Noni BOYD
This paper will draw on the research undertaken by Noni for a recent PHD thesis on the work of the NSW Government Architect, Walter Liberty Vernon.
Under Vernon, the Government Architect’s Branch of the Public Works Department designed public buildings for Bourke and Broken Hill in the 1890s that were not only intended to cope with the extreme heat, but were also up to date in terms of the architectural styles being employed in London. The ornate boom style favoured in the mining towns of Bendigo and Ballarat and used for the Broken Hill Town Hall was no longer fashionable or politically correct. Public buildings, such as the tower to the Broken Hill Post Office, were designed using practical elements drawn from colonial buildings, such as wide, wrap around verandahs, rather than arcades or colonnades. It was not only the Public Works Department who designed buildings specifically for the heat of outback NSW, but also the Department of Public Instruction. This trend was to continue into the twentieth-century, and can be seen in the design of a number of the public schools in the town. These buildings, most of which are still used today, are significant examples of public architecture in NSW but are little known. The attempts to respond to the local climate have not been identified in the current State Heritage Register/Inventory listings. Some of the unique features of these designs will be outlined, and how the building complexes were specifically designed to cope with the heat and dust of outback NSW will be illustrated. An understanding of the passive methods of climate control would assist in managing these buildings in the future.