Parliament House in Sydney is a collection of buildings housing the Parliament of New South Wales,
on the east side of Macquarie Street. A two storey Georgian building it is the oldest public building in
Sydney, flanked by two Victorian additions containing the parliamentary chambers.
These buildings are linked to a 12 storey office block at the rear, facing onto the Domain, and
completed in 1980.
The oldest part was built as the north wing of the old Rum Hospital. To situate the building, Macquarie
Street was created and land in the Domain excised by Governor Macquarie in 1810.
The three two storey colonnaded buildings were completed in 1816 using mainly convict labour and two
wings survive. The northern wing was requisitioned and converted to accommodate the first NSW
Parliament House in 1829, being the largest building available at the time.
The parliamentary chamber for Legislative Members was soon added at the northern end, while the
Legislative Council Chamber,at the southern end, was assembled in 1856.
This second chamber is actually a prefabricated cast-iron building, initially shipped to Victoria
from Glasgow, Scotland, destined to be a church. It was diverted to Sydney during shipment
and erected as one of the two parliamentary chambers. It remains the seat of government in NSW
today.
A major rebuilding program was completed in the 1980s with the library moved to a new block facing the
Domain and the interiors of the two chambers restored according to documentation
on their appearance in 1892. The old Surgeon's Quarters from the hospital days was also restored.
The interior of the Legislative Assembly chamber is coloured green and the Legislative Council, red,
reflecting the colour scheme of the British parliament. This latter chamber contains a vice-regal
chair for use by the Queen or her representative, the governor, and the chair of the president
of the council. Both chairs are made from red cedar,