A PRIVATE COMMUNICATION TO ARCHITECTS AND MASTER BUILDERS

UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE

CROSS-SECTION Issue No. 6: April, 1953 NSW architects asked permission to build 20 houses unrestricted by muni-cipal laws to prove the obsolescence of many bldg regs (C-S, Jan). The Minister (Mr Clive Evatt) replied "The HC will build 100 to your designs". A committee of the NSW RAIA is now planning a programme. A "remarkable experimental village" may result, with all local govt building laws thrown overboard. Predictions so far published include: 8' ceilings, slab floors, flat roofs, colour-washed brick walls, combined kitchen-laundries. But what else? In other states, particularly those in which such methods have always been permitted, many architects will look for more fundamental challenges to regulations based on specification rather than performance. The ball is back in the NSW architects' court. If their enterprise in design & techniques matches their professional initiative, & if manufacturers co-operate, these 100 "open go" homes could change the course of Australian housing. They appear to offer an opportunity which may not appear again this century. /Mr Justice Sugerman, who in 1948 made a memorable judgment in favour of Mr Sydney Ancher & design freedom, recently over-ruled Willoughby Council, Syd, for withholding approval from coloured aluminium tiles in a brick-&-tile-roof area. • Last week Mr W Balcombe Griffiths was elected President of the RVIA.

Brisbane CC labourers took possession & demolished in 2 days an offend-ing brick garage at Alderley, Q, built without council approval. (~ Our first roof-top car park (60 cars) is on the new RACQ's service centre, Valley, Q. (Job, Collin & Fulton, arch'ts; M R Hornibrook, bldrs.) ▪ Near Zug, Switzerland, on Good Friday, Henry Van de Velde, pioneer of rational design & perhaps the first modern architect, will celebrate his 90th birthday, still healthy, alert, practising & completing his memoirs. tjj This morning the wreckers move in to the Town Hall Hotel in central Mel-bourne, closed since Saturday for rebuilding. This month Mr Best Overend's office (arch'ts) will call tenders for the new 10-storey, £300,000 (est) job - the first of numerous hotel projects to start, the first big private building in the city for 13 yrs. It is planned for speed & will be largely prefab'd, in steel frame with floors of precast beams & t-c blocks; the basement bars are due to reopen in 2 mths. But outside walls will be brick with aluminium double frame windows to counter the major hazard; Swanston-st's noise. Plans include 21 suites; unstinted bars, lounges & restaurants; a shaft of bay windows projecting from the steel & faience front; pro-vision for ultimate extension to limit height & for bulk delivery of beer by tanker: it will be pumped from loading docks to a sub-basement.

The Premier of NSW (Mr Cahill), driving a bulldozer, turned over the first sod & down the town-planners' advice, & work began on the £25m oil refinery on historic Kurnell Peninsula (C-S, Dec '52). 41 To "prevent a big bank-up" of objections to Sydney CC's draft city plan before the closing date, May 2, the Planning Committee started considering the first 450 objections last month. One of the first: from Tooheys Ltd, against the proposed elimination of 17 hotels. One of the most important: from Cumberland County Council, the planning authority under whose guidance the city council was presumed to be working. But the new City plan rejects the zoning of the earlier, larger County plan & "upsets its balance". A battle between planners is an ironic twist to the sad story of town-planning legislation in Australia. 1J Brisbane CC also had until last Friday a proposal for the "Control of Use of Land & Bldgs" before the public. It asked for 66' min frontages, 10 acres min in the Green Belt, etc. The Q chapter of RAIA supported the idea but objected to the proposed "dictatorial" administration, which leaves too much to the "opinion" of an officer. (~ Robert Haddon's famous 1916 Ships bldg, Melb, was insensately wrecked.

Another attempt last month failed to refloat "Glenvue",L 2 half-finished at Bondi, NSW. This 50-flat co-op began late in '51 (Harry Seidler, arch't). 8 months ago it stopped. Since then about £20,000 of work has lain idle waiting for a buyer. I Silence reigns also beneath the giant clearspans of the main 3,4 hangar at West Beach Airport, SA. However, according to the latest promise it will be finished, like most current work, "in time for the Royal visit". • 7-storey Lombard Building, 17 Queen-st, Melbourne, 1886, is probably the oldest steel-frame office in Australia. Last fortnight it sold for £65,000 to an oversea investor. IT In 2 new shop buildings in Geelong,Vic, simple, light construction & elimination of plaster, tiling & other conventional finishes cut building time in one case to less than 3 mths, & costs in both to £250 a square. 5 A group of 4 trim suburban shops with bagged brickwork & corrugated asb-cement facade panels relying mainly on neat lettering & paint colours: yellow and sage green; tan & light blue; white trim. 6 A paint shop facing south. Pipe columns support sloping rafters. The full span of the high chartreuse ceiling is exposed above the low partitions. (Schefferle & Davies, arch'ts for both.) cl Extensions began to the Royal Society building on its island in Victoria-st, Melb, under Mr John Heath as honorary architect; W C Burne & Sons, bldrs; for the Royal Soc of Gynaecologists & Obstetricians, Aust'n HQ. The Govt is giving £10,000 (+ cost) on condition that the additions conform in style to the old ivy-coloured stucco neo-Classic facades. ci The fad for glass irrespective of the orientation suffered some loss of favour last month. One hot afternoon the impressive new £67,000 prefab aluminium area school (Tasmania's first) at Pontville was opened. The Premier (Mr Cosgrove) & 500 parents & children sweltered in oven heat beating through the western glass (44' x 10' high) of the assembly hall. The Premier hoped that sunshades would be available soon. Children have been using the rooms for 15 months. el An outdoor exhibition of murals is now being held at Melb Univ by Colin Munro & Philip Sargeant, on big asb-cement panels erected among trees. • Adelaide's sprawl now clutches at the sandhills of Port Augusta. 400 SA H Trust houses will make gritty Willsden estate the most northern suburb. 350,000 tons of sand have been shifted in the last 12 mths to bring 50 acres to an acceptable dead level. (II H W Thompson & Co, bldrs, began work on the 3-storey, r-c offices for National Cash Register Co at Ultimo, Sydney. 2' deep vertical aluminium fins will sunshade the long west facade (H 0 Woodhouse, arch't). • The Housing Commission's high rents were criticised at the Annual Conference of the Vic Women's C'tee of the ALP, which suggested (in the best local tradition) dismissal of the Architects' Panel to cut costs. • Melb'ne C C's plans for the destruction of St Kilda Rd's famous trees have now become so zealous (estimated cost £50,000) that they are certain to be shelved with most other civic works projects. • Prefab light towers have been designed & made by Dept of Works for use off the N Queensland coast: At East Strait a 45' steel tower was prefab'd in 3 sections. At Eel Reef a 7 stainless steel tower was carried in one piece by duck to the reef at low tide & set on a concrete base. (fj 2 new big owner-built houses by Dykes & Johnson, designers; R A C Rogers - arch't in collaboration, indicate that Sydney now definitely prefers to take its influences from the East Coast of USA. 8 Fitzpatrick House, French's Forest, 26 squares, £9000. 9 Penrose House, The Spit, 24 squares, £8000. Q The foundation stone was laid for £59,000 Villanova College on a former convent property at Coorparoo, Q, to be opened next year (F L Cullen, arch't; K D Morris & Sons, bldrs). • Proud Port Macdonnell, SA, decked its fine10 new £40,000 water tower with bunting for opening day (right). It is the first departure from the familiar hammer-headed concrete cylinder of country towns. A light pipe stand carries a gleaming tank, taken from the dismantled wartime Wallaroo distillery, cut for transport & rewelded on the site (E & WS Dept, SA). l]j The new 442' x 11' diam [German] rotary cement kiln at Birkenhead, SA, took 12 months & 50,000 man-hours to erect. It is driven by a 200 hp motor at 172 rpm & produces for the Adelaide Cement Co 500 tons of cement daily. /In Q'land, 2 cement coy's (Q cement & Lime, & N Aust Cement) plan to double output in 15 mths with £ll-,m of new plant now building. ~]I Whyalla SA was chosen by C A Parsons & Co (Eng) for their proposed big electrical machine works because of the "greater labour stability & availability of houses" in SA. • Non-actinic glass throughout, bright colours & good amenities contribute to first-class working conditions in a 11 new factory (H P Oser, arch't) in Parramatta Rd, Sydney, now bought by Amalgamated Tobacco Corporation. It is 20,000 sq ft with sawteeth over a 30'-high steel frame & brick infill. T Died, in Perth, after an operation, Mr W Robertson, head of Perth Tech College. /in Victoria, Col F C Purnell, well-known Geelong achitect. Retired as Arch't-in-Chief in SA, Mr Stewart Stevenson. Partnered in Melbourne, A B Armstrong & Lloyd Orton. S Warmington with J & P Murphy. /In Adelaide, Mr James Hodge, with the existing firm of Stapledon & McMichael. /In Hobart, Harry Hope & John F Jacob. Dissolved partnership in Brisbane, Blackburne & Gzell. Q Following mass sackings of arch'ts & engin'rs from Brisbane CC the City Arch't, Mr J E Lloyd, has resigned. He goes to Cumberland CC, Syd. Brisbane is left with many publicised major projects, a big construction branch, much equipment & no visible technical staff.

'rhe, . Royal Commission talks, Associated TV Pty Ltd, at adueing TV films for the US market, has bought the

.e plant & buildings at Pagewood Studios, Sydney, G hopes t this TV production unit & transmission centre (Douglas

ng, arch't).

A new store at Frankston, stopping

off and shopping centre for

Victoria's Mornington Peninsula,

emphasises planning and presentation

as an important factor in retail

selling.

Architects: Mockridge, Stahle &

Mitchell.

What the eye does sees the sales chart registers ...

I "Visual" windows give the customer a complete view of the interior. Every article in the store is on display and selling actively to the window shopper. Small units display key lines close to the window.

(Spaciousness achieved in planning has been emphasised by elevating the counters on thin metal legs, allowing the eye to follow the floor pattern beneath.

ÇJCounters are moveable units 4'0" long, allowing for easy layout changes.

jJ Strong colour has been used for dramatic presentation, and the unusual black and white pattern of the DUNLOP SEMASTIC TILE FLOOR provides an interesting base to the whole scheme.

J External facing to the stall boards and piers of the shop window also employs DUNLOP SEMASTIC TILES. For complete unity and harmony of texture and colour, breaking down even further the barrier between interior and exterior, the DUNLOP SEMASTIC TILES facing has been continued through on to selected interior walls.

WHERE BEAUTY & UTILITY MUST COMBINE

Specify DUNLOP SEMASTIC FLOOR TILES COMPLETE FLOORING SERVICE

Contact your state Flooring Department, Dunlop Rubber Australia Limited, for complete information concerning:

SEMASTIC FLOOR TILES • RUBBER FLOORING • FLEXIMERS STAIR TREADS • LINK MATS

DUNLOP RUBBER AUSTRALIA LIMITED (Inc. in Vic.)

I ADV ERT I S E M E N T I

Library Digitised Collections

Title:

Cross-Section [1953]

Date:

1953

Persistent Link:

http://hdl.handle.net/11343/24047

File Description:

Cross-Section, Apr 1953 (no. 6)