A large backlog of nominations to the ACT Heritage Register has been building up over the past decade. During that time the RAIA has nominated a number of important houses and buildings to the ACT Interim Heritage Places Register. Unfortunately, few of these have ended up as actual heritage listings.

Some good news though—the ACT Heritage Unit has begun to shift the backlog and a number of provisional nominations to the ACT Heritage Register have been made in recent months, along with some notable rejections (more about these below). Following a period for public comment, these provisional nominations will be put before the ACT Heritage Council, who will decide whether to register these places under the Heritage Act 2004.

The following houses have been provisionally nominated:

• 145 Mugga Way, Red Hill
• 24 Arthur Circle, Forrest
• 19 Downes Pl, Hughes
• 13 Furphy Pl, Garran
• 13 Canterbury Cres, Deakin
• 1 Astley Place, Garran
• 42, 44, 46 Vasey Cres, Campbell
• 4 Cobby St, Campbell
• 12 Marawa Pl, Aranda
• 16 Ryrie St, Campbell

These places have been rejected for listing, due to their not meeting the criteria for significance set out in the Heritage Act:

• 15 Furphy Place, Garran
• 24 Cobby Street, Campbell
• 51 Tasmania Circle, Forrest
• 51 Melbourne Avenue, Forrest
• 14 Jansz Crescent, Griffith

Two of these rejections are disturbing, with inappropriate and insensitive additions greatly reducing the significance of 15 Furphy Place and 24 Cobby Street.

Let’s look at 24 Cobby Street, Campbell, designed by Sir Roy Grounds in 1965. The house is a late example of a combination of two styles: the post-war international style and, to a lesser extent, the post-war Melbourne regional style. The house is one of a small number of detached houses that Grounds designed in Canberra and contained elements of his work that combine rational and economic planning with the use of natural materials and his interest in geometric forms, seen at its strongest in the Australian Academy of Science (1959) in Canberra.

The RAIA nominated this house to the ACT Interim Heritage Places Register approximately ten years ago, with a detailed citation researched and prepared by the RAIA ACT Chapter RSTCA Committee. Significant fabric was removed and extensive construction was allowed to occur to the front of the place, as well as in front of the existing building line—all contrary to existing heritage requirements at the time. The cultural and heritage significance of this place was allowed to be diminished through the planning process to the extent that the house is no longer considered worthy of heritage listing.

That’s incredibly disappointing.

The following citation was prepared for the 1998 RAIA 25 Year Awards by architects Philip Leeson and Cassandra Kelleher for the ACT Chapter of the RAIA. It is reproduced here with their permission.

1998 RAIA 25 Year Award Citation

In stark contrast to the archetypal suburbia of Canberra are three houses in Campbell designed in the early 1960s by the partnership Grounds, Romberg and Boyd of Melbourne. The houses of 42-46 Vasey Crescent are unique firstly for their united appearance which is typified by a low key aesthetic, clean lines and cubiform shapes. Secondly, unlike the houses which surround them, they are notable for their careful planning as a group of houses with a considered relationship to their site.

At a time when the Academy of Science Building by Roy Grounds was under construction in Canberra, the first of the new landowners of Vasey Crescent approached Grounds asking if he would design a house for them. Admirers of the new Academy Building and having moved recently from Melbourne, the Blakers were well aware of Grounds’ work. On meeting them he accepted the commission saying,

had it been a mansion I would have refused, but a cottage I’ll accept.

— Roy Grounds

The Blakers own taste for simple materials and their limited budget must have appealed to Grounds’ own sensibilities and his desire to develop an inexpensive and unassuming but sensible house type. Independently, the other two block owners also approached Grounds to design their houses: the Griffings at the suggestion of the Department of Interior, who were aware of his work for the Blakers, and the Phillips, also a Melbourne couple, from their own knowledge of the ‘good design’ of the partnership.

Thus, as much by chance as by good management, there arose an unequalled opportunity to design three houses for three individual families which would have the scope to be a harmonious composition within themselves.

In response to their varying position on the site and the individual needs of each owner, each house is original in its conception, however a consistency of style, form and materials ensures a unity across the three. The family resemblance between the three houses is heavily influenced by the use of concrete blockwork, slender balcony and roof supports and the deep spreading eaves of each of the flat roofs. Similarly the planning typology shares a common idea of open plan living space with a distinct separation between the children’s and parent’s areas of each house. In each instance all the children’s rooms open on to a common play/family area.

Of the three, numbers 46 and 42 have remained in the same ownership since completion and consequently hold the best preserved interiors. Importantly, in line with the Blakers original brief, the houses have not required significant maintenance since completion. Some interior innovations included folding screens as space dividers and opening panels above doors for ventilation. The interiors of the two houses which included fair faced blockwork, finely crafted timber panelling, window framing and matching joinery show a consistency of finishes rarely seen in new housing. Hints of the Academy interior can also be found including the same deep red tiles in one kitchen and the joinery work (including secret nailing) of the Academy of Science carpenters in another.

The staggered siting of the houses across the side of the ridge allowed uninterrupted views from each house north to Mt Ainslie and west towards the lake. In this way the striking vertical form of the Phillips house

a tower and not a cave

— Roy Grounds

…was set back farthest from the street so that it did not dominate surrounding houses. With its strong formal composition, large areas of glazing and its open plan living and sleeping areas this house exhibits many aspects of the post war international style.

Influenced by his European travel and also by the strong Melbourne regional style which Grounds had helped to develop, the houses are in many ways typical of his unified rationalism, economical planning and a love of warm natural materials. It is notable, however, that due to the new commission Grounds received to design the Victorian Arts Centre Robin Boyd took over their management.

The three houses represent the strongest expression of housing designed by Grounds in Canberra. While other isolated examples exist, the clarity of the Vasey Crescent triptych in their conception and unity remain an outstanding lesson to architects and housing developers of the advantages of designing individual family houses together.

Further reading

• Profile of Vasey Crescent houses
• Philip Leeson Architects

4 Cobby Street, Campbell is a three bedroom house designed by Roy Grounds, with Theo Bischoff as project architect, in 1969-70 for Sir Otto and Lady Frankel and was completed in 1970-71. Sir Otto Frankel was Australia’s pre-eminent geneticist and head of the CSIRO Plant Industry Division from 1960-71.

He became acquainted with Grounds during the building of the Australian Academy of Science in 1959, when he was on the building committee and Grounds was the design architect. Grounds later designed this house for Frankel’s retirement, where a significant part of his study and writing took place.

4 Cobby Street is the last of a small number of private residences Grounds designed in Canberra. Like his house at 24 Cobby Street, this house is a late example of a combination of two styles: the post-war Melbourne regional style, with its long, unbroken roofline and widely projecting eaves (in this example, at the rear only); and the post-war international style with its cubiform overall shape and large sheets of glass.

Significance

4 Cobby Street is listed on the ACT Chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) Register of Significant Twentieth Century Architecture. It is regarded by the RAIA as being an example of significant architecture by a prominent Australian architect and a valuable educational resource for students and designers.

The house is an interesting example of a mixture of the post-war international and post-war Melbourne regional styles and exhibits design features peculiar to both those styles of architecture. The house is also important due to its association with Sir Otto Frankel and the design of this house by Grounds as his retirement residence further highlights its significance.

Grounds designed a number of buildings and houses in Canberra. Other houses are the Forrest Townhouses, 42-46 Vasey Crescent and 24 Cobby Street; the buildings are the Australian Academy of Science (1959) and the CSIRO Phytotron Building (1963).

Description

The house is located on a large block with the Mount Ainslie Nature Park native bushland at the rear and to the east. It has a simple rectangular plan which has a slight curve following the front boundary and street. The concave curve of the front of the house and open brick grills which obscure the windows give the house a terse appearance from the street. It seems that the brick grill detail has been incorporated into the design to disguise the small, irregular windows in the street facade. The same feature can be seen on the western end of the Forrest Townhouses, also designed by Grounds.

The recessed entry opens into a small lobby off an open plan living room. A door to the left opens into the laundry and on into the kitchen, both rooms facing south to the street. The living room is partially separated from the dining room by a brown brick fireplace. These rooms open out to the north east terrace through full height sliding aluminium glazed doors and are fully lined with timber veneered plywood sheets on the walls and spaced boards to the ceilings, with no skirting or cornices.

Joinery around the fireplace includes low level shelving and cupboards, a veneered benchtop and two posts, one of which conceals a structural column, while along the wall with the kitchen there is a servery and more shelving. All joinery matches the panelled walls and both these elements are important to the integrity of the building as a whole.

The bedrooms, wet areas and study extend to the south east off a curved central passage, with each internal wall set out on the radius of the curve. The large (about 25sq m) study is located at the end of the passage with an external door to the south east providing access to the garden via a suspended concrete stair. Two of the bedrooms face northeast while the third and smallest of the bedrooms faces south to the street.

The house is mostly brick veneer with the wet areas and the north east wall of the dining and living areas in cavity brick while the floor structure is reinforced concrete. The external brickwork is a medium brown colour and the flat, metal deck roof has a 450mm high metal fascia that extends out 450mm past the longer north east and south west walls and 1800mm over the north east living, dining and utility terraces.

Sources and further reading

• Royal Australian Institute of Architects RSTCA Citation No. R124
• Short biography of Roy Grounds
• Biography of Sir Otto Frankel
• The post-war Melbourne regional style
• The post-war international style

24 Cobby Street, Campbell was a two bedroom house designed by Roy Grounds for Dr and Mrs A J Nicholson from 1963-1964. Construction was completed in 1965. Dr Nicholson was Chief of the Division of Entomology from 1936-1960 at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

24 Cobby Street is a late example of a combination of two styles: the post-war international style and, to a lesser extent, the post-war Melbourne regional style. Other notable examples of post-war international style houses on this site are the Round House and the Bowden House. The houses on Vasey Crescent by Roy Grounds represent good examples of the post-war Melbourne regional style, along with the Fenner House and Manning Clark House.

The house is one of a small number of detached houses that Grounds designed in Canberra. Despite the additions, it still exhibits elements of his work that combine rational and economic planning with the use of natural materials and his interest in geometric forms, seen at its strongest in some of his Melbourne houses of the 1950s and, famously, the Australian Academy of Science (1959) in Canberra.

Additions

During 2005 the house was extensively modified, with major additions altering the front facade.

Significance

24 Cobby Street is listed on the ACT Chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) Register of Significant Twentieth Century Architecture. In its original form, it was regarded by the RAIA as being a well detailed example of significant architecture by a prominent Australian architect and a valuable educational resource for designers.

The house was built at the end of the post-war international period and is a good example of that style with its cubiform overall shape and large sheets of glass. The house also exhibits elements of the post-war Melbourne regional style with its long unbroken roofline and widely projecting eaves. The contrast between the non-rectangular shape of the curved courtyard wall and the cubiform overall shape of the house is a good example of a major theme of the post-war international style and the work of Grounds.

This house can be contrasted with the Vasey Crescent houses, also by Grounds. Grounds designed a number of buildings and houses in Canberra. The houses are covered on this site and listed above; the buildings are the Australian Academy of Science (1959), the CSIRO Phytotron Building (1963) and the little known Civic Zone Substation (1965).

24 Cobby Street, Campbell, after the 2005 additions which changed the front facade.

Description

This description applies to the original house.

The house is ‘L’ shaped with a garage and workroom located underneath the living areas, to take advantage of the sloping site. At its centre there is a raised courtyard enclosed by a thick curved brick wall. At driveway level this wall cleverly directs the visitor to a small entry stairway that extends up between the courtyard wall and the house, underneath an upper level bridge which provides access to the courtyard from the study.

The approach to the front entry finishes at a rectangular pool which extends to the right of the entry parallel with a glazed wide hall between the living and bedroom areas. The living, dining and study are located to the left of the entry to the south to take advantage of views over central Canberra and Lake Burley Griffin. There is a small cantilevered concrete balcony off the living room and the walls and ceilings of the living areas are panelled with hardwood.

The two bedrooms are located to the north of the house and are approached along the gallery that has hardwood panelling on the inner wall and full height glazing to the south east, overlooking the pool and courtyard. Utility areas are located on the west side of the gallery.

The house is constructed of cavity concrete bricks, suspended concrete slab, steel and timber roof framing and stramit metal deck roofing. The roof has a 450mm high metal fascia which extends out past the wall for protection on the west wall, south balcony and entry stairs. The house backs on to native bushland in the Mt Ainslie Canberra Nature Park.

Sources and further reading

• Royal Australian Institute of Architects RSTCA Citation No. R117
• Short biography of Roy Grounds
• The post-war international style
• The post-war Melbourne regional style

42, 44 and 46 Vasey Crescent, Campbell were designed by Roy Grounds of the firm Grounds, Romberg and Boyd in 1960. As a result of a collaboration between the owners of each block, the three houses were designed by the same architect and built as a coordinated group. When Grounds received the commission to design the Victorian Arts Centre, management of the Vasey Crescent group of houses was taken over by Robin Boyd.

The houses are fine examples of the post-war Melbourne regional style with their long unbroken rooflines and widely projecting eaves. With their strong formal composition, large areas of glazing and open plan living areas, the houses also exhibit aspects of the post-war international style. Note the similarities with other work by Grounds in Canberra: Forrest Townhouses (1959) and 24 Cobby Street, Campbell (1963-64).

Significance

The Vasey Crescent houses are listed on the ACT Chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) Register of Significant Twentieth Century Architecture. They are regarded by the RAIA as being an important example of the post-war Melbourne regional style.

The Vasey Crescent houses are a rare Canberra example of owners collaborating to achieve a group of houses with consistency of form, style and materials on adjacent blocks. In 1998 the ACT Chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) awarded the Vasey Crescent houses one of its coveted 25 Year Awards.

Description

The site for the Vasey Crescent houses is on an east-west ridge running from Russell Hill, with a fall to the street. Each house has a northern aspect but through staggered siting, each house has western views over the city. Number 46 is sited closest to the road; 42 the furthest.

The houses are designed on three levels, with the ground floor of each at the same level. All have Besser concrete block walls, timber framed fenestration panels, flat roofs with metal decking and overhanging eaves and strong rectilinear forms. Two of the three houses are substantially original.

42 Vasey Crescent

The first level consists of a garage, studio and store. Level two has an external balcony running the full width of the house and along the western facade, with the entry hallway a central zone with stairway. This level originally contained three bedrooms, a laundry and a bathroom. On level three the staircase opens to an open plan reception, living and dining area; this level also contains the main kitchen and master bedroom.

44 Vasey Crescent

Unfortunately, number 44 has been extended on three occasions (1973, 1976 and 1990). The original house consisted of a garage and storeroom on the lower level. An external staircase led to the entry on the second level, which contained large living and dining areas, playroom and kitchen with full width glazing looking out to the west. The third level contained three bedrooms, a study and bathroom.

46 Vasey Crescent

On the lower floor is a garage and storeroom. The second level entry is planned as a rectangular wing on a north-south axis. External stairs lead up to the entrance, opening to entry hall, dining, kitchen and living room facing north, the full width of the wing. The main bedroom and ensuite are also at this level. Stairs lead up to the third level, planned as a children’s wing, with a central playroom, four small bedrooms and a bathroom.

Sources and further reading

• Royal Australian Institute of Architects RSTCA Citation No. R57
• RAIA 25 Year Award Citation for Vasey Crescent
• Short biography of Roy Grounds
• Short biography of Robin Boyd
• The post-war Melbourne regional style
• The post-war international style
• The RAIA’s citation for the 25 Year Award