Rootes Factory, Port Melbourne (Winter 2015)

ADMSAPreservation, Victoria

A major part of Port Melbourne’s industrial and military history is currently under threat. The former Rootes building (19-25 Salmon Street, Port Melbourne) was constructed in 1941 and was the site for the design and development of prototypes of tanks.  In 1943, the tank project was terminated and the building was used for the Maintenance section of the Department of …

Civic Hall, Ballarat (Autumn 2014)

ADMSAPreservation, Victoria

The major preservation battle underway in the regional city of Ballarat to prevent the Civic Hall, constructed in 1953 to a design by prominent local architect Les Coburn, from demolition by the Ballarat Council took another turn recently.  Council received over 3,000 objections to its proposed demolition. Now the State government has entered the issue, with the Premier of Victoria …

Civic Hall, Ballarat (Summer 2014)

ADMSAPreservation, Victoria

The preservation battle surrounding the Civic Hall in Ballarat continues. Constructed in 1953 to a design by prominent local architect Les Coburn and Melbourne architect Gordon Murphy, the hall is significant as the first steel-framed and reinforced concrete building constructed in Victoria, outside of Melbourne. The Ballarat Council has now lodged an application to demolish the building. ADMS will be lodging an …

Civic Hall, Ballarat (Spring 2013)

ADMSAPreservation, Victoria

A major preservation battle is underway in the Victorian regional city of Ballarat. The Civic Hall, constructed in 1953 to a design by prominent local architect Les Coburn and Melbourne architect Gordon Murphy, is significant as the first steel-framed and reinforced concrete building constructed in Victoria, outside of Melbourne. Now it is under threat from its owners, the City council, who …

Eastwood Lodge, Glenside Mental Hospital, Adelaide (Winter 2013)

ADMSALost Buildings, Preservation, South Australia

In the Summer 2010 edition of Spirit of Progress we featured an article by Marcus Beresford about a modernism nurses home built in the early 1950s at Glenside Mental Hospital in Adelaide and the efforts to preserve the building. Eastwood Lodge was provisionally state heritage listed, but the listing was then rescinded after pressure was applied to the State government, …