Commonwealth Bank Hobart

What a fine example of Modernist design is the Commonwealth Bank in the Hobart CBD. This building has always fascinated me, it's like a hybrid cross between art deco and post war design.

The curves are so art deco in style, yet the repetition that plays throughout the windows is familiar in many post war designs, as well as the sheer bulk of the building. I think all the concrete makes the building feel like a fortress, and I reckon it works brilliantly being on the street corner with its smooth transitional curve. Look more closely at the building and the concrete has been impregnated with a tinge of terracotta throughout.

To view more Modernist Tasmanian Architecture photography click here

Big Box the Death of Launceston City Heart

Views looking into Launceston CBD

Art Deco & Modernism Tasmania letter to the editor regarding the proposal of Big W being introduced into Northern Tasmania.

After I undertook a recent architectural study across Australia, I was surprised by the number of central business districts that are suffering. Abandoned shops and empty streets were the norm in many towns, and this I believe is due in large part to urban sprawl and big box developments.

It's time for authorities who have discussions with Big W executives to push for a site within the city confines, where public transport is easily available.

To build on the city fringes will in time create busier roads with people having to drive and slowly kill off city businesses.
Launceston thus far has escaped the onslaught of massive shopping complexes and malls. Whilst I believe that big box developments have a place in cities, from my experiences their place is in the city confines if they are to contribute to a city, not wreak it.

Compared to many struggling mainland towns, Launceston city is vibrant and the shopping experience is varied. Please think ahead for the future of Launceston city, and build a Big W within the city confines, don't just agree to a new shopping centre placed on the fringes of the city that will irreversibly damage the city heart.

Home Fate Sealed

This former home in Invermay, Launceston has stood derelict for years now, and more recently was victim to arson.

Its fate was sealed this year when it was demolished, probably to make way for yet another industrial box. Many 20th century homes have been demolished in Invermay over the past few years at an alarming rate, and with this goes our collective history.

Response to Heritage Tasmania Listing backhaul in Tasmania

10 Murray Street (pictured) was nominated for heritage status in 2002, but due to a backhaul of over 2300 applications it hasn't been assessed and is at risk of demolition.

It has been reported in the local newspaper (see news story here) that there are nearly 2300 heritage submissions to review, and that only a handful of these submissions are reviewed in a year.

Below is my response to the story:

I find it absurd that the Tasmanian Heritage Council has nearly 2300 applications to assess and that it can only get through a handful a year.

For Mr Lynch to say that it wouldn't have been fair to shift the goal posts all of a sudden in assessing 10 Murray Street, because the development had already begun, highlights the inadequacies of a Government department that should be there to effectively protect our built heritage.

I ask Mr Lynch why he believes that 10 Murray Street was never an assessment priority? How does the Heritage Council assess buildings of importance and significance? Is it only those that are built of sandstone or from the 1800s perhaps?

The heritage process is meant to work whereby the public can nominate buildings. In the meantime a prospective developer can purchase a site and effectively bypass heritage concerns, because the Tasmanian Heritage Council, for whatever reason, cannot process applications quickly enough.

To have 2300 applications awaiting processing is absurd and ridiculous, and some serious questions need to be answered if our heritage is to really be protected.