The Functional Brief required a building which would last a minimum of two hundred years with all materials to be Australian in origin, wherever possible. Among over 4500 rooms, the Brief specifically included the House and Senate Chambers, office suites for Members and Senators, accommodation for the Executive Government, and functional support spaces for the Parliamentary Departments. All were to be designed to permit large numbers of visitors to witness the workings of Australian democracy without compromising the building’s security.
The siting of the building on Capital Hill at the apex of Griffin’s 1912 Plan for Canberra’s centre and the Parliamentary Triangle inherently required close consideration of the surrounding landscape and urban environment within the design process. The building’s exterior form follows the natural profile of th Hill and its curved walls reach to encompass the radial avenues established by th Griffin Plan as the primary axes of the city, as well as defining secure, open internal courtyards containing a more formal Australian landscape. The architecture’s resulting general character conveys the sense of a balanced, horizontal "nestling" of built forms within a natural setting.
Commissioned works of art and craft from Australian artists working in close collaboration with the Architect intentionally create a subtle symbolic sequence of content and meaning throughout the public and Parliamentary areas of the building. This sequence, which quietly "layers" references to the history of Aboriginal and European occupation, cultural diversity, development, and aspirations of the national within the building’s spaces, is an essential and inseparable element of the Parliament’s design and its capacity to "speak" with conviction to its occupants and visitors.
ASSESSMENT:
Joint House Department
Having overseen the new building’s operations for the past nine years, I can report that national and international visitor numbers have been three times those projected at the time of its opening, demonstrating the ongoing keen interest shown by the public in this national contemporary heritage “working” building as an expression of Australian culture. Despite the huge scale of its 4500 rooms, the building has been capable of responding to massive technological and functional change required by the Parliament since its completion. Its design has also been conducive to considerable ongoing improvements towards energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.