Heritage significance and executive director recommendation to the
Early Commonwealth Vernacular buildings
Download 1.18 Mb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- Former Federal Woollen Mills, North Geelong [VHR H1938]
- Marine Engineering School Administration Building at HMAS Cerberus (1926)
4. Early Commonwealth Vernacular buildingsDuring the first three decades of the twentieth century, there developed a number of Commonwealth Government architectural styles for the many thousands of Australian government buildings that were commissioned and constructed. These styles were dependent on a number of variables that included the function, location and period in which the building was being constructed but the most critical variable was often financial cost and the need for purposeful, economical design outcomes. In achieving these outcomes, Commonwealth design in the 1910s and 1920s was often based on strong utilitarian aims. One of the outward aesthetic expressions of utilitarian design espoused by Commonwealth Government Architect John Smith Murdoch and his Department in this period is described as the ‘Early Commonwealth Vernacular’. The 1922 Collingwood Telephone Exchange building is one of many Government buildings of its time that demonstrates characteristic Commonwealth Vernacular style and design elements. Many of the fine remaining examples of these buildings are brick industrial structures (with gabled, hipped or saw-toothed roofs) and domestic-like buildings (often with Arts & Crafts overtones). Some of these design features are also derivations of Murdoch’s Pre-Commonwealth Federation Free Style work wherein there was an emphasis on utilising Australian vernacular forms, responding to the local climate and practicability. Other design features of the Commonwealth Vernacular in the mid-1910s and 1920s may have evolved from influences that Murdoch had absorbed during his visit to the U.S.A. in 1912-13.
The former Federal Woollen Mill complex contains several Commonwealth Vernacular and Modern Renaissance industrial buildings that are broadly arranged in two groups, with a central lane between. These buildings were designed by Commonwealth chief architect John Smith Murdoch. Most of the gable ends of the buildings within the complex have distinctive, expansive arched windows that are bound and interrupted by large brick buttresses/pilasters with angled caps. These gables also feature the standard Commonwealth Vernacular central parapeted gables with horizontal (‘pylon-like’) ends. Soldier course banding, cement rendered sills and bands, and courses of unpainted brick voussoirs are further Early Commonwealth Vernacular characteristics demonstrated by the Mill complex buildings. 
Former Federal Woollen Mill complex, North Geelong [VHR H1938] Marine Engineering School Administration Building at HMAS Cerberus (1926)(This place cannot be assessed or recommended for the VHR because it is in Commonwealth ownership) The Marine Engineering School Administration Building at HMAS Cerberus was constructed in 1926. This single storey building has two longitudinal gable pavilions linked by a transverse gable, forming a U-shaped plan. Its walls are of striking red brick construction. The parapeted gable ends feature horizontal (pylon-like) ends, are articulated with cement-rendered lintels and bands, and feature brick pilasters capped with sloping stone plinths. The HMAS Cerberus complex is the largest, most significant and longest continuously functioning training facility held by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), and it is associated with the development of Australia's naval forces since 1913. The complex contains many good and important examples of Early Commonwealth Vernacular and Georgian Revival design styles. Commonwealth architect John Smith Murdoch, well known for his pre-eminent role in Canberra's architectural development, played a central planning and design role at HMAS Cerberus from 1913 through the 1920s, and he designed a number of its buildings. Like many of the Royal Australian Navy buildings at the HMAS Cerberus base, the Marine Engineering School Administration Building is in good condition and of high integrity. INCLUDEPICTURE "https://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/61041895.jpg" \* MERGEFORMATINET INCLUDEPICTURE "https://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/61041895.jpg" \* MERGEFORMATINET INCLUDEPICTURE "https://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/61041895.jpg" \* MERGEFORMATINET INCLUDEPICTURE "https://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/61041895.jpg" \* MERGEFORMATINET INCLUDEPICTURE "https://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/61041895.jpg" \* MERGEFORMATINET INCLUDEPICTURE "https://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/61041895.jpg" \* MERGEFORMATINET INCLUDEPICTURE "https://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/61041895.jpg" \* MERGEFORMATINET INCLUDEPICTURE "https://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/61041895.jpg" \* MERGEFORMATINET INCLUDEPICTURE "https://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/61041895.jpg" \* MERGEFORMATINET INCLUDEPICTURE "https://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/61041895.jpg" \* MERGEFORMATINET INCLUDEPICTURE "https://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/61041895.jpg" \* MERGEFORMATINET INCLUDEPICTURE "https://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/61041895.jpg" \* MERGEFORMATINET INCLUDEPICTURE "https://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/61041895.jpg" \* MERGEFORMATINET INCLUDEPICTURE "https://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/61041895.jpg" \* MERGEFORMATINET INCLUDEPICTURE "https://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/61041895.jpg" \* MERGEFORMATINET INCLUDEPICTURE "https://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/61041895.jpg" \* MERGEFORMATINET INCLUDEPICTURE "https://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/61041895.jpg" \* MERGEFORMATINET INCLUDEPICTURE "https://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/61041895.jpg" \* MERGEFORMATINET INCLUDEPICTURE "https://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/61041895.jpg" \* MERGEFORMATINET INCLUDEPICTURE "https://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/61041895.jpg" \* MERGEFORMATINET INCLUDEPICTURE "https://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/61041895.jpg" \* MERGEFORMATINET 
HMAS Cerberus Marine Engineering School Administration Building (tripmondo.com, Stony Point Destination Guide) When compared with these examples, the Collingwood Telephone Exchange does not display characteristics that warrant its inclusion in the VHR as a significant example of Early Commonwealth Vernacular-style architecture. Directory: data -> assets -> word doc word doc -> Northern territory of australia word doc -> Number: caveat in the [Will/Will and Codicil/Estate of] word doc -> List of accessible executive records word doc -> National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme word doc -> This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the Commonwealth word doc -> Commonwealth of Australia 2002 word doc -> Commonwealth of Australia 2000 word doc -> Priority Existing Chemical word doc -> Rail safety news issue 6 – October 2011 word doc -> Review of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: Identifying Download 1.18 Mb. Share with your friends:
|