Metro Tasmania Bus Stops - A Mid 20th Century Design Treasure

Take a bus in Launceston or Hobart and chances are you will be waiting to be picked up by a Metro Bus at a stop similar to these pictured. These striking bus stops are a common design throughout Metro Tasmania bus stops. I love the first bus shelter pictured, as it has period concrete stairs beside it with that wonderfully function hand rail. The concrete has that gritty worn look to it that really emphasises the bus shelters.

They are probably not the first thing in peoples minds when they think about Mid 20th Century design, but it's the humble Metro Bus stop that really captures the imagination and has the Modernism stamp written all over it. Simple, clean and functional design with often angled corrugated iron that's painted, and angled flat roofing.

Most are painted a hue of green (as in the photo featured in this post) but there are some that have been painted in different colours. The colours wreak of pastel wonderfulness that was so popular in 1950s/60s design.

So the next time you are at a Metro Bus stop, have a good look at what your sitting on - Mid Century design is everywhere!

Love 20th C Modernism? Check out Art Deco & Modernism Australia

Wonderful buildings and places that represent the inspirational period of 20th Century Modernism aren't to be found just in Tasmania.Check out my blog "Art Deco & Modernism Australia" for photos and stories of buildings I've explored and documented from Melbourne in Victoria to Mossman in tropical Far North Queensland, and everywhere in between!

A Brutalist Building in Mackay.....a brick patterned Civic Hall in Bundaberg.....some sturdy Art Deco Commonwealth Banks in News South Wales.....

Launceston's Industrial Heritage worthy of Adaptive Reuse

Whilst the proposition to install wind turbines on the landmark wheat
silos is a visionary concept, I ask the Council, is anything being done to protect and adaptively reuse this building and the former Roberts Wool sheds?

It's interesting to witness the demolition of nearly every building along Lindsay Street for the flood levy redevelopment, but the silos and wool-sheds owned by the Council remain. Have they been left because of their historical significance?

Surely a visionary approach would seek to adaptivity reuse these historic buildings. The grain silo’s could make wonderful waterfront apartments, just look at Hobart's old Silos at Salamanca Place for inspiration. The Council could redevelop the land surrounding these historic buildings as a public space. These iconic 20th Century buildings are worthy of adaptive reuse and many uses could be found for them.

Integrate wind turbines onto the grain silos, but consider a real visionary approach that protects our 20th Century Industrial heritage and allows for a real connection between Launceston city, it's Industrial heritage and it's waterway.

Small Form Concrete Modernist Design - Launceston

I love the simplicity and use of concrete patterns in this Modernist building in Launceston. Perfect symmetry is created here in this building via it's windows and sunken concrete design, and it demonstrates how concrete is such a wonderful and undervalued material in relation to buildings and aesthetics.

To view more examples of Modernist architecture from Canberra and Australia check out my dedicated photo gallery here

10 Murray Street retro fitting ideology fails to accept the buildings heritage values

I am confused as to why some who want to save 10 Murray Street Government Office block from demolition are seeking to "retro-fit" the building (see these 2 stories in the Mercury - "New Twist for old Block" and "10 Murray Facelift Push Grows"). If this building is a classic example of 1960s architecture in Tasmania, then why are proponents seeking to modernise the exterior of 10 Murray Street Government Offices, to something that is very different to the original style of the building?

Whilst I enjoyed the designs by architects of what 10 Murray Street offices could look like, I think they are missing one important aspect. If you change the exterior of the complex you end up with a completely different building, It's no longer 10 Murray Street, it just becomes another interpretation of what some people think it should look like in the 21st Century.

Whilst I appreciate that time is running out to save 10 Murray Street and the Art Deco Government Printing Office block from demolition, I would rather see 10 Murray Street demolished than have a design that "retro-fits" the exterior. Doing so would mean a loss of a 1960s classic, and the denial of what this period of building once stood for.

To view a photo essay of 10 Murray Street Government Offices I have complied click here