The emergence of the modern movement was the most significant architectural development during the years between the two World Wars. However, the ideas of mainstream modernism were too radical to appeal to a wide cross section of the public. The inter-war Art Deco style also celebrated the exciting, dynamic aspects of the machine age, but in a more toned down, easy to approach way that appealed to a larger group of people on an emotional level, with the use of graphic decorative elements and modern, eye-catching materials.

So while not strictly a style of modernism, there are similarities in influence that make this a style worth including here: a faith in modern technology and the representation of dynamic progress, with a forward looking image. Buildings in this style are also some of the few built in Canberra during the inter-war period, by architects like E H Henderson and Cuthbert Whitley, who also produced work in the inter-war functionalist style.

The inter-war Art Deco style came to be favoured for two distinctively twentieth century building types: the cinema and the skyscraper. In Australia, the style was also frequently used in commercial and residential interiors and shopfronts. In Canberra there were no skyscrapers, but a small number of public buildings were constructed in this style during the inter-war years. Public building in Canberra during the inter-war period was limited, and those few examples that remain are important—and precious.

Features

• Suggestion of arrested vertical or horizontal motion
• Symmetry
• Stepped skyline or silhouette
• Decorative elements concentrated on the upper part of the building
• Three dimensional quality in massing and detailing
• Vertical and horizontal fins, zigzags, streamlined effects
• Geometric curves, stylised effects
• Materials include polished granite, Vitrolite, sandstone and textured face brickwork
• Chrome plated steel used for shopfronts and commercial interiors
• Metal framed windows
• Use of stylised typefaces

Canberra examples

• Manuka Swimming Pool, E. H. Henderson, 1930-31.
• Canberra School of Art, Cuthbert Whitley, 1939 (pictured above).
• Ainslie Primary School, E. H. Henderson & Cuthbert Whitley, 1938.
• Australian War Memorial. J. Crust & Emil Sodersten, 1934-41.

Other Australian examples

• Anzac Memorial, Hyde Park, Sydney. C. Bruce Dellit, 1934.
• Birtley Towers, Birtley Place, Elizabeth Bay, Sydney. Emil Sodersten, 1934.
• ACA Building, Queen Street, Melbourne. Hennessy & Hennessy, 1936.
• Former City Mutual Building, Hunter & Bligh Streets, Sydney. Emil Sodersten, 1934-1936.

The Whitley Houses in Griffith and Braddon were designed by Government architect Cuthbert Whitley in 1939. Until 2004 they were the last remaining intact examples of inter-war functionalist style public housing in Canberra designed by the Works Branch of the Department of the Interior.

The Whitley Houses were some of the first government designed and built detached functionalist style houses in Australia. The houses are located at:

• 60 Leichhardt Street, Griffith;
• 95 and 97 Canberra Avenue, Griffith; and
• 107 Limestone Avenue, Braddon.

The houses exhibit the typical characteristics of the inter-war functionalist style, with asymmetrical massing of simple, cubic shapes, a flat roof concealed behind a parapet and the use of plain surfaces and metal framed windows, to emphasise horizontality.

Although listed on the ACT Interim Heritage Places Register, development approvals were granted and multi-storey developments went ahead on each of the blocks during 2004-2005, seriously compromising the heritage significance of all the houses.

Significance

The Whitley Houses are listed on the ACT Chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) Register of Significant Twentieth Century Architecture. The houses are regarded by the RAIA as being excellent examples of the inter-war functionalist style and are some of the first functionalist houses in Australia designed and built by government.

The houses are also important for their association with Cuthbert Whitley, Senior Architect in the Works Branch of the Department of the Interior. Whitley, with Chief Government Architect Edwin Henderson, was responsible for the design of numerous Government buildings in 1930s Canberra.

Bearing in mind the key role played by public housing in the development of Canberra, these houses are also important for revealing Whitley’s aim, while in charge of the Works Branch, of introducing modernist architecture to Canberra’s public housing after 1939.

On 26 October 2002 the Whitley Houses were also added to the ACT Interim Heritage Places Register. When the Heritage Act 2004 came into force in March 2005, places included on the old heritage places register under the Land (Planning and Environment) Act 1991 were henceforth taken to be registered under the Heritage Act 2004.

Until 2004 these were the last remaining intact examples of inter-war functionalist public housing in Canberra.

Description

The Whitley houses are all built on a single level, with brick walls and parapets concealing low-pitched roofs, which were originally asbestos cement. The houses in Griffith were designed to present a streetscape that incorporated the key design elements of the group. These included a low, painted connecting wall, brick flower box, cantilevered concrete hood over the entry and steel framed corner windows with horizontal panes on the more prominent front elevation.

60 Leichhardt Street, Griffith is a Type 108 house. Four houses of this type were built on the corners of this section; however two have been demolished. 97 Canberra Avenue, Griffith is the only Type 111 house remaining and was one of a set of five facing Canberra Avenue. It has a central entry and more elongated appearance than a Type 108 dwelling, with a wider front window and longer cantilevered hood. 95 Canberra Avenue sits diagonally opposite 60 Leichhardt Street and is another Type 108 house. The Griffith houses were all painted white.

107 Limestone Avenue, Braddon (pictured at top) is a Type 133 house. This design is similar to a Type 108, but not intended to be painted. The design features of this very well preserved house are readily apparent from the street.

The design and location of public housing and building types was an important consideration for Canberra’s planners in the 1930s. The Whitley houses on Canberra Avenue were arranged symmetrically along the main southern entry to Canberra as a demonstration that this was a modern, developing city. The Northbourne Housing Group was presented along Canberra’s major northern entry in much the same way some twenty years later.

Sources and further reading

• Whitley Houses, Griffith and Braddon Interim Heritage Places Register citation, prepared by the ACT Heritage Council.
• Blog post: Whitley houses ‘preserved’
• Inter-war functionalist architecture

The Forrest Fire Station precinct, which includes the Fire Station and seven residences, is located in Forrest at Section 35, Canberra Avenue, Manuka Circle, Fitzroy Street and Empire Circuit. The seven residences are made up of a two storey house at each of the four street corners, with three two storey duplexes in between. Garages are attached to the residences, acknowledging for the first time the new status of the car. The Fire Station, on Empire Circuit, housed fire engines and duty staff.

The Fire Station was operational from 1939-1983, with the precinct supporting the main ACT Fire Station. The Fire Station is now a museum and the residences have been converted to a variety of offices. The buildings are substantially original and, with the recent redevelopment of the Whitley Houses in Griffith and Braddon, are the last remaining examples of Government sponsored functionalist residential architecture in Canberra.

Cuthbert Whitley

The Forrest Fire Station and residences were designed by Government architects E H Henderson and Cuthbert Whitley in 1939. E H Henderson was the Chief Architect of the Department of Interior, Works Branch. As such, he had responsibility for the design of the precinct. However, many of the design drawings were signed by Cuthbert Whitley and given the progressive nature of the designs it is likely that he had a significant role.

The residences in particular are very good examples of inter-war functionalist architecture. The Fire Station and residences are built in panels of red and cream face bricks with a regular arrangement of windows and flat roofs concealed by parapets and small cantilevered balconies (on the residences). The interlocking horizontal and vertical elements of the residences relate directly to Willem Dudok’s European modernist architecture in Holland.

Significance

The Forrest Fire Station and residences are important examples of inter-war functionalist architecture. They represent the few remaining intact examples of the work of Cuthbert Whitley, one of the key originators of functionalist architecture in Canberra and Australia. Whitley, with Chief Government Architect Edwin Henderson, was responsible for the design of numerous Government buildings in 1930s Canberra.

The Forrest Fire Station and residences are listed on the ACT Heritage Register and the ACT Chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) Register of Significant Twentieth Century Architecture. The houses are regarded by the RAIA as being excellent examples of the inter-war functionalist style.

The buildings are located on a landmark site along Canberra Avenue, an important axis leading to Capital Hill. They are also an important link with the early days of Canberra through the history of the ACT Fire Brigade.

Sources and further reading

• Andrew Metcalf, Canberra Architecture, Watermark Press, 2003
• Forrest Fire Station Precinct, Entry to the ACT Heritage Register, 2004
• R Garnett and D Hyndes (eds), The Heritage of the Australian Capital Territory, National Trust, 1992
• Royal Australian Institute of Architects RSTCA Citation No. R29
• Inter-war functionalist architecture
• Willem Dudok

Canberra is a young city. Due to World Wars and the Great Depression, its early development came in fits and starts. As a result, there are few public buildings left from this period and even fewer examples of modernist public housing.

Take a look at them now, because before too much longer, these rare and unusual examples of 1930s functionalism—some of the earliest in Australia—will either have been demolished or modified to such an extent that their historical and architectural integrity will be irretrievably compromised.

The houses

An example of this are the Whitley houses in Griffith and Braddon, regarded by the RAIA as being significant examples of inter-war functionalist architecture. They were gazetted to the ACT Interim Heritage Places Register on 26 October 2002. The houses are located at:

• 60 Leichhardt Street, Griffith;
• 95 and 97 Canberra Avenue, Griffith; and
• 107 Limestone Avenue, Braddon.

Heritage listing

In Canberra, the Land (Planning and Environment) Act 1991 deals with planning, heritage and land administration and an Interim Heritage Places Register and the ACT Heritage Places Register are established under the Act. These Registers allow heritage places to be recognised and protected for their importance to the local community.

As a group, the Whitley houses comprise the last remaining inter-war functionalist style houses in Canberra originally built as public housing. Designed by architect Cuthbert Whitley of the Works Branch of the Department of the Interior in 1939 and 1940, the houses were among the first government designed and built functionalist style single-storey detached houses in Australia.

The Heritage citation for the Whitley houses identifies certain specific requirements as being essential to the conservation of the heritage significance of the place. According to the citation, the intrinsic features of the four Whitley houses, including their original form, fabric and scale, should be managed in a manner appropriate to conserving their significance as inter-war functionalist style public housing. The citation goes on to state that the historical and architectural integrity of the designated Whitley houses is to be retained and conserved. Any action relating to these specific requirements is termed ‘development’ for the purposes of the Act and requires approval prior to undertaking the activity.

The specific requirements in the citation include:

Alterations and additions to the Whitley Houses should closely match the original details, materials, and finishes for key elements including roofing, capping, downpipes, hood details, wall finishes and details, window types, materials and sill details and door treatment. Existing steel-framed windows shall be retained. Double-glazing of existing windows to control sound and heat shall be permitted. Removal of later additions or accretions, in order to reinstate original details is encouraged.

And:

Development adjacent to any of the Whitley houses shall be permitted provided any such development is sympathetic in scale, style and character to the dwellings.

The Stanhope Labor Government claimed to have saved the Whitley houses—by allowing a three-storey development to be attached to the original Leichhardt Street house. Apparently, similar Development Applications have been approved for the other houses in the group. How on earth does this multi-storey addition manage the original form, fabric and scale ‘in a manner appropriate to conserving their significance as inter-war functionalist style public housing’?

60 Leichhardt Street—then and now

Of course, it does no such thing. Externally, features like the cantilevered hoods and metal framed corner windows reference European modernism of the 1930s. But by attaching a three-storey block to the existing residence, the form and scale of the original house is overwhelmed. Perhaps the government would argue that the character of the original dwelling is maintained by calling the new development Whitley?

In her 13 February 2004 Press Release, the Shadow Planning and Environment Minister Vicki Dunne made the point that:

The result is that most of these houses will be dwarfed by what are effectively multi-storey extensions. This is not what I consider preserving our heritage. If they were worth preserving, they should have been kept on their original blocks—if necessary, through the Territory purchasing them.

— Shadow Planning and Environment Minister Vicki Dunne

There’s a good idea: maybe each of the houses could have been fully documented and one kept intact, allowing demolition of the others. The remaining intact example could be bought by the ACT Government, restored and used to house a cultural organisation or to host like activities, perhaps along the lines of the Rose Seidler House.

Further reading

• Inter-war functionalist architecture
• A profile of the Whitley houses in Griffith and Braddon
• ACT Interim Heritage Places Register
• NSW Historic Houses Trust website for Rose Seidler House