George McRae

Education Department, Bridge Street, Sydney

City Markets building, Ultimo Street

George McRae (1858-1923) was a Scottish architect who migrated to Australia and pursued his career in Sydney, where he became Government Architect of New South Wales.

Life and career

George McRae was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1858. He arrived in Sydney in 1884 and was appointed Assistant Architect in the City Architect’s office. He became City Architect and City Building Surveyor in 1889. He held this position until 1897, when he was appointed Principal Assistant Architect to Walter Liberty Vernon in the Government Architect's Branch. He succeeded Vernon as New South Wales Government Architect in 1911 and held the position until he died in 1923.

Partial list of works

George McRae was responsible for the design of many buildings in Sydney and other places, several of which still survive and are heritage-listed. Some of the extant buildings are:

• Education Department Building, Bridge Street, Sydney, 1912; a six-storey sandstone building with steel and reinforced concrete structure and a central light well, listed on the Register of the National Estate.
• Former Parcels Post Office, Railway Square, Sydney, 1913; a brick and sandstone building in the Federation Free Classical style, described as "an ingeniously designed and monumental building." This distinctive building used to house a post office, Telecom Telex machine centre and a tool store; it has now been fully restored and reopened as a residential/commercial complex.
• Taronga Zoo lower entrance, top entrance and Indian elephant house, Mosman, Sydney, 1916; replaced first zoo at Moore Park, has a Local Government Heritage listing.
• Corporation Building, Hay Street, Sydney, circa 1893; known at first as the Municipal Building, this building combined Queen Anne and Anglo-Dutch influences, and originally had a ground-floor market stall arcade. It is listed on the Register of the National Estate
• Additions to the Colonial Treasury Building, Bridge Street, Sydney, originally built circa 1849, extensions circa 1896; listed on the Register of the National Estate
• Queen Victoria Building, George Street, Sydney, 1893-98; a sandstone masterpiece in Romanesque style, reopened in 1986 as a retail centre after major restoration, and now listed on the Register of the National Estate
• Former Sydney City Markets, Ultimo Road, Haymarket, 1910. Part of the market complex that included the vegetable market, Hay Street, and the markets bell tower, Quay Street. Later converted to a hotel.
• Court House, Maitland Street, Cessnock, New South Wales; the State Government set aside land in 1905 that established Cessnock as the administrative centre of the coal fields in that part of the Hunter Valley. This included the court house, which now has a Local Government Heritage listing.

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  Cessnock Court House
• Queen Victoria Building
  Queen Victoria Building
• Corporation Building
  Corporation Building
• Parcel Post Office
  Parcel Post Office