As the international style was making its impact in the CBDs of Australian capital cities, a new type of architecture began to appear in the Sydney region. The style, referred to as the Sydney School or ‘Sydney nuts and berries’, developed partly as a reaction to outside influences such as the international style and was influenced by organic architecture, brutalism and arts and crafts. It was also concerned with improving the quality of housing for average Australians.

Sydney School houses were often built on sloping bushland sites around Sydney Harbour’s sheltered upper reaches. The sites had a great influence on the architects, with the native landscape being fundamental. The houses typically followed the slope of the site through split level planning with roofs parallel to the slope, creating complex and interesting interior spaces. Natural materials were exploited, with dark tiles, clinker or painted bricks and stained timbers creating a feeling of warmth in the houses.

In the late 1960s the popularity of the Sydney style increased markedly, as project home companies like Pettit & Sevitt commissioned leading practitioners of the style such as Ken Woolley and Michael Dysart to design demonstration houses, which could be built on sites for clients. A number of examples were built in the developing Canberra bushland suburbs of the late 1960s and early 1970s such as Aranda, Cook, Hawker, Garran, Curtin, Lyons, Chapman and parts of Kambah. There are good examples of the style in Canberra by Allen, Jack and Cottier, Ian McKay and Michael Dysart. Another good Canberra example of the style is the RAIA Headquarters at 2a Mugga Way, Red Hill, designed by the firm Ancher, Mortlock, Murray and Woolley in 1967.

Features

• Split level planning, native landscape setting
• Roof following the slope of the site
• Asymmetrical massing
• Dark tiled skillion roof or a flat roof
• Exposed rafters and beams
• Use of stained or oiled timber, decks
• Painted or clinker brick walls
• Timber post and beam construction
• Clerestory windows, timber awning sash

On this site

• Kanangra Court, Ainslie Avenue, Reid. Collard, Clarke and Jackson, 1962.
• 145 Mugga Way, Red Hill. Allen, Jack and Cottier, 1965.
• RAIA Headquarters, Red Hill. Ancher, Mortlock, Murray and Woolley, 1967.
• 12 Marawa Place, Aranda. Robin Boyd, 1969.
• Swinger Hill Stage 1 and 2, Phillip. Ian McKay for the NCDC, 1969.
• 38 Mirning Crescent, Aranda. Roger Pegrum, 1971-72.
• Urambi Village, Crozier Circuit, Kambah. Michael Dysart, 1974.
• Cook Housing Cooperative, Wybalena Grove, Cook. Michael Dysart, 1974.

Other examples in New South Wales

• Woolley House, Bullecourt Avenue, Mosman. Ken Woolley, 1962.
• C B Alexander Presbyterian Agricultural College. Ian McKay and Philip Cox, 1964.
• Newcastle Uni Student Union, Newcastle. Ancher, Mortlock, Murray and Woolley, 1965-69.
• Clubbe Hall, Frensham School, Mittagong. Allen, Jack and Cottier, 1966.