Old Parliament House, Canberra
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Old Parliament House, formerly known as the Provisional Parliament House, was the seat of the Parliament of Australia from 1927 to 1988. The building was opened in 9 May 1927 as a temporary base for the Commonwealth Parliament following its relocation from Melbourne to the new capital, Canberra, until a grander building could be constructed. In 1988, the Commonwealth Parliament transferred to the new Parliament House on Capital Hill. Old Parliament House currently houses exhibitions of the National Portrait Gallery and the National Archives and serves as a venue for temporary exhibitions, lectures and concerts.
Designed by John Smith Murdoch and a team of assistants, the building was intended to be neither temporary nor permanent – only to be ‘provisional’ building that would serve as a parliament for fifty years. The design brief extended from the building to include its gardens, décor and furnishings. The building is in the ‘stripped Classical’ style, common in Australian government buildings constructed in Canberra during the 1920s and 1930s. It does not include classical architectural elements such as columns, entablatures or pediments, but does have the ordiliness and symmetry associated with neoclassical architecture. The building's design was, and is, considered a success because of the clarity of shape, regular composition, dazzling whiteness and pleasantly human scale.
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[edit] Location
Old Parliament House lies at the foot of Capital Hill at the centre of the Parliamentary Triangle, which itself forms of the heart of Walter Burley Griffin’s design for Canberra. Prior to the completion of New Parliament House, it formed the heart of parliamentary and executive activity in Canberra. The building faces north-east, with a long, low façade leading onto King George Terrace, and an open vista of Lake Burley Griffin, Anzac Parade, the Australian War Memorial and Mount Ainslie beyond.
On either side of the building are situated the Parliamentary Gardens – one for the House of Representatives and the Senate respectively - which Murdoch intended as integral elements of the building, to provide both diversion and a space for contemplation for members and senators.
[edit] Façade and design elements
Old Parliament House is a three storey brick building with the principal floor on the middle level. Murdoch designed it to be simple and functional, and this is reflected throughout the design, extending to the interior fittings and furnishings.
The façade originally incorporated a grid of recessed openings and balconies, with four bays having arched bronze windows and stepped parapets. The building’s front façade has strong horizontal lines, displaying only two stories, with higher massed elements behind the façade on either side of the centre, indicating the location of the two debating chambers, with a lower mass in the centre where King’s Hall is located. Murdoch’s stripped classical design is based on a basic square, which provides the building with a regular proportional rhythm in terms of fenestration and other elements, including the (now enclosed) verandas and colonnades.
The building was constructed from Canberra clay brick, with timber and lightweight concrete floors. It was originally rendered in white concrete, since painted, but for a pedestal of bricks left in their natural colour. The original roofs were constructed of flat concrete slabs with a membrane waterproofing and finished with a bituminous coating which was designed to be walked on. At the roofline, on either side of the main entrance, are large painted reliefs of the Royal and Commonwealth coats of arms.
The interior continues the stripped-classicism of the exterior, with the use of common motifs and simple lines, in both the decor and furnishings. To reflect the federal nature of the Commonwealth of Australia, the building also makes extensive use of timbers from around Australia, with a timber native to each state being used for different purposes. The building is also designed to make good use of natural light from windows, skylights and light wells.
[edit] Layout
In keeping with its classicised forms, the building has strong symmetrical planning based around a number of major spaces. The major axis through the building, which is part of the land axis of the Walter Burley Griffin's design, runs through King's Hall, the Parliamentary Library and the dining rooms at the back. The cross-axis features the House of Representatives and Senate Chambers on either side of King's Hall.
Originally in an H-shape, the building now forms a large rectangle as a consequence of various extensions, with a small rear projection. The building now contains four courtyards and some light-wells. The courtyards are surrounded by colonnades at ground level and (now enclosed) verandas on the main floor.
At the centre is King’s Hall, so-named for King George V, whose statue stands in the room, which forms the heart of the building. The public nature of this relatively intimate space, says much about the small town nature of the first 50 years of Canberra’s role as national capital. Leading directly off King’s Hall are chambers for the House of Representatives (to the south-east) and the Senate (to the north-west). To rear is the Parliamentary Library (which is now occupied by the National Portrait Gallery) and behind it the dining rooms.
The rest of main floor of the building was given over to offices and meeting rooms. On either side of each of the Chambers are meeting rooms for the Government and Opposition, and at the end of each block were (what were originally intended to be) suites for the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate. At the rear of the building were dining rooms for members and Senators and for strangers. On the basement level were service areas and some offices and on the top floor were more offices and the offices and facilities for the parliamentary press gallery.
[edit] King’s Hall
From the entrance, a flight of stairs leads up to King's Hall. King’s Hall is a large square room, with an ambulatory around the outer edges. It is entered from the main central entrance and up a flight of stairs. The central space has a coffered ceiling and is lit from above by clerestory windows on all four sides. The floor is parquetry, made of jarrah and silver ash. Dominating the room is a larger than life bronze statue of King George V, monarch at the time the building was completed, but who, as Duke of Cornwall and York, also represented Queen Victoria at the inauguration of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901 in Sydney.
On eight of the columns surrounding the room are bronze reliefs of persons prominent in the formation of the Commonwealth. In the ambulatory are portraits of Australian Governors-General, Prime Ministers, Speakers and Presidents of the Senate and of events associated with the building, including the opening of the building in 1927 by the Duke of York (later King George VI) and the opening of Parliament by Queen Elizabeth II in 1954.
[edit] The Chambers
The chambers of the Australian Senate and House of Representatives are large internal spaces, with ceilings rising considerably higher than that of King’s Hall. Both chambers are the same size, despite the requirement of section 24 of the Australian Constitution that the House of Representatives should have as near as possible twice the number of members as the Senate. Both are lined with timber panelling, again reflective of Murdoch’s stripped classical style, with furnishings in a similar style. The timber used in the wall panelling, the desks, seats and tables is all Australian black bean and Tasmanian blackwood. The hand-woven carpets in each chamber have a pattern of eucalyptus leaves and wattle blossom.
The Senate is characterised by the predominance of the colour red, in both the carpet and the red leather of the seating and desks. This reflects its role as the upper house and its role as a deliberative house along the lines of the House of Lords. The seating is laid out in a horse-shoe, around a central table. Each senator had a seat and a desk, including those sitting on the front benches (i.e., ministers). At the end of the table is a desk for the Clerks and behind them a large chair for the President of the Australian Senate. Behind it are two thrones, to be used by the Monarch and his or her consort, or, in their stead, the Governor-General and his or her spouse, at official occasions such as the opening of Parliament. The furnishings follow Murdoch’s stripped classical style.
The walls of the Senate are lined with blackbean timber (which is also used for the furnishings), and above this are located galleries on each side. The gallery above the throne was reserved for the press, with others used by the guests of senators, members of the House of Representatives and the general public.
The House of Representatives largely corresponds, in terms of design elements, to the Senate. However, the chamber is characterised by the colour green, reflecting the historic inheritance of the Representatives, as the lower house and the house in which governments are formed, from the House of Commons.
There are three basic differences between the House of Representatives chamber and the Senate. First, the House is more crowded with seating than the Senate, reflecting the requirement for double the number of members. Second, the front benches are long continuous benches with no desks, similar to the front benches of the House of Commons. Thirdly, the Speaker’s Chair presents a significant stylistic contrast, as it is a copy of Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin's Speaker’s chair in the House of Commons, presented to the Australian Parliament by the British branch of the Empire Parliamentary Association in 1926. This chair was then copied for the replacement of the original Speaker’s Chair in the House of Commons, destroyed in an air raid in the Second World War, which was a gift of the Australian Parliament to the House of Commons. The Royal Coat of Arms over the Chair is carved in oak from timber originally built into Westminster Hall in 1399. The hinged flaps of the arm rests are of oak from Lord Nelson's flagship HMS Victory, in the Battle of Trafalgar 1805. The Chair symbolises the Australian Parliament's links with British history and the Parliament at Westminster.
[edit] Interiors
The Murdoch designed interiors remain in substantial areas of the building, sometimes with their original furnishings. The three best preserved interiors, other than King’s Hall and the Chambers, are the Government party room (on the House of Representatives side), the Senate Club Room (also called the Senate Opposition Party Room and the Clerk of the Senate’s office (which was originally the President of the Senate’s office). All retain their original fittings and furnishings, designed by Murdoch and his team in accordance with the stripped classical design scheme. These are characterised by simple forms, based on Murdoch's square motif.
The original building was small, and did not provide offices for all members. To an extent this was to be mitigated by ministers having offices in their own departments, originally in the East and West Blocks (also designed by Murdoch). For this reason, the party rooms are not just meeting rooms but contain private phone booths, washbasins, desks and small areas for more intimate discussions.
[edit] Gardens
The Parliamentary Gardens were designed as an extension of the building, retaining a formality in keeping with it. Originally, the rear courtyards of the building were open to the gardens through a colonnade, Murdoch’s intention being that members and Senators should be able to use the gardens as an integral part of the building. Late this intention was lost, as extensions were added to the back part of the building to provide more offices.
They are enclosed by hedges and were planted with trees. In both cases they were divided into four quadrants, with two being taken up by rose gardens and the remaining two by recreational facilities. On the Senate side these are tennis courts and a cricket pitch and on the Representatives' side, they are tennis courts and a bowling/croquet green. In the 1970s much of the Representatives' gardens were covered by an extension to the building, but this has now been removed and the gardens restored.
The rose gardens contain a wide variety of specimens, including many old roses and roses donated by prominent Australians and overseas bodies and individuals. Much of the inspiration (and organisation) for this came from the Usher of the Black Rod and later Clerk of the Senate, Robert Broinowski, and the gardens were laid out by Rex Hazlewood. They also played key roles in the development of the National Rose Gardens on the other side of King George Terrace.
[edit] Extensions
Old Parliament House was only intended to be ‘provisional’ and so office space was not provided for all members. This shortage of space was compounded by the decision of Prime Minister James Scullin to move his principal office from the West Block to the building in 1930. This eventually resulted in all ministers, with their individual staffs, being accommodated in the building over time, compounding in the office space problem.
The first extensions were made to the rear of the building in 1947 to provide more office space for members. Some further extensions were constructed in 1964. In the 1970s large extensions were added to both sides of the building and the south-west corner. The front façade was extended in a sympathetic fashion to match Murdoch’s design. On the Representatives side, larger extensions were required, and a substantial part of the gardens were built over and linked to the main building by a bridge.
The interiors of the 1972-3 extensions reflect fashions of the time, although wooden panelling was used for the walls, in keeping with the older parts of the building, but in an unequivocally 1970s style. On the Representatives side, the extensions necessitated the demolition of the Prime Minister's suite of offices (originally intended for the Speaker) and the original Cabinet Room. The rooms are now left in the condition they were in at the time they were occupied by Bob Hawke, immediately prior to the move to New Parliament House in May 1988. Similar extensions were made on the Senate side, with a new suite of rooms being constructed for the President of the Senate in a similar style.
[edit] History
Old Parliament House was commenced in April 1923 and completed in early 1927. It was built by the Commonwealth Department of Works, using tradesmen and materials from all over Australia. The final cost was about six hundred thousand pounds, which was more than three times the original estimate.
In 1923, Canberra was a small, spread out town with few facilities and no administrative or parliamentary functions. The building of old Parliament House effectively doubled the town's (very small) population. The workers required for the project and their families were housed in camps and settlements and endured Canberra's harsh weather conditions. Once Parliament commenced sitting in Canberra the transfer of Commonwealth public servants from Melbourne required the construction of suitable housing in the areas of Ainslie, Civic, Forrest (formerly called Blandfordia), Griffith and Kingston.
The building was opened on 9 May 1927 by the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother). The opening ceremonies were both splendid and incongruous, given sparsely built nature of Canberra of the time and its small population. The building was extensively decorated with British Empire and Australian flags and bunting (similar schemes were used at later events, most notably in 1954 when Queen Elizabeth II visited Canberra for the first time and opened Parliament). Temporary stands were erected bordering the lawns in front of the Parliament and these were filled with eager crowds. A Wiradjuri elder, Jimmy Clements, was one of only two Indigenous Australians present, having walked for about a week from Brungle Station (near Tumut) to be at the event. Dame Nellie Melba sang the national anthem. The Duke of York unlocked the front doors with a golden key, and led the official party into King’s Hall where he unveiled the statue of his father, King George V. The Duke then opened the first parliamentary session in the new Senate Chamber.
John Curtin and Ben Chifley, former Prime Ministers, both lay in state in King’s Hall after their deaths in 1945 and 1951 respectively. In November 1975, David Smith, Official Secretary of the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, read a proclamation announcing the dismissal of the Whitlam Government from the front steps and afterwards, Gough Whitlam made his famous remarks.
By the 1980s Old Parliament House had reached, and exceeded, its capacity and was in need of considerable repair and renovation. For this reason, in the late 1970s Malcolm Fraser's Government committed to the building of new Parliament House. After the opening of new Parliament House by Queen Elizabeth II on 9 May 1988, old Parliament House was left vacant for several years.
After Parliament moved to the new building, there was a debate on whether to demolish the Old Parliament House. In the 1920s it had been argued by some, including Walter Burley Griffin, that the building’s position would interfere with the vista of a permanent Parliament House. Burley Griffin had likened the placement of the Old Parliament House to ‘filling the front yard with outhouses’ as the building would interfere with the land axis from Mount Ainslie to Capital Hill.
The building’s historic significance in the history of twentieth century Australia mean that the Australian Government decided that it should remain. But, it remained unclear what its future purpose would be. In the end it was decided that the most suitable use for Old Parliament House would be to make it a ‘living museum of political history.’
The building was re-opened in December 1992. It is run as a museum. It is now managed solely by the Department of Communications and the Arts and is progressively being conserved and refurbished to display and record Australia's constitutional, political and cultural history.
The National Portrait Gallery, the Australian Archives and the National Film and Sound Archive currently use various spaces in the building for exhibitions, although the National Portrait Gallery will soon move to new premises, which are presently being constructed near the High Court of Australia on King Edward Terrace.
[edit] References
- ^ Apperly, Richard; Robert Irving, Peter Reynolds (1989). A pictorial guide to identifying Australian architecture, Paperback, 1994, Sydney, Australia: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-207-18562-X.
- ^ Charlton, Ken; Rodney Garnett, Shibu Dutta (2001). Federal Capital Architecture Canberra 1911-1939, 2nd Edition, Paperback, 2001, Canberra, Australia: National Trust Of Australia (ACT). ISBN 0-9578541-0-2.
- ^ Metcalf, Andrew (2003). Canberra Architecture, 1st Edition, Paperback, 2003, Sydney, Australia: The Watermark Press. ISBN 0-949284-63-7.
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