Historical Master Plans

The following sequence of master plans summarises the planning and design history of the Parliamentary Zone. The first of these plans is the Griffin Plan of 1918 which was the basis of the final plan which was given legal standing through gazettal in 1925. The last is the 1986 Parliamentary Zone Development Plan prepared by the National Capital Development Commission (NCDC) .

All the plans are presented as they were drawn.

The 1918 Griffin Plan as codified in the 1925 Gazetted Plan for Canberra

Department of the Interior proposal, 1954

Plan prepared by Lord Holford
(commissioned by the NCDC to
review the Development of Canberra)
“Diagram to Illustrate Observations on
the Future Direction of Canberra”, December 1957

The 1958 NCDC response
to Lord Holford’s plan adopting
his proposal for a lakeside
Parliament House

Lord Holford’s plan of
December 1963 showing
the National Gallery of Australia
on Camp Hill, the National Library
of Australia masterplan and the
incursion of expressway roads
and interchanges into the
Parliamentary Zone

Canberra, the Central Area,
NCDC February 1965

Comparative Study of Camp Hill
and Capital Hill for the siting
of Parliament House, NCDC 1969

Parliamentary Zone Planning Design Study, NCDC, 1971. The High Court of Australia and National Gallery of Australia are linked to the National Library of Australia with a major footpath. Note: Parkes Place is rebuilt as a grand-scale square and Parliament House is on Camp Hill

Parliamentary Zone Planning and Design Study, NCDC 1980. Note: Parliament House is on Capital Hill and the overall scheme echoes the 1918 Griffin model.

Parliamentary Zone Development Plan, NCDC 1986. The plan was based on styling the Land Axis on the Washington Mall. It identified a site for a new National Archives of Australia building north of the National Science and Technology Centre.