NESCA House

Newcastle City Council began to generate electricity for street lighting in 1890. Within two years it was increasing electrification and a district supply was established. By 1937, the Newcastle Electricity Supply Council Administration was providing over 87 million Kilowatt hours of power and had outgrown its office space in City Hall.

The Council decided to construct an administration centre for the electricity department on the parcel of land next to the City Hall. Emil Sodersteen, the architect responsible for the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, was chosen to produce the design.

Sodersteen’s new building was designed to complement the City Hall and was constructed from similar sandstone. Despite its consideration of the grand and traditional building next door, NESCA House demonstrates a strong influence from Art Deco and European Modernist styling.

The building housed a demonstration theatre, showroom, administrative and business offices, and staff accommodation. It opened in 1938 and performed a variety of roles until The University of Newcastle took over the site in 1995 and it became known as University House.

Where you'll be

25 Laman Street

Newcastle NSW 2300

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City Hall

This walking tour begins at City Hall, which has been at the centre of Newcastle cultural and political life since it was completed in 1929. The first actions to establish a new town hall were recorded in 1888 but a final site and design for the hall were not agreed upon until 1925. Newcastle City Hall was designed by acclaimed architect Henry Eli White. The building contains a concert hall that seats 844 people, a dining room and servery, office spaces and the Council Chambers. The Hall is constructed of Sydney sandstone, adorned with Roman Doric and Ionic columns and dominated by its tower and four-sided three-metre diameter clock. City Hall has performed a variety of roles in the decades since its construction. During the Second World War, it was the nerve centre for the civilian response to an attack on the city and hosted free concerts for international and local troops seeking entertainment. The City Hall continues to host concerts, ceremonies and meetings of the elected Newcastle City Council today. Next to City Hall is the City Administration Centre, known to many as The Roundhouse or The Champagne Cork, this building was constructed to accommodate the various departments of Newcastle City Council in 1977 as the City Hall could no longer accommodate the growing workforce. A roughly triangular parcel of land next to the City Hall was chosen to construct a purpose-built administration centre. With deep recessed windows to cut down on the heat from the sun, the building’s precast concrete columns were finished to match the colour and texture of the City Hall stonework. Between City Hall and the Council Admin Centre is the Corm sculpture, presented by BHP Pty Ltd to Newcastle City Council to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the opening of City Hall. The 1.5m tall bronze sculpture was inspired in both title and form by the fleshy stem found in plants. The sculpture was created by artist Marilyn McGrath who described the work as an organic sculpture designed to provide a link between the constructed environment and nature.

Newcastle Art Gallery

Newcastle Art Gallery was officially opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on Friday 11 March 1977. It was the culmination of decades of work to realise the belief that Newcastle, a city known for industry, could also be famous for having the best art gallery in the country. Newcastle Art Gallery is a pioneer. It was the first purpose-built regional art gallery in Australia. With its sharp geometric shapes and exposed concrete walls, the gallery reflects the Brutalist aesthetic that flourished in the decades after the Second World War. The Gallery has collected over 6000 works since its inception and is considered one of the most significant public collections in the country. Today the gallery hosts a variety of exhibitions drawn both from its own collection and from other institutions via travelling exhibitions. Next to the Art Gallery is the Newcastle War Memorial Cultural Centre, adorning the entrance is Paul Bedle's relief sculpture ' Music, Literature and Art'. His heavily stylised work is designed to fit into tight spaces. The two reliefs show aspects of music, literature, and art. Beadle included a unique self-portrait carving a male bust at the top of the right entry. The works reflect the community’s desire to be a place of creativity and learning. English born Beadle was the head of the Art School at Newcastle Technical College from 1951 until 1957. He taught and exhibited widely in Australia before migrating to New Zealand in 1961.

Civic Theatre

The walk continues along King Street, before turning right onto Hunter Street. This corner is known as Bank Corner, the acutely angled intersection occupied by a bank for over 100 years. The previous building stood for 50 years before being replaced by the one before you in 1940. Described as a simple modernised version of the Classical Traditional, the building has Art Deco influences in detail and decorative elements. Continuing along Hunter St, passing the Art School and Trades Hall. Opened in 1896, locals enrolled here to learn trades and skills, from freehand drawing to steam engine maintenance. Designed by W.E. Kemp, who designed the Sydney Technical College in Ultimo. Federation Romanesque in style, the College’s frame is constructed from Red Cedar. The building is asymmetrical, with the right side being larger than the left. The tradition of training on this site continues today. The TAFE Hunter Institute Newcastle Art School is a combination of the 1896 Art School building, the 1895 Trades Hall building and a 1997 extension that joins the two architectural highlights into one. Hunter St is also home to the Steggas Emporium, built in 1886, a row of seven shops that represents one of Frederick Menkens’ earliest designs in Newcastle. The shops are typical of Victorian commercial street architecture of the period. The final stop on the architecture walk is the Newcastle Civic Centre, built in 1929. The theatre was designed by Henry Eli White, the same architect responsible for the City Hall. White was one of the most successful theatre architects in the country with Sydney’s Capitol and State Theatres also to his name. Originally designed internally in a dramatic Spanish Baroque style for both cinema and live theatre, the building went through many modifications and operators. By the 1960s the Civic was in decline, due to competition from television, and its patronage fell by 63%. It closed in 1973 and Newcastle Council made the decision to transform the Civic into a dedicated live theatre venue. This decision saved one of the last great remaining examples of picture palace architecture in the state.

Miss Porters House

Miss Porter’s House, a distinctive Edwardian Terrace, was the lifelong home of Ella and Hazel Porter. The Porter family built this house in 1910. The building and its contents are representative of the middle-class urban lifestyle of the early twentieth century. It retains Edwardian and 1940s period furnishings, unique stenciled ceilings and a collection of thousands of objects acquired by the sisters over the decades. Before she passed away in the mid-1990s Hazel bequeathed the house and its contents to the National Trust of Australia (NSW) who now maintain the property and open its doors to the public. On the opposite side of the road (King St) is The Workers Club. The Workers Club forms the legacy of one of the most prominent cultural, political and social hubs in Newcastle. The Newcastle Trades Hall Council Workers Club otherwise known as the ‘Red Inn’ and ‘The Newcastle Workers Club’ opened on 8 October 1948, to prepare and teach skills for workers in preparation for the revolution. During the 1950s and 60s, the club played an important role in the local labour movement and acted as a platform for organising and staging community events. By the 1980s it was a popular live music venue. The club is also the site of one of the city’s greatest tragedies. On 28 December 1989, the Workers Club was due to host a performance by popular band Crowded House, with thousands expected to attend. Hours before, at 10.27 am, the city was devastated by an earthquake. Parts of the Workers Club collapsed resulting in nine deaths.

Baptist Tabernacle

The Baptist Tabernacle was designed by one of Newcastle’s most prominent and popular architects of the late 19th and early 20th century, Frederick Menkens. Constructed from 1889 to 1890, the building's elaborate painted plaster neo-classical Corinthian façade was inspired by the Spurgeon Metropolitan Tabernacle in London. It was threatened with compulsory demolition during the planning of the neighbouring Newcastle War Memorial Cultural Centre in the 1940s but both legal arrangements and the Tabernacle’s trustees prevented the building’s destruction.

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