Heritage significance and executive director recommendation to the

5. Brutalist buildings in the VHR

Plumbers and Gasfitters Union Building, Carlton (VHR H2307)

The Plumbers and Gasfitters Union Building contains car parking and mechanical services at ground level, office space for the Plumbers and Gasfitters Union on the first floor and lettable space on the floor above. The structure, designed to enable the addition of two extra floors, is of reinforced concrete with an off-form finish on all external and major internal surfaces. Windows are aluminium framed with dark smoked glazing and are deeply recessed on the west facade to provide some sun control. The design emphasises both structure and material with an unorthodox and purposeful arrangements of masses and voids. The concrete’s vertical patterned imprint of the timber-boarded formwork lining, and its regular sets of filled holes indicating the rod supports for the formwork, show an honest use of construction materials and exposure of natural finishes. The clear indication of circulation patterns, as evident in the dominant front staircase, is also an important Brutalist characteristic.

Plumbers and Gasfitters Union Building [VHR H2307]

(flickr, Melbourne Heritage Action)

Harold Holt Swim Centre, Glen Iris (VHR H0069)

The Harold Hold Swim Centre is one of the most notable, expressive, early and intact examples of the Brutalist movement that emerged in Victoria in the late-1960s. It illustrates the aesthetic as well as ethical imperatives of the Brutalist style. The bold articulation of forms in textured off-form concrete, concrete blocks and glass provides a sculptural aesthetic which is fundamental to Brutalist architecture. The heavy forms are balanced with focused transparency through the site, achieved by extensive use of natural lighting and the careful planning of the interior spaces. Brutalism's ethical concern with social responsiveness and the centrality of the user in the design of the building is clearly evident in the Swim Centre design’s emphasis on circulation elements (the use of expressed ramps and stairs), the articulation of the functional systems (ramps, skylights, service ducts, mezzanine observation deck) and in the overall clarity and integration of the building, pools and gardens.

Harold Holt Swim Centre [VHR H0069]

(flickr, L J Gervasoni)