Woollahra Municipal Council (WMC) seeks to conserve buildings in our Local Government Area (LGA) that have heritage significance. This includes buildings dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as outstanding buildings from more recent times as an important part of the heritage of our local areas.
In November 2023, WMC engaged GML Heritage (GML) to undertake a heritage study of a selection of modern buildings in the Woollahra LGA that had not been previously investigated.
On 18 August, 2025 Woollahra Council’s Strategic & Corporate Committee considered the final GML report, including the Woollahra Local Planning Panel’s advice to list 17 of the original 35 buildings as local heritage items. On 25 August, 2025 Council endorsed the planning proposal and resolved to forward the list to the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure to allow for public exhibition.
The buildings selected were based on their inclusion on the Australian Institute of Architects Register of Significant Buildings in NSW and/or research undertaken by Council staff. Of the 35 buildings initially selected, six are located in Paddington, with three of the final 17 in Paddington.
The selected Paddington properties are listed below with a brief summary from the GML Study outlining their significance.
Orange Tree Grove
Orange Tree Grove
8 Bennetts Grove Avenue
Architects William (Bill) E. Lucas & Michael R. Coote
“Orange Tree Grove is a significant work within the history of Paddington demonstrating experimental co-operative housing models and community projects of the 1960s. This was a touchstone project which expressed a renewed and influential interest in Paddington as a focus for Sydney’s creatives which continued into the late twentieth century…It is a key work of Bill Lucas, a highly regarded architect of the late modern Sydney School period.” (GML Study)
Stephen Towers
Stephen Towers
40 Stephen Street
Architect Harry Seidler
“Stephen Towers has historic significance as an example of the medium-rise council housing developed by City of Sydney Council from the 1940s to the 1960s and as part of a movement to redevelop earlier ‘slum’ suburbs with rational and affordable housing. It has significant historic associations with architect Harry Seidler, one of the most significant Modernist architects in Australia.” (GML Study)
Interior, Barrett House (Max Dupain, Courtesy Allen Jack+Cottier Architects)
Barrett House
132 Paddington Street
Architect Peter Stronach, Allen Jack+ Cottier
“Barrett House can be compared to a significant group of alterations and additions to terrace houses, often in Paddington, undertaken by architects in the late 1970s and early 1980s….Notably…Stronach’s approach in Barrett House made no alterations to the exterior while undertaking a skilled structural shift in the interior to provide light to the difficult narrow vertical plan. His success in this endeavour is demonstrated by the strong reception of the project and its regard, as demonstrated by the AIA Merit Award.” (GML Study)
Next Steps
- Council will seek approval from the Department of Planning Housing and Infrastructure to publicly exhibit the planning proposal
- Following public exhibition, a report will be progressed to a meeting of Council responding to the issues raised in submissions. If approved by Council, the heritage listings will be finalised.
Paddington Society Support
The Paddington Society strongly supports the staff recommendation that Council should proceed with the planning proposal to list all seventeen places as local heritage items. We are aware of the historic and architectural significance and the fine contribution they make to the surrounding local environments within Woollahra. We commend Council and staff for the vision in commissioning the study and especially commend GML Heritage for this excellent and detailed study.
Read the Paddington Society’s submission.
Learn more and read the GML Modern Buildings Priority Heritage Study on the Woollahra Council website.
