OLD PARLIAMENT HOUSE AND CURTILAGE HERITAGE MANAGEMENT PLAN 2008–2013

D. History of the Place
Part D – Appendices
296 Old Parliament House and Curtilage Heritage Management Plan 2008–2013
in the new building. What could not be met from existing resources was then specifically designed to fulfil each
function. To what extent furniture offers from other possible sources were canvassed remains unclear. The
only recorded acquisition for Provisional Parliament House, other than the two international gifts of ceremonial
furniture (the Speaker’s Chair in the House of Representatives and the President’s Chair in the Senate) was the
Admiral’s table. The then Speaker, Sir Littleton Groom, accepted the offer of a mess table from the Admiral’s
suite from the HMAS Australia, a battlecruiser which had been scuttled off Sydney Heads in 1924 81 .
The furniture designed for Provisional Parliament House is simple and utilitarian. Designs have no political
boundaries yet each item conforms to a hierarchical system, based on the significance of the space it was to
occupy and its functional requirements. Within each category of item, be it desk, chair, table or sideboard,
uniformity of design created a consistent ‘Parliamentary’ style. It is generally devoid of any decorative motif or
applied ornamentation, apart from the occasional square or roundel. The only exception to this is the design detail
found on the glazing bars of bookcases and sideboards, which is adapted from the detail of the iron balustrading
on the exterior of the building.
Each item of new furniture was detailed in a working drawing, which was then traced and reproduced as a
blueprint. At the final stage, the drawing was examined and checked within the office of the Architects
Department of the Federal Capital Commission. Detailed specifications for the manufacture of each category of
items were then prepared for quotation. For example, the contract requirement for Drawing No Fb 148, a Small
Chair for the Dining Block called for the chair to be ‘to design and details shown and of timber specified
in the schedule [maple]’. 82
Prime Ministers Office
Source: Auspic
81 Memorandum, Secretary, Federal Capital Commission to the Right Honourable Minister for Home and Territories, 15 February, 1926, CRS A6270 (A670/1), item E2/26/587
82 Specification of Furniture for Dining Block, Federal Parliament House, Canberra. Contract No 2, Section C. CRS A292/1, item C2202 Part 1.83 Schedule of Furniture for Dining Room Block, quotation submitted by Grace Bros, 18 September 1926.
CRS A292/1 item C2202 Pt 1.