To view the breadth of our services, please search our projects via the map below. You can search by type of project or location (LGA).
Location marks on the map are approximate. Projects involving Aboriginal archaeology and Aboriginal cultural heritage are not included in this map for cultural sensitivity reasons, but we have listed some of the Local Aboriginal Land Councils we have worked in.
Our interactive map allows you to search the type of project or locations where Artefact have worked.
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Keep up to date with upcoming events, seminars and talks hosted by ourselves or our colleagues in the world of heritage.
There's always plenty happening with the team at Artefact so stay in the loop for all our latest news.
When you partner with Artefact, you’ll receive timely and accurate advice on how to integrate archaeology, heritage and environmental considerations into your project plans.
Artefact includes specialists across key fields of archaeology, heritage, environment, interpretation, architecture and history. More importantly, with 50 staff we can assemble a skilled in-house team targeted to your specific requirements.
HISTORICAL HERITAGE
As highly experienced project leaders, Artefact has been lead consultant on many major projects. Our planning and management systems ensure that projects are completed in a timely, professional manner, working in partnership with our clients.
Since 2010 Artefact is proud to have worked on a diverse range of large and small-scale infrastructure and development projects.
During this time we have built-up extensive experience in a variety of sectors including rail, roads, power and renewables, health, greenfields development and urban renewal.
Some of the more well-known projects we've been involved with include: Central Station Metro; Parramatta Light Rail; Sydney Metro City & Southwest; Wickham Transport Interchange; Northern Beaches Hospital; St Vincent’s Private Hospital; Concord Forensic Mental Health Unit; Sydney Harbour Bridge; The Northern Road Stages 1 & 2; Berry to Bomaderry Upgrade (Princes Highway); West Wyalong Solar Farm; and Wind Farm and Transmission Line projects in the Pilbara and Western NSW.
With almost 50 staff, and offices in Sydney and Newcastle, we can assemble a skilled in-house team targeted to your specific requirements.
For a personal response to your heritage and environment needs, please ask how we can tailor an integrated solution to suit your plans, your timeline and your budget.
Artefact have worked on almost all major rail infrastructure developments in NSW over the past decade.
Our proudest achievement is our team. We value their skills and talents, and we trust that you will too.
At Artefact we recruit staff who are passionate about the past, skilled in their disciplines and professional in their approach. We all understand the need to balance our rich local heritage with plans that shape the State’s future. These attributes contribute to a great team culture internally – and to exceptional advice and service for you. We support each other to make sure that our clients come first, which is why we have an industry-wide reputation for being responsive, innovative and authoritative.
SANDRA WALLACE, MANAGING DIRECTOR
Artefact was established in 2010 by Dr Sandra Wallace, who remains the company’s Managing Director.
What ever your heritage project we are here to assist.
Country or city, desktop or fieldwork, we’ve covered most of New South Wales and ACT.
Our advice and services are customised to offer the best guidance on how you can proceed, whatever your project type.
We consult right across the scale from neighbourhood architectural practices to multinational developers. But don't take our word for it! Check out our testimonials from our clients.
Charting a New Course
What is the City of Sydney Historical Maps Project?
I’ve created a comprehensive central warehouse of detailed survey maps covering the City of Sydney local government area from the 1830s through to the 1950s. Digitized maps are publicly available through the State Library of NSW and the City of Sydney and I’ve downloaded every single one of them.
I’ve then compiled and geo-referenced each map in a single spot for easy reference and to serve Artefact’s historical mapping needs. The project has streamlined access to these maps while ensuring consistency and accuracy across all our research projects.
How many individual maps have you compiled into one master map?
Each series of maps varies, but for one series, there can be anywhere from 40 to 80 individual maps, sometimes even more than that. I'm currently working on detail sheets from 1885 that cover Sydney from Potts Point to Pyrmont down to Redfern, and that’s about 100 maps.
Each set of survey maps were originally drawn at different scales depending on the needs of the surveyors at the time, by joining them all together spatially and temporally, we can now look at the detailed development history of Sydney with more consistency.
"It's been a six to nine-month effort and I’ve logged hundreds of hours of work. It’s been slow, but the payoff has been huge in terms of efficiency."
Image: The City of Sydney survey map area.
What motivated you to take on this project?
I wanted to save time and increase accuracy for future projects. Every time we needed to analyse a historic site, we had to re-geo-reference maps, and larger project sites can span multiple maps. Depending on reference points used and other factors, small inconsistencies can can arise across projects that span multiple years as different sets of historic maps are incorporated throughout the life of a project, so I thought, why not bring everything together into one?
"By geo-referencing everything and eliminating the overlap between different survey sheets, we now have a consistent source for all our historical maps."
Compilation of 1888 survey sheets from Rygate and West.
What challenges did you face in compiling these maps?
One of the biggest challenges was dealing with different scales. You might have a map from the 1860s at one scale and another from the 1890s at a completely different scale. Working with individual maps at different scales can be challenging; by geo-referencing everything and stitching together every map of a given year, I’m able to give us a seamless, year-to-year view of the city's evolution.
We can now look at one detail sheet or multiple sheets simultaneously, which provides a more global viewpoint for our work.
Image: 1938-1950 Civic Survey
How does this benefit Artefact’s clients?
From a client perspective, this project brings cost-saving potential and greater reliability. What used to take upwards of an hour can now be accomplished in 15 minutes or less because all the heavy lifting has been done in advance.
These efficiencies mean clients get a quicker, more consistent product. For larger projects, like major transport infrastructure projects that crisscross the city, we have to assess heritage impacts over a vast area, so having this comprehensive mapping resource for these projects saves significant time and effort.
Coupled with that, the fact that there is now a single clearinghouse means that each map will be positioned once, eliminating inconsistencies as the same map is geo-referenced repeatedly.
Image: Mike Douglas at Artefact's head office in Pyrmont.
What interesting discoveries have you made during this process?
I live in Potts Point, and it’s fascinating to see how much the neighbourhood has changed. In the late 1880s, the area was filled with massive waterfront mansions, which is a stark contrast to the dense, Art Deco landscape we see today.
Another cool discovery is witnessing how much the shoreline of Sydney Harbor has changed—there’s been a lot of infill over the years, which really comes to life when you see it mapped out over time. It’s like piecing together a massive jigsaw.
Image: Potts Point apartment buildings by Jay Wennington.
What’s next for the project?
I’d love to see this become a more active tool that our staff, and potentially others, can use. Maybe we could integrate it into a website, web-based app, or develop a market for historical maps of Sydney.
This project has made historical information far more accessible to Artefact, and it has so much potential to expand beyond the City of Sydney. In fact I’ve just finished applying the same process to the 1895 City of Parramatta council area survey detail sheets.
North Sydney, Newcastle, and early colonial settlements like Bathurst could also benefit from a similar treatment if the data is available.
"Ultimately, this project is like solving a giant puzzle, and that’s part of the fun for me. It’s also a game-changer for historical mapping work at Artefact as it enhances both internal processes and client outcomes."
Talk to us about how Artefact might be able to help with your next mapping project. Contact Mike via office@artefact.net.au.
Learn about our GIS mapping capabilities.
Image: Maps in the City of Sydney Archives range from the 19th and 20th centuries and were produced variously by Council itself, other government authorities or private surveying firms and individuals.
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