Tools Down Ordered at The Unicorn Following Allegedly Unapproved Demolition

In August 2024, Broadsheet reported that treasured Paddington pub The Unicorn was changing hands. The Mary’s team had packed up shop, and JDA Hotels (the 14-venue group that runs the General Gordon and Padstow Park Hotel) was moving in. The new owners were quick to assure Sydneysiders that not much about the boozer would be changing, saying they hoped beers would be pouring by summer. Now, more than 12 months since that planned summer opening, the building works have been ordered to stop.

On Monday April 27, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that Woollahra Council had given tools-down orders to the builders, after it emerged that demolition works were allegedly carried out without proper heritage approvals.

If you looked through the hole in the plywood covering the Oxford Street doorway this morning, you’d see that the entire interior has been gutted. The large open stairway is gone, as are the floors, all interior walls and the roof. The Herald reported that the council realised the extent of the works in February, but JDA did not include such extensive demolition in its original development application (which was approved in December 2024). The group submitted an updated development application in March 2026.

“My concern is that such works should be firmly grounded in proper heritage practice, engineering justification and compliance with planning controls,” councillor Harriet Price told the Herald. “Sadly, the internal demolition has been undertaken in advance of proper assessment. The opportunity to salvage and facilitate the reuse of internal heritage fabric to create a thorough archival record of the interiors may have been lost.”

When Broadsheet approached JDA for comment, a spokesperson shared that demolitions were undertaken “in consultation” with council. “During the renovation process, extensive engineering analysis revealed that the building’s internal structure had been significantly compromised by concrete cancer, raising concerns about the long-term sustainability of the heritage building and its facade,” the JDA Hotels spokesperson said. “Our intention is, and always has been, to rebuild in line with current development approvals, and we remain committed to maintaining The Unicorn’s character while delivering a considered update.”

A “major” refurbishment of The Unicorn was always the plan, but the aim – and the brief to architects and designers – was to “maintain any character and charm of what it is,” JDA director John Feros told Broadsheet in 2024 after the purchase. “There’ll be a few changes in terms of layout, and that’s just so we can appeal to more people at any one time.”

Neither the council nor JDA has given an expected timeline for the pub’s reopening, or works getting back underway.