Wait! What? Part 3? THREE!? What happened? I thought I said I would stop at two…

Ok, ok, I admit it. I did. But this one is quite interesting for a number of reasons. Especially if you don’t know the story of the housing in this part of Sydney. Also some of this story applies to many inner city public/council housing projects. So, please, read on…

Firstly, please be sure to read Parts 1 & 2 – here and here. They provide background information and context to what I was originally writing about here. However, in this particular case, there is a lot more to the story.

Cook Themed Structures in Waterloo, South of Sydney City Centre

Waterloo is an inner city suburb just south of Redfern which is just south of the centre of Sydney. Famous (or infamous maybe) for the large social housing tower blocks built in the 1970s and officially opened by the Queen Elizabeth. Anyway, that area has been historically, home to most of the city’s aboriginal community. These days there are probably more asian residents but there is a fair mix including a lot of elderly who have lived there since the concrete blocks were built.

As always with these (supposedly) well intentioned housing projects the area had many problems with drug gangs and crime. Over the years the buildings were known by other names including “suicide towers”. I won’t dwell too much on this. We all know the score and you can read up on it online if you want to know more.

Suffice to say that these so called “eyesores” were due for demolition as the area was up for a complete revamp. It was talked about almost 20 years ago, then again almost 10 years back; but still has not happened. There is the counter argument of course – one I subscribe to actually. That is, that such buildings are becoming rare now as they usually get demolished. Also they are as much part of the architectural history of a city as any other buildings. I would keep them – and it seems that may be happening. 

As recently as 2019 (just before the covid scamdemic) the area was up for total revamp to accommodate the new Metro line c/w a Waterloo station. There is even talk of adding new tower blocks as tall as 40-storeys! Crazy eh? Who knows what is going to happen? Anyway, search online for “Waterloo towers Sydney” and there are plenty of stories and items. Quite interesting but nothing exclusive to Sydney by any means.

Captain Cook Place and Memorial Sundial

The Sundial was installed in 1970 (made by Sundials Australia) when the tower blocks were still being completed, to commemorate the Bicentenary of Captain James Cook’s landing at Botany Bay. It is located in the green space between James Cook and Joseph banks tower blocks on Raglan Street, Waterloo. Embedded in the base is a map of Australia and New Zealand showing the route of his ship, the Endeavour. A metal bar extends from the north arm to south arm and the shadow cast indicates the time.

At the base one plaque explains the memorial while on the other side a second plaque displays the time correction graph.

The sundial monument is bordered by two wide 17-storey tower blocks. The blocks are called James Cook and Joseph Banks (the British botanist on Cook’s ship when they landed at Botany Bay). Anyone who knows anything about public/council/social housing knows how these projects turn out. Things have improved in recent years due to gentrification and a broader social mix of inhabitants. 

The two other similarly designed tower blocks in the area are named Daniel Solander (after the Swedish botanist who was working with Joseph Banks) and Marton – the town where Cook was born. It is astounding that these place names have remained for so long. 

Obviously if such a housing estate was built and named today none of those names would be used. Or even considered. Far from it. The huge blocks would be named after obscure Aboriginal elders/leaders. Or, if built in the 1990s they would have been named something like Nelson Mandela House, Steve Biko Towers. etc etc  Just think Only Fools and Horses – the classic UK comedy series. (If you know you know.) Just ask anyone from a British inner city and they will tell you that the naming of such buildings was (is) commonplace. 

James Cook Community Garden

Adjacent to James Cook tower is the James Cook Community Garden. The gates were locked from both sides. The gates to the (community) garden on the road side are decorated each side by mosaic tiled artwork (see below). 

Let me tell you: Park Güell  (in Barcelona) it is not! But against the back-drop of those huge grey concrete ‘walls’ it is a well intentioned attempt. As are the gardens themselves in this area (there are a few). They allow people to grow vegetables and herbs while meeting neighbours. 

Other Blocks…

There are six blocks in the Waterloo project. There are also two other straight up (narrower but not as broad) 30-storey tower blocks called Matavai and Turanga. Those names are also Cook themed names taken from the great Captain’s voyages. You live and learn eh? 

Matavai, is the place in Tahiti, where Captain Cook observed the famous astronomical event called the transit of Venus in 1768. While “Turanga” is the Maori word for. “landing place” where his ship’s first anchored in New Zealand. So now you know! 

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