Federation architecture is the architectural style in Australia that was prevalent from around 1890 to 1915. [3] The name refers to the Federation of Australia on 1 January 1901, when the British colonies of Australia collectively became the Commonwealth of Australia.
The architectural style had antecedents in the Queen Anne style and Edwardian style of the United Kingdom, combined with various other influences like the Arts and Crafts style. [3] Other styles also developed, like the Federation Warehouse style, which was heavily influenced by the Romanesque Revival style. In Australia, Federation architecture is generally associated with cottages in the Queen Anne style, but some consider that there were twelve main styles that characterised the Federation period. [4]
The Federation period overlaps the Edwardian period, which was so named after the reign of King Edward VII (1901–1910); however, as the style preceded and extended beyond Edward's reign, the term "Federation architecture" was coined in 1969. [5]
Federation architecture has many similarities to Edwardian Baroque architecture; however, there are significant differences that distinguish the Federation architecture style from the Edwardian Baroque architecture style, particularly due to the embracing of Australiana themes and the use of the verandah in domestic settings. Australian flora and fauna are prominently featured, and stylised images of the New South Wales waratah, [6] : page:11 flannel flower, Queensland firewheel tree, and other flowers, and the kangaroo, [6] : page:44 kookaburra, [6] : page:11 and lyrebird, [6] : page:10 were common. The Coat of Arms, [6] : page:10 and rising sun, representing a new dawn in the country of Australia, also appeared regularly on gables.
Many[ citation needed ] Federation buildings, both residential and non-residential, are listed on the Register of the National Estate because of their heritage values.
Gardens of the period were complex and contained many elements—generally a wider variety of plants than is seen in contemporary plantings, pergolas, rose arches, gazebos and summerhouses. [6] : page:82 Wooden lattice fences were used to partition parts of the garden off, particularly the front from the more private back. [6] : page:81 Garden paths could be straight or gently curved, and often edged with glazed edging tiles or bricks, and made of tiles, packed gravel or bricks. patterns for brick paving include stretcher bond, herringbone and basketweave. [6] : page:80 Asphalt and concrete were not used.
Plants were selected to produce year-round colour and interest in the local climate conditions. Initially, evergreen trees were used, but the denseness of shade led to increasing popularity of deciduous trees such as Jacaranda , flowering plum and peppercorn. [6] : page:86 Palms often framed the garden vista, and the native Cootamundra wattle was popular, as were shrubs such as camellias and standard roses. [6] : page:86 Conservatories contained begonias and Adiantum ferns. [6] : page:86
There are twelve styles that predominated in the Federation period:
Of the twelve Federation styles, there are four that were mainly used in residential architecture. They are Federation Queen Anne style, Federation Filigree style, Federation Arts and Craft style, and Federation Bungalow style.
The Federation Queen Anne style was designed to embrace the outdoor lifestyles of the Australian people. Most homes have asymmetric gables, white-painted window frames, front verandas with decorative timber features, tiling on the patio floor and entry paths. The brickwork is usually a deep red or dark brown, often with a mix of the two. The roofs are typically terracotta tiles with decorative gables (sometimes adorned with finials), motifs, timber features, tall chimneys and fretwork. Decorative leadlight windows are also common, as are circular windows (known as bulls-eye windows). Federation homes also have decorative internal features in the plasterwork, high ceilings and timber features.
Some outstanding examples are West Maling, Penshurst Avenue, Penshurst, New South Wales; Turramurra Ingleholme, Boomerang Street, Turramurra, New South Wales (former home of architect John Sulman); and Caerleon, Bellevue Hill, the first Queen Anne home in Australia. The Federation Queen Anne style was the most popular residential style in Australia between 1890 and 1910.
The Federation Filigree style is common in the hotter parts of Australia, especially in the north, since it is designed to create shade while allowing for the free flow of air. It is a common sight in Queensland and is sometimes known as the Queensland style. Some outstanding examples are Belltrees House, Scone, New South Wales; private home, Roderick Street, Ipswich, Queensland; and terrace of homes, east side of High Street, Millers Point, New South Wales.
The Federation Arts and Crafts style had its origins in England, where architects were reacting to the impersonal nature of the Industrial Revolution. Crafts and handiwork were emphasised to give architecture the "human touch". These influences were absorbed into Federation Australia, where the resulting buildings were generally small-scale to medium-scale and predominantly residential. Outstanding examples are Glyn, Kooyong road, Toorak, Victoria; The Crossways, Martin Road, Centennial Park, New South Wales; and Erica, Appian Way, Burwood, New South Wales.
The Federation Bungalow style was the Australian response to the bungalow style that was developed in America by people like Gustav Stickley. It can be seen as a transition phase between the Federation Queen Anne style and the California Bungalow style that took on later. Stylistically, it exploited the qualities of the bungalow while frequently retaining the flair and idiosyncrasies of the Queen Anne style, although usually in simplified form. Outstanding examples are Nee Morna, Nepean Highway, Sorrento, Victoria; Blythewood, Beecroft Road, Cheltenham New South Wales; and The Eyrie, Fox Valley Road, Wahroonga, New South Wales.
During the early-1990s, many of the design elements that characterised the Federation architecture of old were popularised in mainstream architecture. This Federation revival form is also known as "mock Federation" or "faux Federation". The style was widespread within the realm of residential housing (especially in new development suburbs) and for apartment buildings; however, smaller shopping centres and other public buildings also made use of the revival style that retained widespread popularity until the early 2000s. Suburbs of Sydney that developed in the 1990s—such as Cherrybrook, Castle Hill, and Menai—are notable in the sense that large tracts of these developments contain almost exclusively Federation revival homes. [7]
The construction of Federation revival architecture varied little from that of other basic styles, with the Federation elements merely forming the facade and decorating elements of the building. For example, the typical brick and roof tile construction, hexagonal turrets, ornate gable work, finials, prominent verandah, steep pitched roofs, and faceted bay windows served to parallel the traditional Federation architecture.
Federation non-residential buildings can be in any of the twelve styles. The following gallery shows some examples of non-residential buildings.
Notable[ citation needed ] Federation architects in Australia include:
Victorian architecture is a series of architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. Victorian refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the styles known as Victorian were used in construction. However, many elements of what is typically termed "Victorian" architecture did not become popular until later in Victoria's reign, roughly from 1850 and later. The styles often included interpretations and eclectic revivals of historic styles (see Historicism). The name represents the British and French custom of naming architectural styles for a reigning monarch. Within this naming and classification scheme, it followed Georgian architecture and later Regency architecture and was succeeded by Edwardian architecture.
The Queen Anne style of British architecture refers to either the English Baroque architecture of the time of Queen Anne or the British Queen Anne Revival form that became popular during the last quarter of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century. In other English-speaking parts of the world, New World Queen Anne Revival architecture embodies entirely different styles.
The Fan is a district of Richmond, Virginia, so named because of the "fan" shape of the array of streets that extend west from Belvidere Street, on the eastern edge of Monroe Park, westward to Arthur Ashe Boulevard. However, the streets rapidly resemble a grid after they go through what is now Virginia Commonwealth University. The Fan is one of the easterly points of the city's West End section, and is bordered to the north by Broad Street and to the south by VA 195, although the Fan District Association considers the southern border to be the properties abutting the south side of Main Street. The western side is sometimes called the Upper Fan and the eastern side the Lower Fan, though confusingly the Uptown district is located near VCU in the Lower Fan. Many cafes and locally owned restaurants are located here, as well as historic Monument Avenue, a boulevard formerly featuring statuary of the Civil War's Confederate president and generals. The only current statue is a more modern one of tennis icon Arthur Ashe. Development of the Fan district was strongly influenced by the City Beautiful movement of the late 19th century.
Centennial Park is a suburb split between the local government area of the City of Sydney and the City of Randwick, located 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from the Sydney central business district, in the eastern suburbs of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia.
Burwood is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of Municipality of Burwood.
California bungalow is an alternative name for the American Craftsman style of residential architecture, when it was applied to small-to-medium-sized homes rather than the large "ultimate bungalow" houses of designers like Greene and Greene. California bungalows became popular in suburban neighborhoods across the United States, and to varying extents elsewhere, from around 1910 to 1939.
In Great Britain and former British colonies, a Victorian house generally means any house built during the reign of Queen Victoria. During the Industrial Revolution, successive housing booms resulted in the building of many millions of Victorian houses which are now a defining feature of most British towns and cities.
The architecture of Sydney, Australia’s oldest city, is not characterised by any one architectural style, but by an extensive juxtaposition of old and new architecture over the city's 200-year history, from its modest beginnings with local materials and lack of international funding to its present-day modernity with an expansive skyline of high rises and skyscrapers, dotted at street level with remnants of a Victorian era of prosperity.
Architecture of Australia has generally been consistent with architectural trends in the wider Western world, with some special adaptations to compensate for distinctive Australian climatic and cultural factors. Indigenous Australians produced a wide range of structures and places prior to colonisation. Contemporary Indigenous practitioners are active in a broad range of built environment fields. During Australia's early Western history, it was a collection of British colonies in which architectural styles were strongly influenced by British designs. However, the unique climate of Australia necessitated adaptations, and 20th-century trends reflected the increasing influence of American urban designs and a diversification of the cultural tastes and requirements of an increasingly multicultural Australian society.
Australian residential architectural styles have evolved significantly over time, from the early days of structures made from relatively cheap and imported corrugated iron to more sophisticated styles borrowed from other countries, such as the California bungalow from the United States, the Georgian style from Europe and Northern America, and the Victorian style from the United Kingdom. A common feature of the Australian home is the use of fencing in front gardens, also common in both the United Kingdom and the United States.
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 European settlement of Australia in 1788.
Appian Way is a street in the suburb of Burwood in Sydney.
Edwardian architecture usually means a Neo-Baroque architectural style that was popular for public buildings in the British Empire during the Edwardian era (1901–1910). Architecture up to the year 1914 may also be included in this style.
Robert Smith (Robin) Dods was a New Zealand-born Australian architect.
Beverley Ussher was articled to Melbourne architect Alfred Dunn. Dunn was English and had worked for architect Alexander Lauder in Barnstaple, Devon, where he worked with Arts and Crafts movement theorist and practitioner W.R. Lethaby. Through Dunn's English connections, when Ussher completed his architecture articles in Melbourne, he visited England and was introduced to architect Walter Butler. Later Ussher and Butler formed a partnership in Melbourne.
Thomas Pollard Sampson was a Tasmanian-born Australian architect active in New South Wales during the first forty years of the 20th century. His work encompassed the styles of the Federation Arts and Crafts and Bungalow through to the Inter-War Styles. In 1912 he designed an octagonal roofed stadium at Rushcutters Bay that seated up to 12,000 spectators. At the time, the Sydney Stadium was said to be "the largest roofed-in structure in the world." In the 1920s and 1930s, as a golfer and member of Concord Golf Club and Pennant Hills Golf Club, he designed the clubhouses at both courses. The buildings of both these well known Sydney clubs are still in use in 2023.
In the New World, Queen Anne Revival was a historicist architectural style of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was popular in the United States, Canada, Australia, and other countries. In Australia, it is also called Federation architecture.
The Burwood Post Office is a heritage-listed former Aboriginal land, farm and former post office and now retail building located at 168a Burwood Road in the Sydney suburb of Burwood in the Municipality of Burwood local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Walter Liberty Vernon and George Oakeshott and built by New South Wales Works Branch. It is also known as Burwood Post Office (former). It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 18 May 2001.
St. Cloud is a heritage-listed mansion located at 223 Burwood Road in the Sydney suburb of Burwood in the Municipality of Burwood local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was built by George Hoskins. It is also known as St. Cloud and Site and St Cloud and site. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
Lynton is a heritage-listed residence located at 4 Clarence Street in the Sydney suburb of Burwood in the Municipality of Burwood local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Stanley Rickard and built from 1906. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.