World Square | |
|---|---|
| City square | |
 World Square Tower from Liverpool Street in 2009 with the now demolished Sydney Monorail in the foreground | |
| Construction | c. 1990 – c. 2007 |
| Amenities |
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| Architectural style | Modernist |
| Owner | ISPT Pty Ltd and AWPF Management No.2 Pty Ltd |
| Location | Bounded by George, Liverpool, Pitt and Goulburn Streets, Brickfield Hill, Sydney CBD, Australia |
  World Square | |
| Coordinates: 33°52′39″S 151°12′24″E / 33.87750°S 151.20667°E | |
| Website | worldsquare |
World Square is a large shopping centre and urban development in the Sydney Central Business District.[1]
It fills an entire Sydney city block, bounded by George, Liverpool, Pitt and Goulburn Streets, on what was a small hill called Brickfield Hill.
World Square features a shopping centre, hotels, office buildings and residential apartment towers. Liverpool Lane, off Liverpool Street, is part of World Square and features restaurants, cafes and take away shops. It is also the home of Southern Cross Austereo's Sydney radio stations Triple M and 2Day FM.
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See also: Anthony Hordern & Sons |
The site on which World Square now stands was originally home to the Anthony Hordern & Sons department store, a six-storey building which opened in 1905 on the former Brickfield Hill. The flagship store operated from 1905 until 1966 with the store converted to Horderns HomeWorld which operated until its closure in 1973. After the takeover of Anthony Hordern's by Waltons in January 1970, the Brickfield Hill site was then sold to Stocks and Holdings Ltd, for $8.5 million, ending 64 years of retail pioneering and ownership of the building by Anthony Hordern's Ltd.
Following the closure of the department store, the building operated as Palace Emporium and was subsequently used by the NSW Institute of Technology (now UTS). Palace Emporium and Institute of Technology operated in the building until the late 1970s. Since then the building remained vacant due to strict fire regulations changed and the building was no longer adequately fire-rated.[1]
In the early 1980s the building's new owner, a Singaporean-based Ipoh Garden Development planned to try to save the Anthony Hordern & Sons building. However it was found to be too costly after receiving independent advice from the CSIRO on the state of the building's concrete and other fittings.[2] The building was controversially demolished in 1986 which led to the site remaining undeveloped throughout most of the 1990s due to planning disputes.[3] During the dispute, scenes for the 1995 film Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie were shot on the former property of Hordern & Sons and future site of World Square.[4]
In 1988 the now defunct Sydney Monorail stopped at the development's temporary 'built-in' station. The station was incorporated into the new building in 2005 and operated until 2013.
In 1999 the Avillion Hotel Sydney, Hordern Towers and stage 1 of the shopping centre was completed. The World Tower, Latitude, Latitude East and the final stages of the shopping centre was completed in 2004.
The shopping centre featured a Coles supermarket, Sony Centre, Rebel Sport, BaySwiss, Retravision and 80 stores. Retravision closed in 2008 and was replaced by JB Hi-Fi. In April 2015 Rebel Sport closed down.[5]
In 2016 ISPT acquired 50% stake of World Square with the other half owned by Arcadia Funds Management.[6]
World Square has 16,567m² of floor space with major retailers including Australia Post, Coles, and JB Hi-Fi.[7]
