Paddington Reservoir Gardens

The Paddington Reservoir operated as a water reservoir for the eastern suburbs of Sydney in the latter years of the 19th Century. It was decommissioned in 1899 and for most of the 20th Century was a facility for motor vehicles including a service station until the service station subsided partially into the cavity below it in 1990. The damaged service station remained blocked off and the site unused for the next 18 years until a restoration of the reservoir and the reopening of the site as public gardens in 2008.

It is unusual space being below street level but the gardens, built on the former water chambers, draw a lot of attention from passers by and provide an oasis of calm alongside a very busy thoroughfare.

Gateway to the Eastern Chamber

Former Western Chambers

Eastern Chamber sometimes hired for fashion photo shoots, events, etc

Busy Oxford Street goes unnoticed in the Gardens

Sunbather enjoys the calm