17 December 2017, updated :

John Danks, hardware merchants, started 1850s, built this grand store and HQ in Bourke Street in 1918, designed by #SydneySmithandOgg. I remember it as McEwans Hardware, another old hardware firm, which took over Danks in 1965, this branch closing in 1993. Then it was a failed shopping thing called The Foundry (just realised it’s an allusion to hardware!), with apartments above. Not #heritagelisted, but safe because of the strata titling, just as well, it’s part of a pretty large site (behind and to the right) which is going to be an #officetower, which partly cantilevers over this nice bit of late Edwardian Baroque or is it Edwardian Freestyle ? I like the super curtly #cartouche particularly.

Update : the office block was finished in 2021, now NAB house, it’s very glassy, also the lobby, and doesn’t seem to be setback from the street line at all, but manages not to loom because of the inset bit. Not sure if they had a view before, but some apartments seem to just look into a light well, with the tower over the top, so not much light ! The old building has also gained a strange elevated glass verandah, losing the first floor side windows in the process. I havnt stopped to see it for myself, so all these pics the internet. In 2023 it was finally heritage listed.

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