Where Rundle Mall, King William Street and Hindley Street meet sits Beehive Corner — one of the most well-recognised buildings in Adelaide and a popular meeting spot for many.
The building was designed by Adelaide architect George Soward, who drew from the Gothic revival style with an incredible amount of intricacy for a building of its time. Construction commenced in 1895, featuring a distinctive corner turret in the shape of a beehive, with a lone gilded bee sitting on top.
At some point, the lone bee that proudly overlooked the intersection disappeared and to this day, there are still questions as to when and why it went missing.
The building has seen multiple changes to its facade over the years, though was restored to its former glory in the late 1990s – complete with a new bee, which weighs 45 kilograms and is made of aluminium gilded with gold.
In the early 1900s, the building was occupied by a chocolate store owned and operated by chocolatier Carl Stratmann. When Stratmann decided to sell, a man by the name of Alfred Haigh bought the business and so Haigh's Chocolates was born. Haigh's Chocolates continues to sell their well-known and iconic South Australian chocolates from the Beehive Corner store to this day.
