UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE
•CROSS-SECTION
Issue No 60 October, 1957
This is the superb, wooden model of the Syd Opera House which was put on display in Syd Town Hall, during the arch'ts' visit. Mr Utzon is to return next Feb with sketch plans amended & with information from Messrs Ove Arup & Partners (London), the appointed consulting eng'eers.
Two years after constr'n began, this 450,000 sq ft office giant was completed, poking high above Nth Syd &
nearly higher than the Harbour Bridge. It is a mighty monument to an Aust'n enterprise: the MLC Insurance Co, just 70 years old. Statistics describing the bldg are monumental: '£4}m cost, 3000 occupants, 240 m cub ft of conditioned air daily, 3,500 tons of steel 105,000 sq. ft of curtain walling, 10 23-passenger high- speed lifts etc etc. It is the first Aust'n use of steel pan floors, (with screed finish, vermiculite ceilings). As the Syd Morn'g herald said, & we repeat in a different tone of voice: bigness & novelty are characteristics of the building. It also has an impressive array of ameni- ties for employees (& tenants: COR has taken all 5
firs of the east wing), with this syave canteen, a lounge, billiards room, theatrette, 2 squash courts & lush roof gardens (1st-floor roofs, between the arms of its H- plan) not to mention superb views from nearly every room. Its architectural details are thorough & con- sistent, with a strong emphasis upon distinguishing finish from structure (notice column cladding in en- trance photo). For all this, overwhelming as it is, it is an unsatisfying building. The choice of the east-west orientation is answered with 183 miles of venetian blind slats, in a 10-inch gap Eetween the double glazing, (in contradiction of "curtain" walling) & by vast air-conditioning plant. It is surprising to find that only 120 cars can be parked in the bldg. The very
proper abandoning of light courts in favour of slab blocks is stretched to the extreme of 55 feet between the walls of glass, so that although there is light at the centre the contrast between there & the window walls is stark (& the venetian blind stripes dance an- noyingly against the sky). The hugeness of the bldg never comes properly to terms with human scale ...
the internal relationships at entrance levels are com- plicated, those rooms which are not offices are oozed
out between the arms of
the H, without control of form, &, most obvious dis- appointment of all, the main entrance is just a decorated hole in a sea of wall, served by this thin, broken-backed stairway. Lastly, although the set-back from the road is used for lawns & plants, its long thin strip is so negatively landscaped that it seems really to have been forgotten. (Bates, Smart & McCutcheon, Melb, arch'ts & eng'eers; with Hennessy, Hennessy &
Co, Syd; Concrete Constr'ns Ltd)
•
Anorner once block by Messrs Bates, Smart &
McCutcheon, this is the new Hume House, Melb (C-S Jan '57). Its curtain walling is very like that on the Syd MLC bldg, its plan is a T, using the service block tower for rigidity, concrete encased. The steel frame is bolted, with high tensile steel, the floors are pre-cast concrete tubs The entrance is much closer to comfortable scale & importance than its gargantuan Syd cousin ... the wind-break entrance lobbytra- versed on stairs rising across an ornamental pool. This photograph does not show the alum'm shed on the roof, itself surmounted by tanks.
This nurses' home is the first bldg in a growing Obstetrics Centre, for Southern Tas. It is at Newtown, Hobart, & accommodates 146 nurses in rooms facing east & west. The 5 storeys are built so as to double in height some day. (Philp, Lighton, Floyd &
Assoc'tes, arch'ts; Hansen & Yuncken Ltd, bldrs) If Mr Robin Boyd returned to Melb after his term as
Bemis professor in architecture at M I T. He has given talks at the RVIA, the Vict'n National Trust, Melb Univ arch'ture school, & been quoted in newspapers ... on all occasions he expressed strongly the view that con- ditions in USA, including restrictions of capital, are very like those in Aust. It is unrealistic, he believes, to think that America has capital to spare for pro- jects here./ Mr Geoffrey Ferries, of Melb arch'ts Leighton Irwin & Co, left for USA./ Mr Keith Neigh- bour, Adelaide arch't, spoke about Architecture in America, to the Aust'n-American Assoc'n./ Syd arch't Mr George Clarke arrived in Massachusetts after 3 months in Italy, a year in Britain, & several months in New York. At the M I T he is studying for M Arch;
he topped his fear at London Univ school of town planning./ Melb arch't Miss Ailsa Trundle moved on from USA to Europe, will be back in Melb in Decem- ber after 8 months abroad.
Arch'ts Messrs Stephenson & Turner were mentioned frequently in the press. Along with Frank Lloyd Wright they have been appointed to contribute to the fabu- lous expansion programme in Irak. Wright is design- ing, not only an Opera House (C-S May '57) but a complex of cultural bldgs, to cost £20m. The com- mission for Stephenson & Turner is 3 hospitals, to cost about £12m./ The defence project at St Marys, NSW (C-S June '55), for which Stephenson &
Turner are arch'ts was criticised by auditor-general H C Newman, who tables in Parl't an analysis of pro- gress, which said that although work is commendably advanced (completion is due in December) costs are snowballing, and this is due to failure to supervise economics to the extent demanded by the cost plus fixed fee contract. The estimate of £23.2m (which in- cludes £2.9m for contingencies & forecast rises) has risen, despite abandoning £1.8m of work, above
£26.3m./ A hospital com'tee also had a nibble at the firm, but their criticism referred only to £4000 ... the sum named for "repairs" to the 12-months old, £240,000, Gippsland Hosp, Sale, Vic./ Tenders were called by the same arch'ts, for a new limit-height office block, 390 Lonsdale-st, Melb, for Electrolytic Zinc Co.
Brisbane City Council conducts many branch lending libraries, but only 2 of them are new bldgs, & those just completed. This is the one at Chermside; the other, equally attractive, is at Annerley An exposed steel frame, pebbled brick walls & alum'n roofing are used.
It houses 12,000 books, cost £12,500 (built by day labour). Its arch't Mr James Birrell is a 1952 graduate of Melb Univ arch'ture school, & was appointed Brisb City Arch't last year.
These new law courts for Hobart were completed, &, unfortunately, reproduce faithfully the impression given by a published sketch by Tas'n PWD. The internal ar- rangements are not any happier than this pseudo- dignified front.
If 25,000 Syd building workers were on strike for I day, supporting a series of unsatisfied demands about wages & conditions Master Builders had refused to negotiate with the State Labour Council, which is not a trade union.
3rd-year arch'ture students, from Melb Univ, spent a week visiting Syd & Canberra, studying buildings old
& new. They, & 2 lecturers, went in private cars, drove 200 miles in Syd suburbs during 2 days, spent a 3rd day in city bldgs. One of their peasant surprises was
io discover that these flats in Canberra, at Braddon, were designed by the Com'Ith Works Dept. The land- scaping was just being completed. As bldgs they are not novel, & lean obviously upon overseas precedents,
[r
but their standard is high (they have built-in cup- boards. slow combustion stoves, drying cupboards &
there are communal laundries & car ports underneath).
Above all, here in Aust, at last, housing is intelligently
arranged into an attractive community group. All flats face garden courts, free of traffic, with a pleasant scale & excellent colour./ Adjacent to them an 8-storey, 3-wing block is being built, (apparently the Com'Ith's policy of discouraging tall flats, in the terms of hous- ing-loan argeements with Stales, hinders all but the Commonwealth Govt).
IT The intention to use private arch'ts for Canberra houses (C-S, Sep) has so far come to nothing. The National Capital Planning & Development Com'tee studied submissions from 5 arch'ts (2 from Canberra, 2 from Melb, I from Syd) specially commissioned for the occasion. From their 14 alternative design;, &
from 13 new designs from the Com'Ith Works Dept, the Com'tee rejected all 14 private designs, approved 7 from the Works Dept. Names of arch'ts we-e not announced./ There is a programme of rapid expansion in Canberra, io cope with Depts shifting in from State capitals. The programme will mean, over the next 5 years, 4,600 new flats or houses (Canberra Times, July 25), or maybe it's 2,600 (Melb Age, Aug 19) or perhaps 1,600 (Canberra Times, Aug 21). But it could still be 4,600 (Syd Morn'g Herald, Aug 26).
if The NSW Local Govt Assoc'n's executive decided to seek legislation forcing people to maintain & paint houses.
f Coincident with the Launceston magistrate's decision (C-S Sep) that the architect's registration Act pro- tected "architect" only when spelt that way, an Ade- laide magistrate found guilty Mr Iwan Zoneff, who has a German arch. ' diploma, for describing himself as architect. This is the first prosecution by the Sth Aust'n registration Board. He was fined £20, with £10/18 costs./ In New Zealand there is no registration for architects, but the NZIA is pressing for legislation.
This model was displayed in a school hall in North Syd, part of an exhib'n demonstrating a possible re- development of McMahon's Point, (just nth-west of the Bridge). One vital significance of the exhib'n is that this forthright propaganda (the Point is zoned industrial, the display shows its magnificent potential as a residential area) was voluntarily made by a group of young architects. A local Progress Assoc'n began the move for rezoning but the force of the notion could merge only as an architectural solution, & that has been contributed after weeks of enthusiastic, mostly spare-time work — by 9 designers led by Mr Harry Seidler.
This is the refreshed entrance to Wool House, 578 Bourke-st, Melb, now home of the Aust'n Wool Bureau but formerly a warehouse. Arch'ts Messrs Eggleston, MacDonald & Secomb had extensive alterations made io the 80-year old bldg ... 2 new lifts were installed, windows renewed, & this entry improved with granite, marble mosaics, a false, curved ceiling with concealed lighting, & new 15-foot high doors with bronze rams- heads by sculptor Mr Andor Meszaros. (J L & E M Daly, struct eng'eers; Hansen & Yuncken Ltd, bldrs)
Service Station becomes a landmark
The corner of Grattan Street and Royal Parade presents an ideal site for a service station — why else would the Ampol Company have chosen it as a model for staff training; and (as an after- thought) what more inspiring a setting for a headquarters building so near the city.
How to raise these two from one, was the problem of Bernard Evans & Associates and their builders, Swanson Bros. The new building, with sun hoods to soften glare and heat — still trapping the light, rises 7 storeys above, leaving the service station intact to feed the hospitals and the other local customers.
It's a fait that you "can't miss" the Ampol build- ing, for a glass enclosed cantilever geometric staircase 92 feet high with 161 steps makes sure of that. This eye-catching feature is the largest in the southern hemisphere and possibly in the world.
DUNLOP FLOORS IN AMPOL COLOURS The natural choice of flooring was Dunlop Vinyl tiles to achieve a luxury look at low cost and pro- vide long service and easy maintenance. Ampol chose their own colours from the Dunlop colour range — red, white and blue.
MELBOURNE: DUNLOP FLOORINGS PTY. LIMITED. 96 FLINDERS STREET. PHONE MF 0371.
SYDNEY: DUNLOP RUBBER AUSTRALIA LIMITED, 27-33 WENTWORTH AVENUE. PHONE 13 0349
ADELAIDE: THE DUNLOP FLOORING CENTRE, 131-133 PIRIE STREET. PHONE W 1647.
BRISBANE: DUNLOP RUBBER AUSTRALIA LIMITED, CENTENARY PLACE. PHONE FA 0271.
PERTH: DUNLOP RUBBER AUSTRALIA LIMITED, 424 MURRAY STREET. PHONE BA 8141. •
HOBART: DUNLOP RUBBER AUSTRALIA LIMITED, 27 ARGYLE STREET PHONE B 6381.
LAUNCESTON: 18 PATERSON STREET PHONE B 2067.
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