Adelaide Arcade

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Adelaide Arcade, the first arcade erected in Adelaide, opened in December 1885 and was funded by Saul Solomon, Lewis Henry Berens, Joachim Matthias Wendt, Robert Carr Castle, Hermann Koeppon Carl Wendt, Emanuel Cohen and Patrick Gay. The design by architects Withall and Wells is the most important of their work to have survived and the extensive use of high quality materials, extravagant detailing and electric lights suggest that the firm was extremely progressive.

During the depression, Adelaide Arcade offered one year’s free lease to tenants. Gays Arcade, with a frontage to Twin Street and connecting to Adelaide Arcade at right angles, was designed by James Cumming and opened the following year.