Castle Gate, 1-6 (Consecutive Nos) Harbour Court

Castle Gate, 1-6 Harbour Court is a three-storey housing development constructed between 1948 and 1951 by Basil Spence and Partners, with Basil Spence as partner-in-charge, Hardie Glover as job architect, Andrew Renton as designer, Bruce Robertson as partner in charge, and Sarah McCosh, Bill Rowarth, James Beveridge, Richard Cassidy contributing to the design. The building displays a mix of Modernist and vernacular architectural elements and forms part of a municipal housing development situated near the harbour, on a site where the land slopes down to the east.

The building’s construction is cavity brick, primarily with painted harl cladding, with red sandstone random rubble used on the advanced ground floor sections. The ground floor is arranged as flats, with maisonettes situated above. The north elevation and a two-bay return are advanced to create an exterior entrance walkway at the first floor level; an angled stair is positioned to the right of the north elevation. Concrete detailing is prominent, including walkways, treads, balconies, projecting narrow cills, and cantilevered stepped canopies above the maisonette entrance doors, along with iron balustrades. Original timber entrance doors are present, some with glazed sidelights. Some ground floor and first-floor windows are set within architraves.

The north (Harbour Court) elevation has four bays with a five-bay return, the four bays to the left projecting. Concrete surrounds define the ground and first-floor window openings. A balcony is positioned above the door in the re-entrant angle, and a door is located to the right of centre. An exterior walkway, extending over the ground-floor entrance, is supported by a single slender steel column. Ground-floor stores are incorporated into the north elevation and positioned beneath the stair.

The east (rear) elevation comprises seven bays, with the four bays to the right being taller and advanced. The fenestration is irregular, with a ground-floor door to the outer right accompanied by a forestair and balcony above, and a first-floor door to the outer left accessed via a forestair from Castle Gate.

The south (Castle Gate) elevation features two storeys with four bays, including a two-storey gable to the right, which steps back to create a raised patio area. A door is positioned to the right of centre, along with a forestair. Projecting concrete surrounds are present around the ground-floor window to the outer left and the gable.

The west (gable) elevation has two storeys, with a door to the left.

Replacement glazing and doors are evident throughout. The building is roofed with pantiles and features random rubble and coped ridge and end stacks with cylindrical clay cans.

During a partial inspection in 2010, the simple floor plans for the flats and maisonettes were generally found to be intact, along with the original fisherman stores on the ground floor.