Sydney Harbour Trust – Double Deck…

Detailed plan of the proposed large shed built for Birt & Co. by the Sydney Harbour Trust dated 21st October, 1903, showing the arrangement of the offices.

The shed was constructed of timber with an iron roof, 400 x 50 feet, with a concrete floor and cost  ‎£10,000. It was used for wool and wheat storage, contained machinery such as wool presses, elevators and conveyors.

Darling Island, is now part of present day Pyrmont, was on the western side of Darling Harbour. In the first forty years of European settlement, Darling Harbour was known as Cockle Bay, because of the abundance of shellfish on its shore, and the island was subsequently called Cockle Island. In 1855, the Australian Steam Navigation Company acquired Darling Island upon which it built one of Australia’s largest slipways and engineering workshops. In preparation for its construction, they contracted Pyrmont Robert Saunders to level the island and connect it to the mainland.