1928 - 1929

The Bondi Pavilion wasn’t always as it stands. The site was previously occupied by a smaller, turreted changing shed known affectionately as the castle pavilion. After World War 1, noting that more and more people were flocking to Bondi Beach to swim or body surf among the waves or sunbathe on the sand, Waverley Council decided to launch the Bondi Beach and Park Improvement Scheme, in 1923. Key elements of the scheme were a kiosk, surf sheds, three toilet blocks, a bandstand, parks to surround the buildings, and more facilities for drivers and pedestrians.

The scheme included a design competition for a new, expanded pavilion at which a beach visitor’s every need would be met. Architectural firm Robertson & Marks won the tender, although the pavilion’s design was frequently changed over the years to come. Competition was fierce, and architectural firms from throughout the world submitted entries. The tender to build the pavilion was won by John Howie and Sons, which also built the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Mitchell Library at the State Library of New South Wales, in Sydney’s CBD. Alderman David Hunter, Mayor of Waverley, laid the building’s foundation stone on 26 May 1928.

On 21 December 1929, after about 20 months’ construction work, more than 200,000 excited Sydneysiders turned up to the official opening of the ‘improvements’, of which the Bondi Beach Pavilion was the star attraction. The crowd was delighted to see that the building exceeded expectations with two courtyards on the ground floor, one for females and one for males and including rows of individual changing booths; Turkish and hot-water baths; lockers; a gym; a café; shops; an auditorium; a cabaret theatre; a ritzy ballroom; and colonnaded facades that were a blend of Georgian Revival and Mediterranean architectural styles. The final flourish was the tunnels that led from the two courtyards and passed under Marine Parade – later renamed Queen Elizabeth Drive – to a pair of concrete ‘groynes’ that opened on to the blue waters of the world’s most iconic beach.

Images courtesy the Waverley Library Local Studies collection.