Fort Street Public School
Lendlease Building
Established in 1849, Fort Street Public School on Observatory Hill is one of Australia's oldest public schools. Its multi-year upgrade, designed by FJMT and built by Lendlease, blended old and new: heritage buildings were restored, the former Bureau of Meteorology building became the school library, and a new Flagstaff Wing with rooftop play areas was added, lifting capacity from around 200 to 550 students. The school reopened on its original site for Term 1, 2024.
Timelapse Coverage
Blackbox captured this rare heritage transformation in the heart of the Sydney CBD, documenting the restoration of some of the country's oldest school buildings alongside brand-new construction. Working on a tightly constrained, heritage-sensitive site ringed by the Cahill Expressway, the Observatory and the National Trust building, our cameras recorded every stage of the rebuild. The result is a striking before-and-after story of old and new brought together.