Downing Centre

About

The Downing Centre, originally known as Mark Foy's Piazza Store, is a heritage-listed former department store and now courthouse complex in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It features state government courts, including the Local Court, the District Court, and a law library known as the Downing Centre Library. The Downing Centre forms part of the Department of Communities and Justice and houses court services and sheriffs offices. The Downing Centre is located in the Sydney central business district, on Liverpool Street, between Elizabeth Street and Castlereagh Street. It sits opposite the south-west corner of Hyde Park and Museum railway station. A subway links the Downing Centre directly to Museum Station from an entrance on Castlereagh Street.

The original building on the site was a two-storey building built for Mark Foy in 1908, designed by Arthur Anderson and named called Mark Foy's Piazza Store. Major extensions and alterations were made to the store in 1927–1930, designed by Spain and Cosh in collaboration with other architects. The building was renamed as the Downing Centre in 1991 in honour of Reg Downing, a former NSW Attorney General and Minister for Justice.