| Photographs: | |
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| List: | Register of the National Estate |
| Class: | Historic |
| Legal Status: | Registered (26/10/1999) |
| Place ID: | 19835 |
| Place File No: | 8/01/000/0453 |
| Statement of Significance: |
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The Australian Academy of Science building, The Shine Dome (formerly Becker House) and surrounds is significant for its association with the post-war development of the Australian scientific community at an international level. The creation of the Academy provided Australian science with national presence and an international face. It is directly related to scientists such as M L Oliphant, D F Martyn, I Clunies Ross, J C Eccles, D Mawson and A C D Rivett who were founding members of the Academy.
(Criterion A.4 and H.1). M L Oliphant and D F Martyn, with the support of Rivett, were instrumental in the Academy's establishment.
(Criterion H 1) (Themes 8.10 Pursuing excellence in the arts and sciences, 7.5 Developing administrative structures and authorities) Completed in 1959, The Shine Dome was designed by prominent Australian architect Roy Grounds of Grounds Romberg and Boyd to reflect the rounded hills surrounding Canberra. Its award winning design represents Grounds' design philosophy, reflected in the building's form, planning and structural integrity and in Grounds' response to the environment. (Criterion D 2 and H 1) The construction of The Shine Dome was a significant technical achievement being a most effective structural solution, to create and enclose a unit of space. In diameter, the dome was larger than any dome built before the twentieth century and larger than any dome previously built in Australia. The building was a milestone in the Australian construction industry and was voted by the Royal Australian Institute of Architects as one of seven most important examples of Australian architecture of the twentieth century. The interior design and furnishings are an integral part of the building and its significance. (Criterion F 1) The low-rise dome-form creates a unique central feature between the earlier classically styled buildings of its precinct neighbours. The open space areas between the Academy and buildings in the precinct enable the iconographic architecture of the dome with its moat and parabolic arches, to be fully visually expressed. Internally the dome shape evokes an aesthetic quality of being both comforting and physically stimulating. (Criterion E 1) Following its construction, The Shine Dome quickly became a local icon and a symbol of modern Canberra. (Criterion G 1) |
| Official Values: Not Available |
| Description: |
|
The features intrinsic to the significance of this place are
the Australian Academy of Science building -The Shine Dome, and the moat
surrounding the dome. The Shine Dome consists of a flattened concrete shell which tapers off to sixteen points, creating a parabolic arch between each load point. This serves to disperse the outward thrust of the dome evenly, whilst creating penetrations in the dome and reducing the heavy aesthetic that a concrete dome creates. The structural components of the building act as a continuous entity, making the dome extremely stable, preventing movement and the need for expansion joints. The perimeter beneath the dome is enclosed by an aluminium framed curtain wall. The planning of the internal areas is based on a radial grid and is essentially symmetrical. There are two floors with a central void known as the Wark Theatre. The theatre seats 156 people. The building also provides facilities for smaller conferences and meetings in the Council Room and Jaeger Room. The internal walls are mainly brick with simple reinforced concrete slabs creating the second floor. There are concrete beams supporting the second floor slab across the larger open areas. The design of The Shine Dome paid particular attention to the sound environment, both in terms of acoustic privacy and the clarity of natural sound. The use of carpet, timber panelled walls and vermiculate ceilings, as well as extensive soft furnishings in most areas, provides a quiet atmosphere and limits unwanted sound transmission both within rooms and to adjacent rooms. High quality natural acoustics of the Wark Theatre was designed for speech clarity. The interior walls and the ceilings and integrated lighting provide the means of tuning the room acoustics. The asymmetric arrangement of suspended ceiling discs which act as sound reflectors and provide the main illumination of the space. The dome is reinforced concrete graduating from a thickness of approximately 60cm at the base supports to approximately 10cm at the peak. The top half of the dome was formed in a single concrete pour. The external cladding of the dome is an overlap, interlocking copper sheeting. The outward thrust of the dome is dispersed by the moat which acts as a ring beam acting hoop tension. The moat's second function is to diffuse and reflect the harsh Canberra sunlight under the arched overhang and into the building. Beneath the ground of each of the sixteen load points is a concrete beam on piers taking the footings down to a solid rock foundation. The moat, beam, piers and footings are basically a continuous entity, making the dome extremely stable, preventing movement and the need for expansion joints. The dome is fully self-supporting and expresses the glass curtain wall, simply as a skin enclosing space. The building has been described as being of unconventional, futuristic design. The construction of the dome was preceded by the building of a one-fortieth scale model constructed from fibre-glass cloth impregnated with a polyester resin. Strain measurements were taken from the model to predict the initial deflection of the concrete shell. The testing proved effective when the actual dome was constructed as it only deflected 3/8 inch in the centre. At 45.75 metres in diameter, the Academy's dome is larger than any other dome built before the twentieth century. Its diameter exceeds that of the largest known pre-twentieth century dome, the concrete dome of the Pantheon in Rome, which has a diameter of 43.0 metres. In diameter, it was also larger than the largest dome previously built in Australia, which was the 31.5 metre reinforced concrete dome of the Reading Room of the State Library of Victoria (RNE Database No. 005161 - Indicative Place). The architect Roy Grounds, designed the building to suit the locality. He also stated that 'the domed shape was a corollary of the rounded hills and mountains that enclose the valley of Canberra'. The building is located on the eastern slopes of the Acton Ridge, in a precinct that forms an interface between Canberra City including the hotel and business buildings east of Marcus Clarke Street, and the Australian National University. The precinct was developed by the Federal Capital Commission with the Institute of Anatomy on the ridge crest and on the lower slopes, hostels and guest houses for use by public servants. The Australian Academy of Science was conceived as an independent national academy and sited between the classically styled buildings of the Institute of Anatomy, Hotel Acton and Beauchamp House. It's low-rise dome-form creates a unique central feature between the earlier classically styled buildings. The open space areas between the Academy and its neighbours enable the iconographic architecture of the dome with its moat and parabolic arches, to be fully visually expressed. The dome building is a most effective structural solution that creates and encloses a unit of space as well as emulating natural forms. It is therefore aesthetically comforting and physically stimulating at the same time. |
| History: |
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There were several attempts to establish a national academy
of science in Australia prior to the creation of the Australian Academy of
Science. These began with an attempt in 1901,
which was revitalised in 1921 by the Australian National Research Council
(ANRC). The ANRC tried again in
the 1930s to establish a separate Royal Society of Australia as a national
academy. These attempts failed
mainly due to the immaturity of Australian science at the time, the difficulties
of interstate travel and regional loyalties and distrust. The economic depression and the Second
World War formed further barriers preventing the creating of a national academy
of science. With the end of the Second World War came visions of post-war reconstruction. In 1947, through an act of Parliament, the Australian National University (ANU) was created in Canberra. To control the ANU's development, a distinguished Academic Advisory Committee was set up in England. M L Oliphant, an internationally distinguished physicist, accepted an invitation by the ANU Council to head one of the four research schools, the Research School of Physical Sciences. Dr D F Martyn was the Chief Scientist with the Radio Research Board from 1949 to 1956 and was also the first Chief of the Division of Radiophysics. He and Oliphant, both working in Canberra, discussed the creation of a national academy of science. Oliphant and Martyn were a powerful combination as they avoided the fierce regional rivalry between the University of Sydney and Melbourne University and soon had strong support for a national academy. According to Oliphant 'if science, as science, was to have coherence, there must be some means whereby that coherence could be expressed' (1980:10). Nearly all developed modern countries at the time had an academy of science, the oldest being Britain's Royal Society of London. The initial step in the creation of the Academy was taken by Oliphant and Martyn on 15 November 1951 when they sent a circular letter to each of the members of the Royal Society of London who were resident in Australia. The recipients of the letter included Sir Douglas Mawson, Professor J C Eccles and Sir David Rivett. Oliphant and Martyn believed the recipients of the letter would make acceptable founders of the Academy, as they had little interest in the personal and regional squabbles in the Australian scientific community. On 20 December 1951 Oliphant and Rivett approached the then Prime Minister, R G Menzies. Menzies agreed that there was a need for an Australian Academy of Science and supported the idea of starting with the resident Fellows of the Royal Society of London, promising to help get the Charter in time for the impending visit of the then Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh. A provisional Council was elected on 11 November 1953 consisting of T M Cherry, I Clunies Ross, J C Eccles, R J W Le Fevre, H R Marston, D F Martyn, D Mawson, A J Nicholson, M L Oliphant and A C D Rivett. At the first meeting on 11 December 1953 the members elected Oliphant as President, Martyn as Secretary (Physical Sciences), Nicholson as Secretary (Biological Sciences) and Marston as Treasurer. With the support of Rivett, former Chairman of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, R G Menzies and the weight of the Commonwealth Government, the proposal became a matter of drafting a Constitution and a Charter. The legal documents were sent to London towards the end of 1953 with the blessing of Menzies and the Governor General, Sir William Slim, in the hope that the Charter would be ready for the impending visit of the Queen to Australia. The Duke of Edinburgh had recently become a Royal Member of the Royal Society of London and was very interested in science. The occasion was justified as important enough for presentation of the Charter by the Queen herself. Presentation by the reigning monarch had last occurred when King Charles II presented his Charter to the Royal Society of London in 1662. The Charter was approved on 12 January 1954 at a specially convened meeting of the Privy Council. The Great Seal was affixed on 2 February and the Charter sent to Australia. Government House was the chosen venue for the presentation of the Charter. At a small gathering on 16 February 1954 the provisional Council, the Governor General Sir William Slim, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Queen met for the presentation. With a few appropriate words, the Queen handed the Charter of the Academy to Oliphant and the Australian Academy of Science was founded. The formation of the Academy marked the post-war development of the Australian scientific community at an international level giving Australian science an international face to the rest of the world. In March 1954, Oliphant wrote to the Minister of the Interior, inquiring about being allocated 'a building site in a part of Canberra suitable for the erection of a dignified building and where future development would not provide unsuitable neighbours' (Gutteridge Haskins & Davey 2, p.2 1999). During 1954 the Academy began negotiations with the Department of Interior for a suitable building site. Many sites were discussed and in June 1956 the Academy applied to the Department for a site of three to five acres located between the Australian Institute of Anatomy (currently the National Film and Sound Archives) and London Circuit. The Department offered a much smaller site and the Academy hesitantly accepted the offer. In 1956, at the second Annual General Meeting of the Academy, the Fellowship was presented with a very preliminary sketch prepared by an architect friend of Marston. The sketch received very little support and at the next Council Meeting on 16 June 1956 a Building Design Committee was appointed. The design committee included Oscar A Bayne, who was to act as the architectural consultant, and O H Frankel. Frankel had previously asked Bayne for recommendations of architectural firms. Bayne suggested that an Australian architect was the most appropriate and that 'it was Australia's job to do its best' (1980:37). The only meeting of the Design Committee occurred in Adelaide on 1 December 1956. They were presented with sketch plans from six architectural firms. A design by Grounds, Romberg and Boyd was unanimously chosen. However, the chosen design still had to be accepted by the Council. Bayne was sent to disperse any fears the relatively conservative Council might have about such an unconventional design. At the Council meeting on 7 December 1956, the design was quickly accepted, without the influence of Bayne who was circling overhead in a delayed aircraft. A few days later, Roy Grounds accepted appointment as architect for the proposed building. Grounds, Romberg and Boyd were in partnership from 1954 to 1961 and were seen as the most influential Australian architects of their time. Roy Grounds was the sole architect on the Academy building with the rest of the firm brought in during the documentation process. Grounds' architecture embraced modern forms but was also distinctly Australian. He chose to subordinate his designs to the existing landscape and, after 1948, began to experiment with plans based on geometric shapes. These geometric designs secured an immediate following amongst others who wished to place emphasis on structural virtuosity and to simplify architecture. Grounds reflected the surrounding hills of Canberra in the design of the Academy building and explained the building in organic terms. The building was Grounds' first large commission and represented the culmination of years of architectural development. The construction of the dome was a structural solution to a functional problem, creating a shape which provided a pleasant atmosphere for an auditorium. Other consultants involved were engineers WE Bassett and Associates of Melbourne, acoustic specialists Bolt Beranek & Newman of Boston. The planning, design and construction spanned from 1955 through to 1959. The foundation stone was laid by Sir Robert Menzies on 2 May 1958 and the completed building was opened by the Governor General, Field Marshal Sir William Slim, on 5 May 1959. Once constructed, the Academy building quickly became a local icon and was seen as a symbol of a modern Canberra. It won the 1959 Sir John Sulman Award, RAIA NSW Chapter, and the 1961 Canberra Medallion, RAIA ACT Chapter, and is the only ACT building to have won two awards. In early 2000, the building was one of 7 buildings voted by the RAIA, as being the most important twentieth century examples of Australian architecture and will be submitted for inclusion in the Union of International Architect's register of significant world architecture. To finance the building programme, the Academy established a Building Fund, which shortly after the opening of the Academy, had raised over 130,000 pounds, mainly from industry sources. This was well short of the total cost of construction and fitting out of the building, and the Academy struggled for over two years to make any significant inroads into the debt. In 1961, Sir J. Ellerton Becker, chairman and managing director of the Smithfield Pastoral Co. Ltd., made a personal donation of 100,000 pounds to the Building Fund, which liquidated the debt. Becker's company had earlier made a corporate donation of a similar amount to the Academy for general purposes. In recognition of Becker's benefactions, the conference chamber was named Becker Hall on 1962. Later, in 1984, the hall was re-named the Ian Wark Theatre and the whole building called J. Ellerton Becker House. Sir Ian Wark, who died in 1980, was a former Council member of the Academy, its treasurer for five years and a considerable benefactor of the institution. In 1960, Mr (later Sir) Adolph Basser donated 25,000 Australian pounds to the Academy to establish a library for the collection of documents on the history of Australian science. The library was duly established in part of the unused upper floor of the Dome and named the Basser Library in honour of Basser's gift. The Fellows Room in the Academy was later re-named the Jaeger Room to honour another benefactor, former Council member and vice-president of the Academy. Mrs Betty Grounds, the wife of the architect influenced the interior design, giving advice on furniture and fittings including Wedgwood china and glassware. Seating and tables in the central chamber, galleries and other areas were designed by D.F.W. (Fred) Ward. Other furniture designed by Grounds, Romberg & Boyd was made in Melbourne. The development of reinforced concrete in the late nineteenth century allowed the construction of domes with much thinner widths of material and hence with great reductions in weight. Using reinforced concrete, architects and engineers were able to build domes of considerably greater diameter than ever before, and several of these exceed the span of the dome of the Academy of Science. Examples include the two 75.6 metre shell concrete domes of the Market Hall in Leipzig (1928), the 64.9 metre reinforced concrete dome of the Centennial Hall in Wroclaw / Breslau (1912) and the 60-metre shell concrete dome of the Basel Market Hall (1920s). In 2000, the Australian Academy for Science commenced a campaign for funds for renovation of the Academy's Dome, to refurbish the building, provide access for services, upgrade, power and audio visual system, construct new bridges over the moat, renovate the dome, upgrade the theatre and complete landscaping work. Funding was received from numerous members of the Academy, 525,000 dollars from the Council of the Centenary of Federation and a major donation of one million dollars from Professor John Shine. In the 1970s, Shine cloned human growth hormone with colleagues at the University of California. The donation by Shine is part of a legal settlement paid to the inventors from the biotechnology companies who produced the hormone. The Council of the Academy has determined that the building will be renamed the Shine Dome in honour of the donation. |
| Condition and Integrity: |
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The building is structurally sound but with evidence of some cracking in internal walls.
The copper cladding on the roof needs resealing as water is leaking through the joints.
There are leaks in the ceiling and evidence of leaching of salts in the concrete structure, causing concern about possible rusting of the steel reinforcing rods. The ceiling in the Wark Theatre is stained from leaks and needs resurfacing. There are problems with the maintenance of water quality in the moat due to lack of circulation and filtration. The condition of the interior is reasonable. (1998) September 2000 A report by Gutteridge Haskins & Davey, 1999 details the condition of the building. Major works are proposed to refurbish the building, provide access for services, upgrade, power and audio visua system,l construct new bridges over the moat, rennovate the dome, upgrade the theatue and complete landscaping work. |
| Location: |
| Gordon Street, Canberra. |
| Bibliography: |
|
Ramshaw, S.
1997
'Heritage Report: The Australian Academy of Science' Tanner, H (ed). 1981 'Architects of Australia' Macmillan Company of Australia, Melbourne. Garnett, R. and Hyndes, D. 1992 'The Heritage of the Australian Capital Territory' National Trust of Australia (ACT) and others. Australian Academy of Science. 1980 'The First Twenty Five Years' Australian Academy of Science, Canberra. Australian Academy of Science. 1995 'The First Forty Years' Australian Academy of Science, Canberra. Fletcher, B. (revised by R.A.Cordingley) 1963 'A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method', Athlone Press, University of London, London, 17 th edition. Gutteridge Haskins & Davey Pty Ltd 1999. 'The Australian Academy of Science Conservaiton Management Plan and Scope of Works', Volumes 1, 2,3 & 4. |
Report Produced: Tue Feb 9 23:16:03 2010