Housing and Community Services ACT GRAHAM BROOKS AND ASSOCIATES ARCHITECTS PLANNERS AND HERITAGE CONSULTANTS Northbourne Housing Precinct, Canberra DRAFT Conservation Management Plan March 2013 Graham Brooks & Associates Pty Ltd Incorporated in NSW Architects, Planners & Heritage Consultants 71 York St, Level 1 Sydney 2000 Australia Tel: (61) 2 9299 8600 A Draft for Review 15/03/12 GB/CA Fax: (61) 2 9299 8711 Email: [email protected] B 95% Draft 28/03/12 GB/CA www.gbaheritage.com c Amended 31/07/12 GB/CA ABN: 56 073 802 730 ACN: 073 802 730 D Amended 13/08/12 GB/CA Nominated Architect: Graham Leslie Brooks E Amended 26/03/13 GB/CA NSW Architects Registration: 3836 Contents 1 .0 Introduction .......................................................... 6 1.1 Context of the Report ............................... 6 1.2 Site Identification ....................................... 7 1.3 Existing Heritage Recognition ................... 9 1 .4 ACT Heritage and ACT Housing Objectives ................................................. 9 1.5 Author and Acknowledgements ............... 10 1.6 Documentary Sources ............................ 10 1. 7 Report Limitations ................................... 11 2.0 Contextual Development of Canberra, 1900-1939 ......................................... 12 2.1 Rural Landscape of the Molonglo Valley. 12 2.2 The Griffin Plan: A New National Capital .13 2.3 Canberra- Early Housing ........................ 19 2.4 Canberra - lnterwar Planning and Housing Development... .......................... 19 3.0 Context Within International Modernism, 1915-1939 ......................................... 26 3.1 The Garden City Movement in Germany and England ............................. 27 3.2 European Modernism: 1920s .................. 32 3.3 Large-Scale European Housing, 1920s .. 41 3.4 The International Architectural Exhibition, Sydney, 1927 ......................... 44 3.5 Modernist Houses in 1930s England ...... 45 3.6 Australian Architects Abroad during the lnterwar years ................................... 49 3.7 Ancher and Domestic Modernism in Post-War Sydney ................................ 53 4.0 Canberra in the Post War Context, 1945-1959 .......................................... 57 4.1 The Evolution of Medium Density Flats in Post-War Canberra ..................... 57 4.2 National Capital Development Commission, 1957 .................................. 73 5.0 Northbourne Avenue Housing Group 1959 ...... 77 5.1 Establishing the Project: Introduction ...... 77 5.2 NCDC Selection and Appointment of the Architects ...................................... 78 5.3 The Design Brief ..................................... 85 5.4 Master Planning ...................................... 88 5.5 Design Development ............................... 95 5.6 Tendering and Re-Tendering ................. 100 Northbourne Housing Precinct, Canberra Conservation Management Plan March 2013 Graham Brooks & Associates Ply Ltd Contents 5.7 Construction .......................................... 103 5.8 Completion of the Construction Phase . 117 5.9 Initial Occupation .................................. 128 5.10 A Mixed Reception .............................. 129 5.11 Early Teething Problems ..................... 130 5.12 Public Housing Management Regime.131 5.13 Progressive Landscape lmprovements132 5.14 The Heritage Status of the Northbourne Avenue Housing Group ... 132 6.0 The Northbourne Housing Precinct.. .............. 134 6.1 Architectural and Planning Innovations in Post War Flat Development .............. 134 6.2 Site Description Sources ....................... 136 6.3 The Northbourne Avenue Context... ...... 136 6.4 The Overall Precinct.. ............................ 138 6.5 Common Features of the Various Housing Types ...................................... 141 6.6 Colour Scheme Recommendation, 1961 ...................................................... 143 6.7 House Types ......................................... 144 6.8 Condition and Integrity .......................... 163 6.9 Landscape Planting Proposal, 1962 ..... 163 6.10 Subsequent Landscaping .................... 166 7 .0 Assessment of Heritage Significance .............. 171 7.1 Introduction ........................................... 171 7.2 Established Significance of Northbourne Housing Precinct.. ............ 172 7.3 Analysis of Cultural Significance ............ 173 7.4 Statement of Significance ...................... 179 7 .5 Features Intrinsic to the Heritage Significance of the Place ....................... 181 8.0 Constraints and Opportunities ......................... 182 8.1 Context of the Conservation Policy Formulation ................................ 182 8.2 Conservation of Heritage Significance .. 183 8.3 ACT Heritage Act.. ................................. 184 8.4 Housing and Community Services ACT Objectives ..................................... 185 8.5 ACT Planning Context.. ......................... 190 8.6 Physical Condition ................................ 192 8.7 Upgrading to Contemporary Housing Standards ............................... 193 8.8 Landscaping and Public/Private Open Space .......................................... 193 8.9 Potential Locations for New Development ......................................... 194 Northbourne Housing Precinct, Canberra DRAFT Conservation Management Plan March 2013 Graham Brooks & Associates Ply ltd Contents 9.0 Conservation Policies ........................................ 200 9.1 Introduction ............................................ 200 9.2 Principal Conservation Policy Framework ............................................ 200 9.3 Standardised Conservation Terminology ........................................... 201 9.4 Conservation of Significant Fabric and Spaces ........................................... 202 9.5 Upgrading Existing Dwellings .............. 203 9.6 Setting, Landscape and External Features ................................................ 204 9.7 Increased Residential Density .............. 205 9.8 Massing and Design of New Buildings .. 207 9.9 Carparking and Vehicle Access ............ 207 9.1 O On-site pedestrian movement.. ........... 207 9.11 Colours and Finishes ........................... 208 9.12 Access and Facilities ........................... 208 9.13 Appropriate Skills and Experience ...... 208 9.14 On-going Maintenance Regime .......... 208 9.15 Heritage Interpretation ........................ 209 9.16 Review of the Conservation Management Plan ............................... 209 10.0 Bibliography ................................................. 210 Northbourne Housing Precinct, Canberra DRAFT Conservation Management Plan March 2013 Graham Brooks & Associates Ply Ltd Introduction 11111 1.1 Context the Report This Draft Conservation Management Plan (CMP) has been prepared in the context of a large scale conservation and development proposal for the Northbourne Housing Precinct at Dickson and Lyneham on behalf of Housing and Community Services. This report has been issued in draftform to accompany a submission by Ancher Mortlock Woolley with the understanding that further edits are in process owing to a recent change in design direction. As an interim document, this Draft CMP should be read in association with the accompanying Master Plan, which provides an overview of the revised scheme. In instances where the Draft CMP is at variance with the Master Plan, the Master Plan is to be considered the principal document. The CMP is intended to assist the ACT Heritage Unit review its analysis and conclusions as part of their work in progressing the current nominated status of the place towards consideration for full listing under the ACT Heritage Act 2004. The ACT Heritage processes run in parallel with the preparation of the full CMP and the consideration of the conservation and development project by the relevant ACT government agencies. An initial Heritage Assessment component was released following a preliminary presentation to some members of the ACT Heritage Council and Heritage Unit staff on 9 September 2011 and a further discussion with the Heritage Unit on 17 November 2011. The Northbourne Housing Precinct at Dickson and Lyneham in the northern suburbs of Canberra, commenced in 1959, was one of the first medium density housing projects developed by the newly appointed National Capital Development Commission (NCDC). It was designed by Sydney Ancher, Senior Partner of the widely respected architectural firm Ancher Mortlock & Murray. Despite extensive flat building project since the late 1940s, Canberra was suffering severe shortages of housing, particularly in the face of a major government policy to transfer large numbers of public servants to the city. The NCDC adopted a policy of creating large scale subsidised housing projects, designed and built to very strict standards and budgets, as the most efficient delivery mechanism. The project was given special emphasis by the NCDC for its role in creating an important civic presence at the northern gateway to Canberra on Northbourne Avenue, at the same time as it rolled out extensive residential home prejects. The Northbourne Housing Precinct, with its collection of approximately 170 medium density dwellings stretching for some 500 metres on either side of Northbourne Avenue comprises five distinctive groups of Post-War International Modernism style houses and Northbourne Housing Precinct, Canberra DRAFT Conservation Management Plan March 2013 Graham Brooks & Associates Pty Ltd residential flat buildings. The