Photo credit: Dr Peter Sheridan AM

Door is not a four-letter word for local resident, Peter Sheridan.

His marvellous montage of doors, see above, of doors and entrances of buildings in the Potts Point and Elizabeth Bay highlights the eclectic mix of styles and design genres which entice the eye into hidden interiors.

Doors and entrances create curiosities. They are like Christmas presents: it’s what outside that creates anticipation of what’s on the inside.  Any collection creates a sense of discovery. And it creates an inquisitive nature which is an asset.

Some doors and entrances are imposing, others are more diminutive with use of rare materials and others are designed by significant architects.

Dr Peter Sheridan AM and his partner, Jan Hatch, say “Doorways are both welcoming and excluding. They are often a measure of a building’s pride in itself.”

Peter’s kaleidoscopic collation of 20 images includes Art Deco entrances of the Cahors apartments, 117 Macleay Street, Potts Point, with its light blue blocks, named after the French village of the same name, the majestic Macleay-Regis, 12 Macleay Street, Elizabeth Bay, with its entrance fretwork and Harley apartments, 1 Bartley Place, among others.

Harley’s entrance porch panels are believed to be rare Vitrolite, a special pigmented coloured glass which uses a process first developed in the United States in 1900.  The glass is very strong, with a compressive strength about 40 percent greater than marble. When affixed to another surface such as exteriors of buildings one side of the slab was grooved before the glass hardened. The exposed side of the Vitrolite was flame polished leaving it highly reflective and brilliantine.

It is very rare to find structural glass surviving in this sort of application in Sydney, let alone three different colours together.

Peter and Jan have lived and enjoyed the area for 20 years. Peter’s interest in photography was originally sparked when he was 12 years old. He inherited his father’s Kodak Box Brownie camera, a ubiquitous camera which enabled millions to take quick easy photographs.

“The area has a wonderful variety of Art Deco apartment blocks from the large upmarket company title buildings to the smaller boarding houses. All the doorways in the montage illustrate the breadth of Art Deco design and styling.”

“What we love about Art Deco is that it was the first global design movement.

It can be seen in all the decorative arts as well as utilitarian objects. Everything from art to sculpture, from fashion to jewellery and from toys to kitchenalia (items associated with kitchens) were influenced by Art Deco in the 1930s and 40s. It was a rejection of the classical past and aspired to the modern future.

We love to live with this style around us.”

Following on from his very successful “Sydney Art Deco” (2019), his latest booklet, “Sydney Art Deco and Modernist Walks: Potts Point and Elizabeth Bay”, was written as part of his mission to illustrate how unique our area is.

“It’s not just a walk: it’s a celebration of how important built history is in Sydney. Ours is a unique collection, unique in its architecture and demographics,” he says.

Its 200 pages, now being re-printed, showcase 75 Art Deco and 32 Modernist buildings in our area. With a handy fold-out guide each page provides a cameo of individual items with a vignette containing the date of construction, style and architect.

Information is taken from various sources including council archives.

One local architect describes the book as ”an important and colourful compendium” of our area for locals and visitors.

Peter believes Art Deco items deserve more recognition.

So he is working on two other more walking booklets in the pipeline, “Sydney Art Deco & Modernist Walks: Sydney CBD” which should be finished by Christmas 2022 and then a pub crawl around Sydney’s amazing Art Deco pubs, “Sydney Art Deco & Modernist Walks: Sydney’s Art Deco Pubs.”

“Walking booklets such as the one for Potts Point/Elizabeth Bay create for the first time a comprehensive database of buildings in the area. This can assist in future recognition, protection and conservation of these important assets”, he says.

by Andrew Woodhouse

Heritage Solutions

To purchase walking booklet “Sydney Art Deco and Modernist Walks: Potts Point and Elizabeth Bay”,

Cost $30.00

Potts Point Bookshop

4 Macleay Street Potts Point

Phone 9331 6642
Hours

Website https://www.pottspointbookshop.com.au/

Email shop@pottspointbookshop.com.au