A Bunch of Sydney's Brutalist Buildings Could Be Saved From Destruction

Some of the city's most striking examples of brutalist architecture may be protected from the current development boom, under a City of Sydney plan to heritage list a collection of Modern Movement buildings.

The plan to preserve a chunk of Sydney's modernist architecture — constructed between 1945 and 75 — would see famed structures like Martin Place's MLC Centre, Town Hall House, the Sydney Masonic Centre and George Street's former Sydney County Council building granted heritage protection.

Lesser known examples included in the proposal are Anita Aaron's Earth Mother sculpture in Cook and Phillip Park, and St Peter Julian's Catholic Church and Monastery in Haymarket.

All up, nine sites have been recommended for heritage listing by the Heritage Council of NSW, the plan likely spurred on by the recent fight to save Sydney's brutalist iconic Sirius building.

If they do receive heritage listing, any future development would require taking each building's heritage into account.

Before the buildings are heritage listed, the plan still has a couple of phases to pass. It will be discussed at the next Central Sydney Planning Committee meeting and, if it's approved there, it will be passed on to the Greater Sydney Commission, then put out for public feedback.

Image: MLC Centre.