Edmund Barton Building
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The Edmund Barton Building (formerly known as the Trade Group Offices) is a large
office building An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform administrative work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific du ...
positioned prominently on the National Triangle in the
Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...
suburb of
Barton, Australian Capital Territory Barton (Postcodes in Australia, postcode: 2600) is a suburb of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. At the , Barton had a population of 1,946 people. Barton is adjacent to Capital Hill, Australian Capital Territory, Capital Hill. ...
. It was designed by the Australian architect Harry Seidler. It is named after Sir
Edmund Barton Sir Edmund "Toby" Barton (18 January 18497 January 1920) was an Australian politician, barrister and jurist who served as the first prime minister of Australia from 1901 to 1903. He held office as the leader of the Protectionist Party, before ...
, the first
Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the pr ...
and one of the founding judges of the
High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is the apex court of the Australian legal system. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified in the Constitution of Australia and supplementary legislation. The High Court was establi ...
.


Design, construction and ownership

The Edmund Barton Building was designed and built for the Commonwealth government over the period 1970 to 1974. The building is of a precast,
prestressed concrete Prestressed concrete is a form of concrete used in construction. It is substantially prestressed (Compression (physics), compressed) during production, in a manner that strengthens it against tensile forces which will exist when in service. Post-t ...
construction. Its elements are radically simple: the entire structure was created using repeating patterns of just three different components: 26-metre-long facade beams, 16-metre-long floor beams or 'planks', and 1.5-metre column elements. It contains a total of 50 000 square metres of office space in seven wings, enclosing two courtyards.Harry Seidler & Associates
Trade Group Offices
retrieved January 2009.
The building has undergone various subsequent modifications, notably including the retrofitting of cladding beneath the exposed first floor floor planks which, while improving thermal performance, has been criticised for obscuring the original design of the building. In 1999, as part of a
privatisation Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...
of Commonwealth assets, the building was sold to the Industry Superannuation Property Trust Pty Ltd, which almost immediately on-sold the site to Advance Property Fund (a subsidiary of Stockland, one of Australia's largest property groups) for A$70 million. In December 2008 was sold to Real IS AG for A$186 million. The building was the subject of a major refurbishment in 2007–2009 estimated to cost $115 million, including increased security measures around the building perimeter (owing to the client needs of the new tenant, the Australian Federal Police), and reinvigoration of the courtyard areas. Planning for the refurbishment was undertaken by HBO+EMTB. The refurbishment caused some concern about the preservation of heritage values of the building, and about loss of public access to central open spaces and art works.Canberra House,
Modifications proposed to Harry Seidler’s Edmund Barton building
', 21 September 2008, retrieved January 2009.


Occupants

The building was originally designed as office space for Australian federal trade agencies. In the 1980s and 1990s the building was occupied by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (previously known as the
Department of Primary Industries and Energy The Department of Primary Industries and Energy was an Australian government department that existed between July 1987 and October 1998. Scope Information about the department's functions and government funding allocation could be fou ...
and prior to that the Department of Primary Industry) and small groups from other departments including the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. A range of other agencies have occupied parts of the building, including the
Australian Public Service Commission The Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) is a statutory agency of the Government of Australia, Australian Government, within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Australia), Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, that ...
(from before 2000 to 2007) and the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (2004–2007). The
Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the principal Federal police, federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government responsible for investigating Crime in Australia, crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth ...
undertook to occupy the building from mid-2009, following a major refurbishment.


Heritage value

The Edmund Barton Building is regarded as one of Harry Seidler's most important Australian buildings. The building was placed on the
Commonwealth National Heritage List The Commonwealth Heritage List is a heritage register established in 2003, which lists places under the control of the Government of Australia, Australian government, on Crown land, land or in waters directly owned by the Crown (in Australia, Mon ...
in June 2005, as 'an outstanding example of the Late Twentieth-Century
International Style The International Style is a major architectural style and movement that began in western Europe in the 1920s and dominated modern architecture until the 1970s. It is defined by strict adherence to Functionalism (architecture), functional and Fo ...
of architecture in Australia and is the largest such example in the National Capital'. The building was recognised with 1999 25 Year Award for its architectural merit from the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA), ACT Chapter. The building is also on the RAIA Register of Significant Twentieth Century Architecture (as the Trade Offices).RAIA, Register of Significant Twentieth Century Architecture
Sites in the Australian Capital Territory
, retrieved January 2009.


Public art

The Edmund Barton Building site is the location of several significant pieces of
sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
. These include "two important works of public art by Norman Carlberg, the internationally acclaimed American sculptor who worked in the modular constructivist style and studied under
Josef Albers Josef Albers ( , , ; March 19, 1888March 25, 1976) was a German-born American artist and Visual arts education, educator who is considered one of the most influential 20th-century art teachers in the United States. Born in 1888 in Bottrop, Westp ...
at
Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...
in the late 1950s. ''Black Widow'' is the free standing black painted steel form standing 4.8m high in the west courtyard. ''Concrete Form'' is the 7.3m high precast concrete sculpture in the east courtyard. These two important works were installed in 1975." In addition to these works, a memorial sculpture of Sir Edmund Barton stands at the south-west corner of the building, facing Kings Avenue.


Gallery

Edmund Barton Building underside detail.JPG, Detail of underside of first floor, showing retrofitted cladding obscuring the original concrete floor planks Edmund Barton Building showing refurbishment in progress.JPG, Edmund Barton Building refurbishment underway, 2008–09 Statue of Edmund Barton.JPG, Statue of Edmund Barton, standing at the south-western corner of the Edmund Barton Building


See also

* Sir Roy Grounds Award for Enduring Architecture * List of buildings and structures in the Australian Capital Territory * Harry Seidler *
Australian non-residential architectural styles Australian non-residential architectural styles are a set of Australian architectural styles that apply to buildings used for purposes other than residence and have been around only since the first colonial government buildings of early Europea ...


References


External links

*Website of Harry Seidler & Associates, with images of th
layout of the precast beams, and the gantry construction technique.Virtualglobetrotter image
showing satellite view of the distinctive layout of the Edmund Barton Building, including the six cores, seven wings and two courtyards. {{Canberra landmarks Harry Seidler buildings Office buildings completed in 1974 Office buildings in Canberra