24 Arthur Circle, Forrest was designed by Kenneth Oliphant in 1939. The house is a late example of the inter-war functionalist style with its asymmetrical massing, simple geometric shapes and roof concealed by parapet. Along with the house at 43 Melbourne Avenue, Forrest (1935), it was one of the first modern designs in Canberra and one of very few inter-war functionalist style houses designed by Oliphant.

By the early 1990s the house was in a poor state of repair. In 1995 it was sold and subsequently extensively modified. An additional building was added to the rear and the original brickwork rendered and painted.

Its significance has been markedly compromised by these alterations, particularly the rendering of the face brick, although a number of the elements peculiar to the inter-war functionalist style are still apparent.

Significance

24 Arthur Circle, Forrest is listed on the ACT Chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects Register of Significant Twentieth Century Architecture. It is regarded by the RAIA as a good example of the inter-war functionalist style, with most of that style’s features still visible despite the major modifications to the house.

Description

The original house was a single storey rectangular plan with two circular bay windows, one off the living room and one at the corner of the main bedroom. The living room had an open fireplace centrally located in the south wall constructed of small narrow bricks in the Art Deco style. The bay window of the living room still opens out to the east onto a curved porch formed by double glass doors and two large sidelight windows set under a curved flat concrete hooded roof. On the opposite side of this room to the west was the dining room.

A secondary bedroom next to the entry faced the street, sharing three symmetrical double hung windows with the main bedroom: two to the front bedroom and one to the main. The main bedroom was located at the north east end of the house. A semi-circular corner window with a radius of 1.5m is located under a curved flat concrete hooded roof. It protrudes from the corner of the room and originally had built-in window seats and under seat storage below.

The corner half circle glazing on the main bedroom bay window is an interesting play of volumes, with the curve essentially a half cylinder placed in the cubic mass of the house protruding from the facade. With its cantilevering concrete beams, this was a technically complex feature unusual in Canberra houses of the period.

The external form of the house is dominated by the asymmetrical massing of simple cubic shapes, typical of the inter-war functionalist style. Originally, the construction was of light toned face brickwork, showing the influence of Dutch modernist Willem Dudok. This was an important feature; sadly it is no longer visible.

Sources and further reading

• Royal Australian Institute of Architects RSTCA Citation No. R121
• Short biography of Kenneth Oliphant
• Inter-war functionalist architecture
• Willem Dudok

Kenneth Oliphant (1896-1975) is recognised locally as an important architect in the development of private residential architecture in Canberra, particularly the inner south. He was the first privately practising architect in Canberra and specialised in domestic work. Many of his early designs were in the Forrest and Red Hill area in a variety of traditional styles, including Mediterranean and tudor. He also designed a small number of houses in the inter-war functionalist style.

Early career

Oliphant was born in Bendigo, Victoria and served with the 1st Field Co. Engineers in France in the 1914-18 War. Upon his return to Australia he was articled to the Melbourne architectural firm of Oakley and Parkes. In 1926 at the age of 30 he was posted to Canberra by the firm to supervise the construction of the first 26 houses that are in what is now known as the Forrest Urban Conservation Area. Oakley and Parkes won a nationally advertised competition to design the houses, for senior public servants and their families being transferred from Melbourne to the new capital.

Incidentally, after the Canberra work, the firm of Oakley and Parkes continued to practice for over thirty years. They designed a number of important modernist buildings in Melbourne, including Yule House (1932, 309-311 Little Collins Street), possibly the first Australian example of a moderne-style commercial building; and the moderne, curtain-walled Kodak House (1934-35, 252 Collins Street), the first Melbourne commercial building to use polished stainless steel in its facade.

Private commissions

Oliphant contributed to the final designs for some of the firm’s early private commissions in 1925-26 and began to design houses himself while he was still with Oakley and Parkes. The first was Calthorpe’s House (1927). Calthorpe and Woodger were Canberra’s first real estate agents and the house is now a museum, preserved in its original condition. He then branched out on his own, establishing the practice that was to continue in Canberra until his retirement in the late 1960s. His first office was in the Hotel Canberra and then above the Commonwealth Bank premises in Civic. The first house he designed independently was at 29 Mugga Way, Red Hill (1927-28) for the Head of Hansard, George Romans.

Oliphant designed a small number of inter-war functionalist style houses during the 1930s. Besides 24 Arthur Circle, Forrest, there were houses at 13 Evans Crescent, Griffith (now modified beyond recognition), the corner of Evans Crescent and Hann Street, Griffith (demolished in 1981) and in Dampier Crescent, Forrest.

Houses profiled on this site

• 24 Arthur Circle, Forrest, 1939

Other works

• Calthorpe’s House, 24 Mugga Way, Red Hill, 1927
• 29 Mugga Way, Red Hill, 1927-28
• Brackenreg, 18 Monaro Crescent, Red Hill, 1928
• The Alcorn House, cnr of National Circuit and Sorrell St, Forrest, 1928
• The Fraser House, cnr of Bougainville and Furneaux St, Manuka, late 1920s
• The Dial House, 2 Moresby Street, Red Hill, early 1930s

Sources

• Verona Burgess, The Capital’s First Private Architect, Canberra Times, 23 April 1995
• Peter Freeman (ed), The Early Canberra House, Canberra, 1996
• Philip Goad, Melbourne Architecture, Sydney, 1999