(Docomomo Australia Fiches 2008)
Perhaps more than any other city in Australia, the greater urban area of Melbourne has always been home to small to medium scale manufacturing and processing associated with textiles and clothing, building materials and food processing. We therefore chose a strong representative example of this kind of industrial, modern facility in the Sanitarium site….
However more unique to Australia were the purpose-built towns, often located in remote locations across the country, that were developed as company towns to build communities for populations dedicated to mining and resources development, hydro-power schemes, and defense. It is for this reason that we chose the townsite of Woomera as deserving of documentation. Here, through both purpose-built infrastructure and a heavy reliance on prefabrication, a extraordinary fully-planned settlement for the weapons-testing industry was constructed in the Australian desert.
The NSW selection includes an early example of the use of modern architect in the public realm, the School of Automotive Trades at the Sydney Institute of Technology and also a relatively unknown work of Marcel Breur, part of his series of factory buildings for the Torin corporation. These two buildings are amongst the best examples of modern architecture applied to factory and workshop buildings in the state.
Fiche 1
Current name of the building: FORMER TORIN BUILDING
Town: PENRITH, SYDNEY
Design by: MARCEL BREUER AND HIS PARTNER HERBERT BECKHARD IN ASSOCIATION WITH HARRY SEIDLER & ASSOCIATES.
Date: 1974-76
Type: FACTORY
Editor fiche: Noni Boyd
Fiche Pdf
Fiche 2
Current name of the building: SCHOOL OF MECHANICAL AND AUTOMOTIVE TRADES
Town: SYDNEY
Design by: NSW GOVERNMENT ARCHITECT’S BRANCH
Date: 1937-1940
Type: WORKSHOP
Editor fiche: Noni Boyd
Fiche Pdf
Fiche 3
Current name of the building: EDGEWORTH RESORT AND SPA
AKA Sanitarium Health Food Company Factory
Town: WARBURTON
Design by: EDWARD BILSON
Date: 1936-1938
Type: FACTORY
Editor fiche: Peter Johnson
Fiche Pdf
Fiche 4
Current name of the building: SIGNS PUBLISHING COMPANY
Town: WARBURTON
Design by: EDWARD BILSON
Date: 1935
Type: FACTORY
Editor fiche: Peter Johnson
Fiche Pdf
Fiche 5
Current name of the building: WOOMERA VILLAGE
Town: WOOMERA
Design by: Commonwealth Department of Works and Housing
Date: 1947 –
Type: COMPANY TOWN
Editor fiche: Hannah Lewi
Fiche Pdf