Study Context

The Site and the Central National Area
The study area for the review is the Parliamentary Zone as defined in the Parliament Act 1974 and as amended by the Parliamentary Precincts Act 1988. In these acts the Parliamentary Zone is described as:

... the area of land bounded by the lines commencing at a point where Commonwealth Avenue intersects State Circle ... and thence in a northerly direction along Commonwealth Avenue to Lake Burley Griffin ... and thence extending in an easterly direction along the shore of Lake Burley Griffin to a point where Kings Avenue intersects with the said Lake shore ... and thence in a southwesterly direction along Kings Avenue to State Circle ... and thence in a straight line, being an extension of Kings Avenue to its intersection with Capital Circle and thence clockwise around Capital Circle to a point where it intersects with a straight line extending Commonwealth Avenue from the point of commencement ...

Parliamentary Zone as defined by Schedule 3 of the Parliamentary Precincts Act 1988 and as inserted into Parliament Act 1974

To place the work of the review in a meaningful context, it is appropriate to consider where the Zone fits in the plan of the Capital.

The Parliamentary Zone is a key element in the physical plan of Canberra and by virtue of its symbolic importance is at the core of the Central National Area. This area is that which clearly exhibits the special characteristics of the National Capital and embraces the main National Capital uses and national institutions (National Capital Plan, p17).

The Central National Area is described as:

• The Parliamentary Zone and its setting
• Lake Burley Griffin and Foreshores
• The Australian National University
• The Australian Defence Force Academy
• Royal Military College, Duntroon
• Campbell Park and the Canberra Airport
• Royal Australian Air Force Base Fairbairn
• The diplomatic areas at O’Malley and West Deakin

The ‘Parliamentary’ or ‘National’ Triangle is not delineated in any statutory sense, however, it is an identifiable area and one that is important to understanding Griffin’s plan for Canberra. In essence, the three points of Capital Hill, City Hill and the Russell Apex, and the connecting avenues of Commonwealth, Kings and Constitution define the triangle. More broadly, the Triangle encompasses Parliament House, the Parliamentary Zone, Kings and Commonwealth Parks, ANZAC Parade and the Australian War Memorial.

Urban Context
The Canberra plan of Walter Burley Griffin, and the city which has evolved from it over time have a definite geometric centre and considerable embodied symbolism.

From its conception the Griffin plan was centric. It was built up step-by-step, commencing with the natural setting of mountains and the Molonglo River valley. At its centre it focused on a place marked by the coincidence of a massive triangle and an artificial lake. At the apex of the triangle, Griffin placed what he called ‘the Capitol’ - a structure symbolising the Australian people, their values and achievements.

Inside the main triangle, Griffin defined a smaller triangle that bordered the southern edge of the lake and contained the Government Group. Griffin located the Parliament House on Camp Hill (behind Old Parliament House).

Across the lake, the Civic and Market Centres signposted the other two corners of the main triangle. These apexes were connected to the third, the ‘Capitol’, by three avenues, Commonwealth, Kings and Constitution. This last avenue connected the two urban centres and established a base to the triangle, that Griffin called the ‘Municipal Axis’.

Two axes gave the city its cohesion: a Land Axis joining Griffin’s ‘Capitol’ Hill to Mount Ainslie and secondly, an east-west Water Axis, which was more abstract than real, but which provided Griffin with another formal element that joined the city to its natural environment.

Griffin envisaged a city of 25,000; Canberra is now a city of more than 310,000. The Plan of Layout of the City of Canberra and Its Environs was gazetted in 1925 and has been gradually modified and implemented according to the planning values and needs of successive generations. The form of the city we have today is a product of rapid growth in the 1960s and 1970s and the National Capital Development Commission’s management of that growth.

At the core of the city, Griffin’s original plan has been partially realised. Two sides and two points of Griffin’s larger triangle have been developed and the remaining point and base will be physically defined with the completion of the extension of Constitution Avenue to the Russell Apex in 2000. However, the smaller inner triangle, the Parliamentary Zone, remains relatively incomplete.

The Parliamentary Zone has been the subject of numerous master plans and its current fragmented form is the legacy of those studies. The road pattern in the Zone is a hybrid of 1920s formal beaux arts design concepts around Parkes Place and Old Parliament House with 1970s freeway interchanges (at the entries and edges of the Zone). Of the buildings in the Zone, only two, the John Gorton and Treasury buildings, are sited in positions determined by reference to the original Government Group of the Griffin plan. The protracted decision making process [c1920 - 1974] regarding the site for Parliament House itself, brought about the construction of two houses, [opened in 1927 and 1988] neither of which are on Griffin’s nominated site of Camp Hill.

Of the panoply of government departments originally planned for the Zone, only two are located there. The other departments are located across Kings Avenue into the Barton district, around State Circle or out into the town centres of Canberra.

The Parliamentary Zone has, however, retained its potential to be developed as a place of national and popular meaning. The siting of the permanent Parliament House on Capital Hill in place of Griffin’s ‘Capitol’ building, does not affect the potency of the idea for a national people’s place, nor remove the need for it. Similarly the development of the cultural buildings and the High Court of Australia on the lakefront present opportunities for new works that can integrate them and give a greater sense of cohesion to their siting.

1. There are several features from previous plans for the Zone that are worth developing into any future scenario. These include:
2. The Zone being developed as the focus of national consciousness. This was originally embodied in plans for the Capitol and subsequently realised in part in the Australian War Memorial and Parliament House.
3. The Zone, particularly the landscape, being an appropriate ‘vehicle’ for the reconciliation between Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians and for an expression of the ethnic diversity of the national community.
4. The opportunity for a central plaza or gathering place that embodies the idea of national unity and represents ordinary people and their stories.
5. The nexus between formal, geometric design and the landscape being developed to create meaningful, useful spaces. This was a hallmark of the Griffin work.

The need to balance the cultural and political institutions in the Zone so that it is not merely Parliament’s front garden, but a garden that is of interest to every citizen.

Heritage Context
A number of Parliamentary Zone sites and buildings appear on the Register of the National Estate, or on the Register of the National Estate Database, both maintained by the Australian Heritage Commission. Inclusion on the Register itself has legal status under the Australian Heritage Commission Act 1975. The Parliament House Vista which is listed on the Register has the Parliamentary Zone and Old Parliment House at it’s centre.

The Central National Area has a strong sense of symmetry based on the Land Axis. The Parliament House, Old Parliament House and the Australian War Memorial are located on the axis. In addition, the landscape features of Federation Mall, Parkes Place and Anzac Parade are also located on the axis. Other major features in the area are generally balanced about the axis. These include: East and West Blocks, the gardens of Old Parliament House, the Portal Buildings, the eastern and western parts of the National Rose Gardens, the John Gorton and Treasury buildings, the National Gallery of Australia/High Court of Australia group and the National Library of Australia/National Science and Technology Centre group, as well as the Carillon and Captain Cook Memorial water jet. The road system also generally reflects the symmetrical planning about the Land Axis.

The national triangle and the Land Axis extending along Anzac Parade form one of the notable twentieth century urban axes in the world and have a scale and proportion that convey a sense of the ‘majestic’ which is only fitting for a national capital.

Other sites of heritage significance in the Parliament House Vista include Old Parliament House and its Curtilage, the National Rose Gardens, the King George V Memorial, the Commencement Column Monument, the Capital Circle Geological Unconformity, East and West Blocks, the John Gorton [Administration] Building, the National Library of Australia and surrounds and the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. The Australian National Gallery Sculpture Gardens and Parliament House are listed as ‘Indicative’.

Environmental Context
Prior to the development of Canberra, the landform of the Parliamentary Zone consisted of several small rounded knolls, rising above the flood plain of the Molonglo River to Capital Hill. The first knoll, Cork Hill, was located between the lake edge and King Edward Terrace. The second, Camp Hill, is located behind the Old Parliament House and was Griffin’s proposed location for the permanent Parliament House. When Lake Burley Griffin was constructed in the 1960s, two terraces adjacent and parallel to the lake edge were created. At this time Cork Hill was removed and a large level area was formed on the Land Axis between the foreshore terraces and King Edward Terrace. This area is now used as a venue for many national and regional events. Camp Hill was regraded when Federation Mall and the associated road works for Parliament House were constructed.

The Parliamentary Zone now rises a total height of 61 metres (from the top of the lake edge wall at RL556 metres, to ground level at the base of the Parliament House flagpole at RL617 metres). On the Land Axis back from the lakeshore, a steep embankment rises approximately 8 metres to form a grassed terrace at RL564 metres. The land then rises gently up the Land Axis to the base of the steps at the entrance to Old Parliament House. Behind Old Parliament House, Federation Mall rises evenly to the forecourt of New Parliament House at RL591 metres. The original form of Capital Hill is expressed in the architecture of Parliament House. From the centre line of the land axis, the land gently falls away towards Kings and Commonwealth Avenues.

The gentle falling slope of the Land Axis from Old Parliament House to the top of the lake shore terraces reflects the catenary curve of ANZAC Parade, which rises up from the northern shore of the lake towards the Australian War Memorial.

The landform of the Zone provides good views over Lake Burley Griffin from several key areas. From the steps of Old Parliament House, there are views over most of the Central Basin and from the open areas of the Land Axis, particularly the terraces, there are quite expansive water views.

Soils within the Parliamentary Zone are generally poor and underlain with sedimentary rock which is invariably less than 1.0m from the surface, particularly in the area between King Edward Terrace and Lake Burley Griffin where Cork Hill was removed. Extensive site preparation of ripping, excavation and supplementary topsoil placement is generally necessary to provide adequate growing conditions for trees.

Canberra’s climate is a cool temperate: mean annual rainfall is approximately 635mm and is usually evenly distributed throughout the year with an average daily temperature range of 20 to 7.1 degrees Celsius. However, occasional conditions of extreme heat and dryness in summer, and extended periods of severe frosts in winter, have a significant effect on plant growth and survival. Prevailing winds are from the north west and are adverse in winter, particularly when combined with low temperatures.

Whilst the foreshore is very exposed to winds, tree cover throughout the remainder of the Zone offers some shelter. In summer the lake increases the humidity of the immediate environment and has a cooling effect, particularly when wind blows across it towards the site. Before Canberra became the National Capital the area was cleared of the native woodland for grazing stock. Today the landscape of the Parliamentary Zone is a mixture of exotic and native species that represent several historical layers related to the site’s development. The basic structure of the landscape reflects the Griffin geometrical design and road plan. Landscape development in the Zone relates to three character periods. The earliest stage of landscape development came with the opening of Provisional Parliament House in 1927. This initial layer of landscape is exotic in character and uses evergreen coniferous trees for structure and deciduous trees for accent. No doubt the selection of these species was a response to the need for shade and shelter in an area exposed to the strong north-westerly winds. The layout was formal with richly detailed garden areas. The basic structure of this landscape remains but has been progressively degraded with each change to the road layout and inconsistent maintenance over time. The exotic species of the original landscape are now reaching maturity and require a high level of maintenance. A variety of styles emerged in the three post war decades with the construction of Lake Burley Griffin and the National Library of Australia and improvements to Kings and Commonwealth Avenues. This landscape consisted of eucalypts and casuarinas along the land axis, scattered eucalypts throughout the large surface car parks, the introduction of English Elms along Commonwealth and Kings Avenues, and deciduous trees around the National Library of Australia, along King Edward Terrace and along the Lake foreshore in front of the National Library of Australia. The hybrid nature of this planting did not extend the formal and exotic landscape character established in the earlier period.

The 1980s period signified a change in the character of planting. The altered approach comprised informal native planting associated with the construction of the High Court of Australia, the National Gallery of Australia and Parliament House. The informal planting of Australian species was a significant departure from the largely formal character of the earlier landscape. The native planting created secluded outdoor places for the enjoyment of visitors and the informal parkland character reflected the changing values of a society with an appreciation of the Australian landscape.