Queen Victoria Building, Shopping center in central Sydney, Australia.
The Queen Victoria Building is a shopping center in central Sydney that spans a full block between George Street and York Street, with sandstone facades and copper dome roofs in the Romanesque Revival style. Inside, four levels of shops and galleries run along a central hall with tall arched ceilings and natural light entering through large windows.
Built between 1893 and 1898 to designs by architect George McRae, the building originally served as a city market during a time of economic downturn. After decades as office and storage space, a major restoration in the 1980s reopened the structure as a shopping center.
Inside, ornate glass windows and stone figures at the entrances show symbols of trade and labor, recalling the Victorian era. Visitors today walk through galleries with cast-iron railings and see centrally placed staircases that preserve the original design.
The building fills the block bounded by George, Market, York and Druitt streets, with entrances on the two long facades. A lower-ground arcade runs south to Town Hall railway station and north to the Myers building, so the walk stays under cover. The upper north end, once a ballroom, now holds a tea room.
A sealed letter from Queen Elizabeth II sits in a vault inside the building and is scheduled to be opened to Sydney citizens only in 2085. Two mechanical clocks at the ends of the main hall show moving scenes from British and Australian history, running on the hour.
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