The house at 17 Meredith Circuit, Kambah was designed by Laurie Virr for his family in 1975 and substantially built with his own hands. It is a rare Canberra example of the late twentieth century organic style of architecture based on a hemicycle. Laurie Virr has designed work in the United States, New South Wales and Victoria, along with a number of houses in Canberra.

Significance

The house is an outstanding example of the late twentieth century organic style with its massing, use of geometric forms, deep roof overhang and energy efficient design. The successful implementation of a complex geometric plan based on a hemicycle is unusual if not unique for a mid-century Canberra house. The house has been published many times, in the U.S.A., Europe and Australia. Inexplicably, it is relatively unknown in Canberra.

Description

The house is sited to reap the benefits of solar access, facing north on a suburban lot of 1108 square metres on the north side of Meredith Circuit, Kambah. Halfway up a hill, the site slopes down at 1:6 for the first 10 metres of its depth, the gradient then easing to 1:8 for the remaining distance to the rear lot line.

The brief for Rivendell stipulated the requirements of the family: areas for living and dining, two small, but adequate bedrooms, a studio, kitchen, laundry-utility, bathroom, and a carport capable of sheltering a small automobile—at just over 123 square metres, a modest, clever, energy efficient design.

The aim was to design a house in which the siting, exploitation of space, the massing, the concern for the environment, and the details, expressed in unequivocal terms what I considered to be Architecture.

— Laurie Virr

The house is based on a hemicycle—an architectural planning device that has been employed since Ancient Egypt and used by Bruce Goff, Frank Lloyd Wright, Donald Reed Chandler, John Randal McDonald and Charles Montooth in designs for twentieth century houses. All these latter designs used the hemicycle in conjunction with other elements, either circular or rectilinear. In 1975, however, combining the arcuated form with triangular and hexagonal elements was unique.

The house faces E 10° N, allowing more sun in Spring and less in the Autumn. Experience since has shown this to have been a minor error of judgement, inasmuch as some days the valley is shrouded in fog until noon. An orientation of W 15° N would maximise the opportunities of solar gain on such days. At Latitude 35° 23’ the useful sun at the winter solstice occurs between the hours of 9am and 3pm, a quarter of its daily path, and nominally 90°.

The studio of 17 Meredith Circuit. The curve of the main form is evident in the living area, to the left.

The ground plan is really a very simple idea: an arc terminating in polygons, with a two-storey central hexagonal mass anchoring the whole composition. The terminals also extend in height above the lower ridge line and all three masonry masses are embraced as they penetrate the sheltering roof. In further aspects of architectural expression, each space is articulated in both ground plan and elevation. The interpenetration of forms, both horizontally and vertically, makes manifest the architectural expression of the individual spaces, and the broad roof overhangs gratify the sense of shelter. The French doors and stationary glass on the north face of the house encompass an arc of 90°, making it an architectural expression of the problem. This is also exemplified by the walls that define the terrace and mark the extent of the glazing.

The living, dining, kitchen and studio are small areas in themselves, but they are arranged in such a manner that they borrow from each other, and together with the mezzanine bedroom, form one horizontal and vertical space. Moreover, the hemicycle form of the body of the house, and the disposition of the terminals is such that it is difficult to determine the extent of the space, for there always appears to be something beyond what is immediately visible.

The house is effectively one room wide, with very little area dedicated solely to circulation space. Unlike many so called solar houses that have warm living areas to the north, and very cold bedrooms to the south, the ground plan allows most of the walls and floors to act as solar collectors. During winter the sun strikes a wall of the main bedroom as soon as it rises above the hill to the east in the morning, and is still shining in the area of the dining table, at the other end of the house, late in the afternoon. The masonry alone—30,000 bricks—furnishes 120 tonnes of mass, and this is enhanced by that of the insulated concrete floor slab. Provision is made for cross-ventilation during the summer months, while the eaves and heavily insulated roof ensure that the effects of the sun are excluded during the warmest time of the year.

The construction materials are predominantly face brick masonry, wood casement sash and French doors, a colored concrete floor slab, trowelled smooth, and grooved along the lines of the module, and glass. Almost all the furniture is of wood, and built into the structure, with custom made upholstery for the bench seat. Colors used in the house blend with landscape and the landscaping of the site displays the same concern for the environment as does the house. The planting is predominantly comprised of trees, shrubs and groundcovers native to the immediate region.

Sources and further reading

• Conversations with and information provided by Laurie Virr
• M. Parnell and G. Cole Australian Solar Houses (1983)
• Short biography of Laurie Virr
• The late twentieth century organic style explained

More recent activity at the ACT Heritage Unit, as several places have been provisionally registered under the Heritage Act 2004. Among buildings included in the latest batch are works by Frederick Romberg, Enrico Taglietti, Ken Woolley and John Andrews.

The latest provisional registrations are for:

• Ken Woolley’s Woden Library and Phillip Health Centre (1977)
• Frederick Romberg’s Lutheran Church in Turner (1961)
• Enrico Taglietti’s Dickson Library (1969)
• The UC Student Residences designed by John Andrews (1973)

Recently included in Canberra’s Top Twenty, the UC Residences are the only houses among the latest additions. They have been provisionally registered for their significance as relatively rare examples of 1970s student accommodation constructed of off-form in situ concrete and for their association with the development of tertiary education in Canberra during the Whitlam years, with the establishment of the Canberra College of Advanced Education—now the University of Canberra.

They are also regarded as important examples of work by the internationally recognised architect John Andrews and are significant examples of brutalist architecture, with their strong, boldly composed shapes, expressed reinforced-concrete and large areas of blank wall. The way the residences are stepped down the sloping site is also a characteristic of the Sydney regional style of architecture.

The design also represented a new type of student residential planning called studenentheim, where modules comprising six student rooms were linked with a separate sitting room, kitchen area and shared toilet facilities. This was an ideal use for John Andrews’ additive style of architecture, where the basic building element of the student rooms is grouped around the shared facilities. The success of this studenentheim was such that the ANU then built Toad Hall following these principles, also with John Andrews as the architect.

This housing group is unusual, since there are very few residential examples of the brutalist style in Canberra or, indeed, Australia. The contrasting textures and patterns formed by the arrangement of the modules makes for a group of residences that are still quite startling in appearance, thirty-five years after their design.

So, Canberrans, if you haven’t seen these fine examples of late twentieth century brutalism, I highly recommend a trip over to Bruce, where the group can be viewed from Aikman Drive.

Further reading

• Canberra’s Top Twenty
• Brutalist architecture
• Sydney regional style architecture

Designed by John Andrews in 1977, the Toad Hall student residences are located within the Australian National University campus off Kingsley Street, Acton. They are an important early Canberra example of student residences designed by an internationally acclaimed architect.

Description

Toad Hall is a four storey building of simple face brick and concrete construction with a flat roof. An irregular, interlocking plan of bedrooms grouped around common rooms with separate access provides external aspects to all rooms and a clear delineation of public and private spaces.

The plan achieves horizontal circulation at each level without the use of long corridors. The layout can be compared to the University of Canberra student residences, also designed by John Andrews.

Toad Hall is one of the few examples of Andrews’ additive style of architecture, in which the basic building block (the student room) is grouped around shared facilities like petals around the stamen of a flower. In turn, these groupings are attached to stair towers like branches to the trunk of a tree and clustered together vertically over four floors and laterally along the banks of Sullivan’s Creek.

Significance

Toad Hall is listed on the ACT Chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects Register of Significant Twentieth Century Architecture. It is a good example of the late twentieth century late modern style, designed by an internationally acclaimed architect.

Sources and further reading

• Royal Australian Institute of Architects RSTCA Citation No. R65
• Andrew Metcalf, Canberra Architecture, Watermark Press, 2003
• Profile of John Andrews

The University of Canberra Student Residences were designed by John Andrews in 1973, for the Canberra College of Advanced Education (CCAE), construction being completed in 1975. The CCAE became the University of Canberra in 1990. They can be accessed from the University of Canberra campus off College Street or viewed from Aikman Drive, Bruce.

Significance

The residences are listed on the ACT Chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects RAIA Register of Significant Twentieth Century Architecture. In July 2008 they were provisionally added to the ACT Heritage Register.

The buildings are a rare residential example of the late twentieth century brutalist style with their strong shapes, boldly composed in off-form reinforced concrete and diagonal orientation with the strong curved element of the roof. With their planning over five levels and roof following the slope of the north facing site, they also display characteristics of the late twentieth century Sydney regional style. The group represents the ideal of innovative modern architecture and planning—clean, functional and well sited.

The group is a relatively rare and well-preserved example of 1970s student accommodation. They are one of only two examples of on campus student residential accommodation designed by John Andrews in Canberra, one of Australia’s internationally acclaimed architects of the latter half of the twentieth century. The construction of off-form in situ concrete was also innovative for its time.

The buildings have significance for their association with the development of tertiary education in Canberra during the 1970s, in particular for the provision of housing for large numbers of students in the early 1970s as a result of the introduction of free tertiary education by the Whitlam Labor Government.

Description

Built on a north facing hillside, the group faces north and overlooks the College Park with its plantation of eucalypts and casuarinas and is framed by well-established native woodland. The complex consists of 156 student study/bedrooms set out on a 3.05m square grid, arranged in six tiers of five levels, which follow the natural slope of the site. There is approximately a two-metre change in floor level between each unit as they step down the site, a climb of 13 rises to the street/stairway, while there is a small step down in floor level across the whole residence from the east to the west. Each tier is connected by an access stairway and the interlocking, staggered layout provides all rooms with a north-east orientation. The rooms are arranged in groups of six, with common lounge, dining, cooking and bathroom facilities.

The design represented a new type of planning for on campus student accommodation called studenentheim, where modules comprising six student rooms were linked with a separate sitting room, kitchen area and shared toilet facilities. This was an ideal use for John Andrews’ additive style of architecture, where the basic building element of the student rooms is grouped around the shared facilities. The success of this studenentheim was such that the ANU then built Toad Hall following these principles, also using John Andrews as the architect.

Most internal walls are masonry, with the end wall to the wet areas painted externally. All external surfaces are off-form concrete except for the painted masonry walls to the rear entries and the bull-nosed corrugated roof. The concrete surfaces and roofing material combine to provide a uniform effect to the construction and visual character of the building.

The residences are described in Canberra: An Architectural Guide to Australia’s Capital, RAIA ACT Chapter, 1982:

Ground slope and diagonal orientation have been used to give character to both forms and spaces. Curved fascias and internal/street stairways which provide separate entrance to each cluster of bedrooms are noteworthy.

— RAIA, ACT Chapter

The residences can be compared with other buildings in Canberra designed by John Andrews:

• Cameron Offices (1972)
• Toad Hall Student Residences, Kingsley Street, Acton. (1977)
• Belconnen Bus Interchange (1978)
• Woden TAFE (1981)

John Andrews

John Andrews was born in Sydney in 1933 and graduated from the University of Sydney in 1956. In 1957 he entered the Masters of Architecture program at Harvard University. After graduating Andrews worked in Toronto until 1962, when he established John Andrews Architects in Toronto. He returned to Sydney in 1972, renaming the company John Andrews International.

John Andrews is a key practitioner of the late twentieth century brutalist and late twentieth century late modern styles. His key buildings in Australia are the Cameron Offices and the American Express Tower, Sydney (1976).

John Andrews designed other student residences in North America and two in Canberra: these and Toad Hall at the Australian National University.

Sources and further reading

• Royal Australian Institute of Architects RSTCA Citation No. R59
• Profile of John Andrews
• The late twentieth century brutalist style
• The late twentieth century Sydney regional style.
• Toad Hall Student Residences, Kingsley Street, Acton. (1977)