Sydney’s Garden Palace was a magnificent building with a grandeur that dominated the skyline, stretching from the site of the current State Library of New South Wales to the building that now houses the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. The Palace captivated society from its opening in 1879.
Three years later it was destroyed in a devastating fire. The motto of the Sydney International Exhibition would prove tragically apt, Orta Recens Quam Pura Nites or ‘Newly risen, how brightly you shine’. The Exhibition was planned in the hope that it would contribute to the prosperity and advancement of the New South Wales colony and demonstrate Australia’s identity.
In brief
Dimensions: 244 x 152 x 64 metres
Dome: 31 metres in diameter, 47 metres high with a 6 metre wide stained glass skylight (6 largest in the world)
Area: 112,000 square metres in cruciform shape
Architect: James Barnet
Builder/Contractor: John Young together with Messrs. Hudson Brothers
No. of workmen: 3000 men directly and indirectly employed including 650 carpenters
Deaths during build: 1 (Samuel Allen, a labourer, died on 22 April 1879)
Decorator: Messrs. Lyon & Cottier
Building began on: 13 January 1879
Foundation stone laid: 13 February 1879
Materials used: 2.5 million bricks, 243 tonnes of galvanised iron, 1.4 million metres of timber and glass
Period of International Exhibition: 17 September 1879 – 20 April 1880
Cost of admission: initially 5 shillings and later dropped to 1 shilling
Cost of season pass: £3, 3 shillings
Total attendance on opening day: between 19,853 and 24,000 depending on the source
Total attendance at the International Exhibition: 1,117,536
No. of Restaurants and pavilions: approximately 30
Highest daily attendance: 27,000 on 26 January 1880
Countries participating: 34 plus their colonies
No. of exhibits: 14,000
No. of judges: 254
No. of awards: 7554
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