Australia's first Federal Parliament building was designed as the grandest element and central focus of a fully planned capital city. Old Parliament House is a place of outstanding heritage values related to its history, design, landscape context, interiors, furnishings, courtyards and gardens, collection of movable items, social values and associations.
As the original focus of the Commonwealth Parliament and Government in Canberra, Old Parliament House is intimately associated with the political history of Australia, and the development of Canberra as the capital of Australia, from its opening in 1927 until the opening of the new Parliament House in 1988. The Old Parliament House was the second home of the Parliament which was located in the Victorian Parliament House in Melbourne from Federation in 1901 until 1927, and was the first purpose-built home for the Australian Parliament.
Old Parliament House was the venue for and witnessed both the course and pattern of the nation's political, social and historical development through the major part of the life of the Commonwealth to date. The movable items associated with the building are also intimately associated with these events. Apart from serving as the seat of Commonwealth Parliament, the building bears witness to the physical encroachment of the executive arm of government into the legislature's proper sphere. This was the primary cause for the extensive additions and modifications that had to be made to the building. These additions and modifications are manifested in such elements as the southeast and southwest wings, the northeast and northwest front pavilions, and a great number of internal changes.
The relocation of the Parliament to Canberra was the focus of an intense period of development of the nation's capital. The opening of Parliament heralded the symbolic birth of Canberra as the capital. The intended importance of Old Parliament House is reflected in its design, its prominent siting in the landscape of the Parliamentary Triangle, and in the treatment of the areas around Old Parliament House, particularly the Senate and House of Representatives Gardens, and the National Rose Gardens. (Criterion A4)
Among parliamentary buildings in Australia and in other parts of the western world, Old Parliament House is an uncommon place in that it eventually housed both the legislative and executive functions of government.
Research carried out to date suggests that the furniture in Old Parliament House is part of a rare, intact surviving record comprising both furniture and documentation. The documentation (held by others) relates to initial design concepts, specifications, quotes and detailed drawings for manufacture of items. (Criterion B2)
Old Parliament House is a good example of the Inter-War Stripped Classical style of architecture. The building reflects the embracing of classical symmetry and forms without the adoption of the full classical vocabulary and in this way it expresses a modest but refined architectural style. Key features of the style displayed by the building include: symmetrical facade, division into vertical bays indicating classical origins, vestigial classical entablature (being the horizontal decoration towards the top of the walls including the cornice), simple surfaces and spandrels (the panel between the top of a window on a lower level and the bottom of a window on a higher level) between storeys subdued to emphasise verticality.
The essential character and symmetry of Old Parliament House have remained intact despite several substantial additions. The design of the building and its spaces, and the movable items associated with its operations demonstrate the customs and functions of the Commonwealth Parliament. The divisions within Parliament and the hierarchical system of government are reflected in the categories and styles of both the rooms and furniture available to individuals of different status. (Criterion D2)
Within the building are rooms with significant intact interior features dating from the early period. These are King's Hall, the Library, Senate Chamber, House of Representatives Chamber, Dining Rooms, Senate Opposition Party Room, Ministerial Party Room, Clerk of the Senate's Office, Member's Bar, Government Party Room and Leader of the Government in the Senate's Office.
The building is also of interest for surviving features consistent with, if not influenced by, Garden City ideals. These include the courtyards with loggias and pergolas, and verandahs, a principal feature of the garden city ideal to link internal spaces with the landscape setting. They also include adjacent Senate and House of Representatives gardens that contain formal plantings and an array of recreation facilities, enclosed by high cypress hedges and flanked by fine stands of Maiden's gums. (Criterion F1)
The Old Parliament House is an important landmark in Canberra, Australia's national capital. It is part of the significant cultural landscape of the Parliamentary Triangle, partly reflecting Griffin's design which placed the Government Group of buildings in this corner of the Triangle. This scheme represents in physical form on the ground the conception of the principal components of parliamentary government - the legislative, executive and judicial - the strict separation of these components and the hierarchical relationship between them. Old Parliament House is highly significant as an integral part of this scheme and, standing near the apex of the Triangle, symbolises the primacy of parliament or the legislature over the other two components.
The building also occupies a prominent and strategic location at the southern end of the main Land Axis of Griffin's city design, and contributes to the planned aesthetic qualities of the Parliamentary Triangle. The axis is arguably the pivotal feature of the design. The Old Parliament House is one of four buildings sited on the axis. The other buildings being the Australian War Memorial, Anzac Hall and the current Parliament House. Accordingly, the Old Parliament House makes a major contribution as a viewpoint towards the Australian War Memorial which, together with the reverse view, are some of the most important views in the planned city. Its landmark status was recognised and enhanced by the design and siting of New Parliament House which integrated the building as part of the terminal feature of the North South vista along the Land Axis.
The success of the building in fulfilling this landmark role is due in part to its stark white colour and symmetry, its privileged siting on the Land Axis and the open landscaping between the building and the lake. The role of the Old Parliament House as a national icon is reinforced by its central location in the nation's capital.
Old Parliament House also represents a significant creative achievement. Intended as a provisional structure but occupying such a prominent location, it was deliberately designed as a plain yet dignified structure so that it possessed appropriate aesthetic and formal qualities for its location, but not to such an extent that it would enhance the possibility of the building becoming a permanent fixture in the landscape.
(Criteria E1 and F1)
Old Parliament House has been a strong symbol of Commonwealth Government in Australia, and of Canberra itself, for many generations of Australians. While its original function has shifted to the current Parliament House, the earlier building remains an important and familiar feature because of the memories of its former role, its new roles in the public realm, and its major contribution to the most familiar views in Canberra, from and to the building along the Land Axis. Elements of the building that particularly reflect this value are the front facade, the entrance portico, King's Hall and the Chambers. The facade of the building is significant as a widely recognised symbol of Commonwealth Parliament and Government from 1927 to 1988. The facade is also important as the backdrop for media interviews, protests and other events associated with the Parliament and Government. These events include the establishment of an Aboriginal Embassy in nearby Parkes Place in January 1972 and the address by Prime Minister Whitlam on the front steps of the building after his sacking by the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, in November 1975. (Criterion G1)
As the home of the Commonwealth Parliament from 1927 until 1988, Old Parliament House is significant for its associations with Commonwealth Governments, Oppositions, political parties, individual politicians and the press. Specific rooms and spaces within the building are directly associated with events that shaped the political and private lives of prominent individuals in Australia's political and social history. Many of the surviving parliamentarians, support staff and media representatives feel strong associations with the building and its contents.
Old Parliament House is also significant as the most prominent example of the work of the Commonwealth's first government architect, John Smith Murdoch. To a lesser extent, it is significant as an example of the work of the Chief Architect of the Department of the Interior, Edwin Henderson, who devised the scheme for adding the southeast and southwest wings in their original two-storey form. (Criterion H1)
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