Brentwood Gardens is an enigma. At first glance it appears as a  single block of blond brick apartments. However, hidden behind the building facing Elizabeth Bay Road is another block named ‘NINETY” in large letters also in  blond brick which sits at right angles to the front block.

There is a distance of about five metres separating both blocks linked by a walkway.

Both sit on a steep site.

The first block is three storeys but quickly becomes a five-storey building with exposed undercover parking. The second block at the rear is six storeys and contains 35 units.

It seems irreconcilable that they were designed as one apartment block, yet they both designed by the same architect, George Coleman, in the early 1970s.

Very little is known about Mr Coleman’s architectural career.

These two blocks have a substantial setback with a garden facing Elizabeth Bay Road which provides the basis for its name.

By Andrew Woodhouse

Heritage Solutions