1999.
- Hordern Towers, on Pitt Street. 48 floors of residential apartments and commercial space Construction ended in 1999.
- World Tower, on Liverpool Street. 73 floors of residential apartments and commercial suites. Construction ended in 2004.
- Latitude, 680 George Street and 50 Goulburn Street. 51 floors of commercial space. Construction ended in 2004.
- Latitude East, corner of Pitt Street and Goulburn Street. 12 floors of commercial space. Construction ended in 2007.
- The World Square Shopping Centre is located on the Lower Ground floor and Ground floor of this development containing various retailers.
History
{{see also|Anthony Hordern & Sons}}
World Square is located on an area of land which was once called Brickfield Hill. The first land grant of Brickfield Hill (George Street, between Liverpool and Goulburn Streets) was granted to Samuel Hockley in 1810 by Governor Macquarie, where Hockley set up a butchery.{{Cite web |date=2013-11-06 |title=Change and challenge a history of the municipality of canterbury by City of Canterbury Library - Issuu |url=https://issuu.com/canterburylib/docs/change_and_challenge_a_history_of_t |access-date=2024-07-07 |website=issuu.com |language=en}} Hockley lived at Brickfield Hill until his death in 1859, where he was noted as one of the oldest colonists in Sydney.{{Cite news |date=1859-02-25 |title=ODDS AND ENDS. |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article87987300 |access-date=2024-07-07 |work=Bendigo Advertiser}}
The site was eventually sold. In 1905, the Anthony Hordern & Sons department store, a six-storey building opened on the former Brickfield Hill. At one point it was the largest department store in the world.{{Cite web |title=Lost Sydney: Anthony Hordern & Sons department store |url=https://www.visitsydneyaustralia.com.au/anthony-horderns.html#:~:text=Anthony%20Hordern%20&%20Sons%20was%20the,1823,%20as%20a%20drapery%20shop. |access-date=2024-07-07 |website=www.visitsydneyaustralia.com.au}} The flagship store operated from 1905 until 1966 with the store converted to Horderns HomeWorld which operated until its closure in 1973. After the takeover of Anthony Hordern's by Waltons in January 1970, the Brickfield Hill site was then sold to Stocks and Holdings Ltd, for $8.5 million, ending 64 years of retail pioneering and ownership of the building by Anthony Hordern's Ltd.
Following the closure of the department store, the building operated as Palace Emporium and was subsequently used by the NSW Institute of Technology (now UTS). Palace Emporium and Institute of Technology operated in the building until the late 1970s. Since then the building remained vacant due to strict fire regulations changed and the building was no longer adequately fire-rated.{{Cite web|date=2007-09-20|title=After 30 years, World Square finally lives up to the dream|url=https://www.afr.com/property/after-30-years-world-square-finally-lives-up-to-the-dream-20070920-jdh67|access-date=2021-02-26|website=Australian Financial Review|language=en}}
In the early 1980s the building's new owner, a Singaporean-based Ipoh Garden Development planned to try to save the Anthony Hordern & Sons building. However it was found to be too costly after receiving independent advice from the CSIRO on the state of the building's concrete and other fittings.{{Cite web|title=Lost Sydney: Anthony Hordern & Sons department store|url=https://www.visitsydneyaustralia.com.au/anthony-horderns.html|access-date=2021-02-26|website=visitsydneyaustralia.com.au}} The building was controversially demolished in 1986 which led to the site remaining undeveloped throughout most of the 1990s due to planning disputes.{{cite news |first=Tim |last=Dick |title=Fixing the hole |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Fixing-the-hole/2005/01/07/1104832305310.html |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=7 January 2005 |access-date=10 December 2007 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071203094439/http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Fixing-the-hole/2005/01/07/1104832305310.html |archive-date=3 December 2007 |url-status=live }} During the dispute, scenes for the 1995 film Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie were shot on the former property of Hordern & Sons and future site of World Square.{{cite news |first=Paul |last=Matthews |title=What REALLY Happened – the first MMPR Movie |url=http://tromberg.dyndns.org/~paul/Zordmaker/zordreal2.html |date=November 1995 |access-date=11 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090129115218/http://tromberg.dyndns.org/~paul/Zordmaker/zordreal2.html |archive-date=29 January 2009 |url-status=live }}
In 1988 the now defunct Sydney Monorail stopped at the development's temporary 'built-in' station. The station was incorporated into the new building in 2005 and operated until 2013.
In 1999 the Avillion Hotel Sydney, Hordern Towers and stage 1 of the shopping centre was completed. The World Tower, Latitude, Latitude East and the final stages of the shopping centre was completed in 2004.
The shopping centre featured a Coles supermarket, Sony Centre, Rebel Sport, BaySwiss, Retravision and 80 stores. Retravision closed in 2008 and was replaced by JB Hi-Fi. In April 2015 Rebel Sport closed down.{{Cite web|title=50% off EVERYTHING at Rebel Sport World Square NSW|url=https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/190090|access-date=2021-02-26|website=OzBargain|language=en}}
In 2016 ISPT acquired 50% stake of World Square with the other half owned by Arcadia Funds Management.{{Cite web|last=Object|first=object|date=2016-02-10|title=ISPT Acquires 50% Interest in Sydney's World Square Shopping Centre|url=https://theurbandeveloper.com/articles/ispt-acquires-nterest-sydneys-world-square-shopping-centre|access-date=2021-02-26|website=The Urban Developer|language=en}}
Tenants
World Square has 16,567 m2 of floor space with major retailers including Australia Post, Coles, Gong Grocer Asian Supermarket, and JB Hi-Fi.{{Cite web |title=World Square Shops |url=https://www.worldsquare.com.au/shops |access-date=15 November 2022 |website=worldsquare.com.au}}
Incidents and accidents
- On 7 March 2016 a man was critically injured after falling from an 18-storey building. Police were called to an apartment block around 2:45am following reports a man was throwing items from his balcony. Police negotiators talked to the man for a number of hours. Despite this the man, who is believed to be aged in his mid-40s, fell from the balcony just after 5am. He was treated at the scene before being taken to St Vincent's Hospital. The shopping and restaurant precinct was closed for a number of hours whilst police conduct inquiries.{{Cite web|date=2016-03-07|title=Man critical after skyscraper fall|url=https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/news/man-falls-18-storeys-from-balcony-in-sydneys-world-square-complex/news-story/9c6d214861414ab9471143e88f7b1586|access-date=2021-03-03|publisher=News.com.au|language=en}}
- On 29 June 2020 a man was fighting for his life after falling off an escalator. Emergency services were called at 1am and the man was rushed to St Vincent's Hospital where he remained in a critical condition in intensive care.{{Cite web|last1=readJune 29|first1=Erin Lyonsless than 2 min|last2=NewsWire|first2=2020-1:24PMNCA|date=2020-06-29|title=Man fighting for life after escalator fall|url=https://www.couriermail.com.au/breaking-news/25yo-man-in-critical-condition-after-falling-down-escalator-in-sydney/news-story/033357fd58463e84f1e12c2e077b6df3|access-date=2021-03-03|website=couriermail|language=en}}
Gallery
File:World Square during Mardi Gras, Sydney.jpg|The centre of World Square during the Mardi Gras, 2019
File:World Square Sydney 001.jpg|A second photo of the centre of World Square. 2022
File:World Square Sydney 005.jpg|Steps leading up to the centre. 2022
File:World Square Sydney 010.jpg|North-West entrance. 2022
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|World Square}}
- [http://www.worldsquare.com.au/ World Square Official Website]
- {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20040611101105/http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/cx/?id=108751 Emporis World Square Official Website]}}
{{Shopping centres in New South Wales}}
{{Sydney landmarks}}
Category:Shopping centres in Sydney
Category:Shopping malls established in 1999
Category:1999 establishments in Australia
Category:Apartment buildings in Sydney
Category:Residential buildings completed in 1999
Category:Liverpool Street, Sydney
Category:Modernist architecture in Australia