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Heritage Register
Parliament House Vista Extension Portal Buildings, Anzac Parade,
Parkes, ACT
Finance ID Number
Commonwealth Heritage
List Place ID Number
Ownership
DFD-61005 (East)
DFD-61006 (West)
105474
Owned by Finance
on behalf of the
Commonwealth
Anzac Park East original entrance.
Location
Anzac Parade, Parkes ACT
Anzac Park East is Block 1 Section 4, Parkes
ACT and ANZAC Park West is Block 7 Section 3,
Parkes ACT.
Landscape Setting
The Portal Buildings are located adjacent to the north side of Lake Burley Griffin, flanking Anzac
Parade between Constitution Avenue and Parkes Way, Parkes and are included in the Parliamentary
Triangle.
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Description of the Place
The Portal Buildings are commonly known as Anzac Park East and Anzac Park West. Anzac Park East
is composed of one five storey and one six storey building arranged in an asymmetrical ‘T’
configuration effectively presenting their major facades to both Anzac Parade and Parkes Way.
Anzac Park West is a mirror image of Anzac Park East directly across Anzac Parade and the ‘Land
Axis’. Both buildings present major facades to both Anzac Parade and Parkes Way.
The buildings are important for their framing twin ‘portal’ arrangement and siting on the
intersection of Walter Burley Griffin’s ‘Land Axis’ between Capital Hill and Mt Ainslie and the
‘Municipal Axis’ between Civic (Canberra CBD) and the Russell Offices Precinct (and the Australian
American Memorial) and the alignment with the ‘water axis’ along Lake Burley Griffin. They are
listed for their significant contribution to the Parliament House vista.
Physical characteristics
Designed by National Capital Development Commission (NCDC)1 architect Gareth Roberts, in
conjunction with Department of Works Chief Design Architect, Richard Ure, the buildings clearly
illustrate the historical NCDC policy in form and scale. The two buildings are important examples of
the prevailing use in Canberra during the 1960s of the stripped classical interpretation of the
international style of architecture. This style of architecture is particularly evident in many public and
government buildings constructed in Canberra and throughout the world during the 1950s, 1960s
and on through the 1970s.
The structural system consists of concrete encased steel columns, reinforced concrete slab with drop
panels and a reinforced concrete shear wall bracing system. The structural bay width is 20 feet. The
façade in all cases is articulated with distinguishing architectural separation of the basement plinth,
ground floor, typical floors and full storey height roof parapet louvered screen. The structural bays
are strongly expressed and modelled by the vertical expression of the columns.
Each building comprises a combination of five (Constitution Avenue) and six (Anzac Parade) standard
floors above a partially excavated basement plinth and is capped by a screened parapet level at the
roof. Above the ground floor, the concrete encased steel columns are additionally clad with
sandstone panels, as is the first floor perimeter beam, the roof slab perimeter beam and the parapet
beam. The sandstone was reportedly obtained from the Pyles Creek Quarry and the finish is fine
sawn. Above the first floor perimeter beam, a terrazzo “grid” five windows wide articulates window
mullions and heads. It comprises full height mullions supported top and bottom at each floor and
terrazzo window heads cast as one unit with precast spandrel panels of ‘pebbledash’ texture. Fulllength silver aluminium mullions run between the ground and first floors, with precast ‘roughcast’
spandrel panels infilling below the silver-coloured, aluminium windows. The roof parapet screens
are in filled with vertical, aluminium louvres. External windows to typical floors are framed in
extruded aluminium sections, all anodised a gold colour.
Anzac Park East retains some internal original features, while Anzac Park West has been internally
refurbished and many details are altered.
Anzac Park West following the 2006 and 2010 refurbishment works and additions retains all of the
1
NCDC is now National Capital Authority
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same externally visible elements of Anzac Park East except for where the ‘internal’ facades have
been altered, namely the north and west facades of blocks 1 and 2 respectively. Floor plates have
been extended and incorporated into a new section grafted onto the north side of block 2 and
partially extending out from the west side Block 1. Original fabric to the external skin of the building
has largely been retained except where the new entrance and extension have been included.
Extensions to the floor plates of block 2 have produced wider floor plates to 5 levels and a new large
open entry level has been created also serving as access to both blocks via lifts and stairs. Fire stairs
have been retained and new balustrading installed. External finishes are contemporary and internal
paint finishes are generally white in colour including walls, doors, ceiling and sills.
Anzac Park West Redevelopment
History and summary of Uses of the Place
Anzac Parade was officially opened on 25 April 1965 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of
Gallipoli. The two portal buildings, Anzac Park East complete by 1965 and Anzac Park West complete
by 1966, flanked the vista from the War Memorial to the Provisional Parliament House. Anzac Park
East was occupied by the Bureau of Mineral Resources until 1997. The Department of Defence
continues to occupy Anzac Park West.
The early 1960s was a period of massive construction work for the National Capital Development
Commission (NCDC). The lake edge construction was substantially completed by the end of the
1962-63 financial year and Lake Burley Griffin was filled and opened by Prime Minister Menzies in
1964. At that time, major government buildings completed or partially completed for occupancy
included: the Law Courts of the ACT, the Royal Australian Mint, the Commonwealth Avenue Offices,
the National Library, the Russell Offices, the Canberra Theatre and ANZAC Park East and West.
The future sites of the Portal Buildings were clearly defined on Griffins plans of 1911, 1912 and 1913
at the intersection of the municipal and land axes, with massive buildings accentuating and framing
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the transition from land to water. Griffins plan found expression under the Federal Capital Advisory
Committee (FCAC) and the Federal Capital Commission (FCC) in the years to 1930 with the new
Provisional Parliament House opening in 1927.
As the Australian nation and its economy grew and began to flourish from the mid 1950’s, the
Menzies government initiated a period of accelerated growth and development in Canberra. This
process was to continue and expand during the 1960’s and 1970’s under successive governments. It
is in this period and context that the Portal Buildings, and later the West Portal Cafeteria were
designed and constructed, and during which their landscape settings were developed.
In 1957 the Government set up the National Capital Development Commission with full
responsibility for the planning, development and construction of the National Capital. (Sir) John
Overall was selected as Commissioner. Also in 1957 Prime Minister Menzies commissioned eminent
London Planner, Sir William Holford to advise and report on the future direction of the planning of
Canberra. The Canberra Plan was submitted by Sir William Holford in 1958 and stressed the need for
Canberra to become a 'unified city' with a bold design. Holford advised on the adaptation of the
Griffin plan to progress the development of Canberra. This plan is a significant milestone in the
development of the National Capital.
NCDC's acceptance of Holford’s vision of a lakeside Parliament House dominating the centre of the
Parliamentary Triangle, and it's subsequent endorsement by Parliament, set the context for the
design of the Portal Buildings. ANZAC Park East and West were then conceived as landmarks on the
opposite bank of the lake and a portal gateway to the long vista up Anzac Parade to the War
Memorial. The Portal concept had even greater impact in framing the vista of Parliament House seen
from the War Memorial and Mt Ainslie.
The Portal Buildings were designed and constructed by the Commonwealth to accommodate
Government Departments being relocated at the time to the National Capital. The contract was let
in June 1963 to Concrete Constructions Pty Ltd to construct the two buildings, with ANZAC Park East
scheduled for completion first in the 1964-65 financial year, and ANZAC Park West to follow and be
complete in the 1966-67 financial year. By the winter of 1965 ANZAC East was substantially
complete with occupation commenced by the Bureau of Mineral Resources, moving from temporary
accommodation in Canberra (at the Acton Huts) and from Melbourne. Landscaping of the site was
commenced in the spring of 1965.
The Portal Buildings and their setting have undergone a gradual process of change over time. The
gradual change includes the physical and visual characteristics of the land axis and is visible
particularly from Mount Ainslie. The originally prominent Portal Buildings have been obscured by the
landscape associated with Parkes Way, Commonwealth Park and Anzac Parade. The vista to the War
Memorial has a dramatically narrower focus, accentuating the apparent distance to the primary
object. However, the Portal Buildings remain an integral part of the vista from Mt Ainslie towards
the new (1988) Parliament House as they mark approximately the halfway point and give scale to
the ‘Land Axis’
The removal of the new Parliament from the lake side site originally intended by Holford and the
NCDC to its site well to the far side of Old Parliament House, has considerably extended the
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horizontal dimensions and scale of the vistas to and from the primary vista nodes of the Parliament,
and the War Memorial. The affect of these changes has been to increase the capability and
importance of the Portal Buildings to perform their originally intended urban design functions.
Combined with the change due to the maturing landscape, the visual significance of the Portal
Buildings has remained important if more complex. Whilst the ‘portal’ concept remains entirely
valid, it is also appropriate to regard Anzac Park East and West as buildings that serve to mark the
junction of the Land Axis with the Water Axis and as background elements of importance to the
urban form on the north shore of the lake.
Throughout their life ANZAC Park East and West and their settings have been maintained by the
Commonwealth.
The West Portal building, Anzac Park West was quite extensively refurbished and modified in 2006.
ANZAC Park West has been further extensively internally refurbished and re-fitted for a new Defence
occupant and is now occupied by them as of February 2012.
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Statutory Heritage
values
Commonwealth
Heritage List
A two times
magnification view of
the Monumental Vista
from Mt Ainslie and of
ANZAC Park East under
construction.
Photograph circa1962.
The Portal Buildings East and West, as the Parliamentary Vista Extension, are
Commonwealth Heritage places and are protected under the Environment
Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
Statement of significance
The Portal Buildings are important for their association with the push to
transfer public servants from Melbourne to Canberra in the 1960s under the
Liberal Government of Sir Robert Menzies. They are also important for their
association with the consultancy of Sir William Holford and the views of the
Senate Select Committee, which saw Canberra as a unified city in which
background buildings in a monumental style functioned both as symbols of
government and Australian unity. In this respect the Portal buildings are an
expression of the National Capital Development Commission (NCDC) which
adopted the views of Holford and the Senate, and interpreted them in terms
of the formal composition of Walter Burley Griffin's plan for Canberra, with
its cumulative massing, axiality and avenues
As symbols of government, the monumental Portal Buildings are located on
Walter Burley Griffin's land axis, Anzac Parade, and the municipal axis,
Constitution Avenue, which defines the northern side of the Parliamentary
Triangle area in the heart of Canberra, and frame the Parliamentary vista at
its transition from land to lake. The Portal Buildings exhibit a monumental
character through strongly modelled structural bays, emphasised by the
vertical emphasis of the columns and the use of sandstone cladding to the
structural elements of the elevations, and are important elements of Civic
Design in the urban setting of Canberra.
A two times
magnification view of
the Monumental Vista
from Mt Ainslie and of
ANZAC Park East under
construction.
Photograph circa1963
Designed by NCDC architect Gareth Roberts in conjunction with the
Commonwealth Department of Works Chief Design Architect Richard Ure,
the buildings clearly illustrate NCDC policy in the form and scale of the
building envelopes which were determined by the NCDC architect, with the
architectural expression developed by the consultant architect. The two
buildings are important examples of this design process and the prevailing
use in Canberra during the 1960s of the stripped classical interpretation of
the International Style of architecture.
Criterion A
Gazetted Commonwealth Heritage values
Processes
The Portal Buildings are important for their association with the push to
transfer public servants from Melbourne to Canberra in the 1960s under the
Liberal Government of Sir Robert Menzies. They are also important for their
association with the consultancy of Sir William Holford and the views of the
Senate Select Committee, which saw Canberra as a unified city in which
background buildings in a monumental style functioned both as symbols of
government and Australian unity. In this respect the Portal buildings are an
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Criterion D
Characteristic values
Criterion E
Aesthetic values
expression of the National Capital Development Commission (NCDC), which
adopted the views of Holford and the Senate, and interpreted them in terms
of the formal composition of Walter Burley Griffin's plan for Canberra, with
its cumulative massing, axiality and avenues.
Gazetted Commonwealth Heritage values
Designed by NCDC architect Gareth Roberts in conjunction with the
Commonwealth Department of Works Chief Design Architect Richard Ure,
the buildings clearly illustrate NCDC policy in the form and scale of the
building envelopes which were determined by the NCDC architect, with the
architectural expression developed by the consultant architect. The two
buildings are important examples of this design process and the prevailing
use in Canberra during the 1960s of the stripped classical interpretation of
the International Style of architecture.
Gazetted Commonwealth Heritage values
As symbols of government, the monumental Portal Buildings are located on
Walter Burley Griffin's land axis, Anzac Parade, and the municipal axis,
Constitution Avenue, which defines the northern side of the Parliamentary
Triangle area in the heart of Canberra, and frame the Parliamentary vista at
its transition from land to lake. The Portal Buildings exhibit a monumental
character through strongly modelled structural bays, emphasised by the
vertical emphasis of the columns and the use of sandstone cladding to the
structural elements of the elevations, and are important elements of Civic
Design in the urban setting of Canberra.
A two times
magnification view of
the Monumental Vista
from Mt Ainslie showing
the current urban
landscape setting and
land axis vista.
Photographed 2004.
Criterion H
Significant people
Gazetted Commonwealth Heritage values
The Portal Buildings are important for their association with the push to
transfer public servants from Melbourne to Canberra in the 1960s under the
Liberal Government of Sir Robert Menzies. They are also important for their
association with the consultancy of Sir William Holford and the views of the
Senate Select Committee, which saw Canberra as a unified city in which
background buildings in a monumental style functioned both as symbols of
government and Australian unity. In this respect the Portal buildings are an
expression of the National Capital Development Commission (NCDC) which
adopted the views of Holford and the Senate, and interpreted them in terms
of the formal composition of Walter Burley Griffin's plan for Canberra, with
its cumulative massing, axiality and avenues.
Attributes
Their role as public service offices, their monumental character, their
massing and their axial location within the Parliamentary Vista's formal
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landscape composition.
Non-Statutory
Heritage Listings
Property or
Information Access
Restrictions or
Requirements if
Any
Conservation
Documents or
References
Record Last
Updated
Register of the National Estate: Place ID 101058. In February 2012, the RNE
became a non-statutory archive.
The Portal Buildings, Anzac Park East and West are not open to the public.
Woodhead 2012, Anzac Park East and Anzac Park West (the Portal Buildings)
Heritage Management Plan
Fischer KF Canberra Myths and Models, Institute of Asian Affairs, Hamburg
1984
Sparke E, Canberra 1954-1980, AGPS 1988
Australian Construction Services, Conservation Plan for the Portal Buildings,
Anzac Park East and West, for AEM, 1994.
30 October 2013