The Queen Victoria Building in Sydney, Australia is currently home to Father Christmas and Australia's largest indoor Christmas tree. Santa Claus flew in on November 28 and took up residence among a garden decorated with 13,000 Swarovski crystals inside what, these days, is a modern shopping mall.
It wasn't always that way. From the outside, a newcomer might be forgiven for thinking the Queen Victoria Building was some kind of civic structure, used for government. Its domes, statues and stone angels are features of a bygone era, and the building is a New South Wales registered historic landmark with not one, but two City of Sydney green plaques – one in the market hall and one on the police station.
But the QVB isn't a monument to civic order; the building is a monument to shopping. Even the Santa Claus installation is, according to the shopping mall's writers, a nod to Victorian Christmas cards.
The Queen Victoria Building, QVB for short, was designed by George McRae. The structure was dedicated in 1898, built on the site of former, less grand markets. Its original purpose was threefold: First, it commemorated a Queen who'd been on the throne for a long time by that point. Second, it was a classic old Victorian market hall -- this type of building was Britain's answer to the need to shop while not being rained upon. Old-fashioned market halls still exist a-plenty, and range from flea-market type independent shops to a farmers' market type experience. They're almost always listed buildings.
The third reason was perhaps the most important. Sydney was suffering a recession, and the building was made as fancy as possible to employ as many craftsmen as possible. Tile, stained glass, magnificent pillars and a grand staircase made the building very special. The government of Australia backed the project in a way that 1930s Americans would recognize as a kind of New Deal employment. The building started off with cafes, a concert hall, warehouses and stores for trades such as florists and hairdressers. To some extent, the building was a place to wow and be wowed; visitors could pamper themselves in the light of stained glass windows.
The QVB has gone through many incarnations. The concert hall became the city library. More offices moved in and, in 1930, Sydney City Council had its seat here. But it's not all been happy. "Remodeling" weakened both the effect of the building and its condition, and it was under threat since 1959. The central dome, glass within and greened copper without, were almost lost for good.
Fortunately, that didn't happen. Ipoh Ltd. restored the QVB between 1984 and 1986, at which point it truly did become the modern mall it is now. A second major refurbishment took place in 2009. The year 2011 marks the first time Santa Claus has come to the Queen Victoria Building, in a sparkly garden well-suited to the glass, glitz and magnificence of this historic Sydney landmark.
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Sources: Northside-Where I Live; Queen Victoria Building; New South Wales Heritage Register; Markeroni.com
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