Multicultural SA Offices (former Stow Memorial Church Manse, Sanatorium and Attorney-General's Building)

The primary significance of the former Stow Memorial Church Manse, later known as the Attorney-General's building, lies in its intervening use as a private sanatorium under the ownership and control of Dr Timothy A Hynes. In 1901 Dr Hynes purchased the property from the Congregational Church, and commissioned the architectural firm of Woods Bagot to undertake extensive alterations and additions to the original (c 1869) Gothic-style manse. The sanatorium, the first of its kind in Adelaide to have the doctor residing in the building and always in attendance, was arranged, managed and equipped in the most up to date manner, the result of Hynes' overseas travel and study. The building was acquired by the South Australian Government in 1911 and has since accommodated a succession of State government departments. Architecturally, the building is significant as one of a series of institutional type buildings of similar colonnaded style designed by Woods and Bagot, principally for the Catholic Church, and is the grandest of the secular buildings of this style.Externally the building has undergone little alteration since 1901, the two storey brick addition to the north being the exception. Internally, the building has been extensively renovated, the present room layout being the result of award winning renovations in the 1970s. It is therefore the exterior of the building that is of the greatest significance, as its integrity is high. [Adapted from: Danvers Architects Pty Ltd 'Old Attorney General's Building Conservation Study' (December 1990)]

Listing Information

• Date of Listing: 24 July 1980

More Information