Land Titles Office Sydney

Land Titles Office Sydney is located at Queens Square, 1 Prince Albert Rd, Sydney and built in 1912-13 - A three-storey Neo-Gothic sandstone-faced office building with attic storey and basement, of steel-framed construction with reinforced concrete floor and slate covered steel framed roof. The facades contain some elaborate gothic detailing to windows and good carving work to gables and over entrances. The three large gables facing Prince Albert Road are flanked by castellated corner turrets, whilst the facade to Queen's Square has a similar small gable flanked by two turrets on each side. The site was formerly a convict garden (it is adjacent to Hyde Park Barracks) and the office of the Colonial Architect and a related timber yard.

This well scaled civic building is the work of Walter Vernon and E. H. Farmersen. It is sensitively detailed to complement the adjoining older buildings such as St. Mary's Cathedral. Its carefully composed sandstone facade compliments the streetscape and satisfactorily terminates the northern end of College Street. It provides a sympathetic component in the progression of civic historical buildings along College Street to Queen's Square. Long associated with the registration of birth, death and marraiges, as well as trade marks, bills of sale, business agents etc. the building stores valuable old registers and other land title documents.

The stonemason responsible for the excellent masonry work on this building - Colin Hudson - carved his initials into one of the string course bosses at about second-floor level on the western side return wall of the main entrance facing St. Mary's. Nearby on a small octagonal turret are the initials of his father HCH (Herbert Charles Hudson). On the eastern side of the main entrance on the east and west elevations, with initials of the architects and clerks of works. On the keystone of the arch over the main entrance are the entwined numbers 1912.