Queen Victoria Building (QVB)

The Queen Victoria Building (abbreviated as the QVB) is a heritage-listed late-nineteenth-century building designed by the architect George McRae located at 429–481 George Street in the Sydney central business district, in the Australian state of New South Wales. The Romanesque Revival building was constructed between 1893 and 1898 and is 30 metres (98 ft) wide by 190 metres (620 ft) long. The domes were built by Ritchie Brothers, a steel and metal company that also built trains, trams and farm

The building fills a city block bounded by George, Market, York, and Druitt Streets. Designed as a marketplace, it was used for a variety of other purposes, underwent remodelling, and suffered decay until its restoration and return to its original use in the late twentieth century. The property is owned by the City of Sydney and was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 5 March 2010.

A landmark grand Victorian retail arcade of three storeys, with sandstone clad walls and copper domes, designed in the Federation Romanesque style, dating from 1893 to 1898. Apart from the ground floor the facade is basically unaltered, being composite Romanesque and Byzantine style on a grand scale to a large city block. Constructed of brickwork and concrete with steel roof structure and the exterior faced in Sydney freestone. The dominant feature is the great central dome of 19 metres (62 ft) in diameter and 60 metres (196 ft) from ground to top of cupola and is sheeted externally in copper, as are the 20 smaller domes. The building consists of basement, ground and two main upper floors with additional levels in the end pavilions.

The Queen Victoria Building was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 5 March 2010. It was noted as an outstanding example of the grand retail buildings from the Victorian-Federation era in Australia, which has no known equal in Australia in its architectural style, scale, level of detailing and craftsmanship.