What The Strand Arcade is known for

Built 1890–92 by architects John B. Spencer and Charles E. Fairfax, the only Victorian-era shopping arcade in Sydney to survive in its original form; restored after a 1976 fire, heritage-listed in 2011.

The Strand Arcade was built between 1890 and 1892 in Sydney's CBD, designed by architect John B. Spencer with Charles E. Fairfax as his assistant, and constructed by the firm Bignell and Clark. Running 104 metres between Pitt and George Streets, it was Sydney's longest arcade when it opened in 1892, described at the time as 'the finest public thoroughfare in the Australian colonies.' The three-storey building retains its original Victorian features: projecting timber-framed shopfronts, cedar staircases, cast-iron balusters and a glazed roof designed to filter glare. It is the only Victorian-era shopping arcade in Sydney to survive in its original form, having outlasted two World Wars, the Depression, and two major fires — the most serious on 25 May 1976, which partly destroyed the interior before a restoration reinstated its chandeliers, hydraulic lifts, tiled floors and cast-iron and cedar detailing by 1977. The arcade was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 13 December 2011.