Organisational Framework

The Walter Burley Griffin plan for Canberra was structured on two organising lines – the Land Axis and the Water Axis - and on the great triangle, aligned on the mountains, which created the basic circulation system connecting the government centre south of the lake to two urban centres north of the lake.Griffin’s plan for Canberra symbolised democracy and was designed to reflect the values of an emerging nation.

The Parliamentary Zone is at the centre of this composition and idea.

The Land Axis runs through the centre of the Zone from Capital Hill to Mount Ainslie. The Water Axis runs across the northern edge of the lakeshore bisecting the Land Axis at right angles. To the west and east the edges are defined by Commonwealth and Kings Avenues.

Within the Parliamentary Zone, Griffin proposed a series of terraces running at right angles to the Land Axis and parallel to the Water Axis. Griffin named this area the Government Group and aligned the functions of the judiciary, legislature and executive (and the associated bureaucracy) along these terraces. The Land Axis was the principal organising element for all these buildings and terraces.

Today the Land Axis is a grand 100 metres wide open landscape space and the Water Axis defines the central basin of Lake Burley Griffin. Both axes continue to connect the centre of Commonwealth Government to the city of Canberra.

Whilst the axes remain as powerful an organising structure as Griffin envisaged, the concept of the lateral terrace development is only evident through the tiered composition of the lake edge, Old Parliament House and Parliament House.

Griffin’s powerful organisational idea of axis and crossing may have been dormant for years, but still exists in outline and warrants further development. The dominant Land Axis with its complementary lateral spaces is part of the history of the Zone and can accommodate future prospects. The loose framework within which the existing buildings sit has ample capacity for the development of new buildings and landscape spaces.

To strengthen Griffin’s spatial intent and to provide an organisational framework for future building and landscape development, it is proposed that within the Parliamentary Zone:

• The Land Axis remain the principal organising element.
• All future development is aligned at right angles to the Land Axis or Water Axis - including that adjacent to Commonwealth and Kings Avenues.
• The existing lateral geometry be made more prominent.
• Existing buildings be the anchors for future building development of a like or similar function.
• Commonwealth and Kings Avenues be restored as tree lined spaces.
• The intersection of the axes be marked on the lakeshore by a generous place for public representation.

This organisational framework reflects important fundamentals of the original Griffin design and will highlight the relationship between functions, building and landscape.

The framework is also receptive to many of the initiatives that have arisen from the review. These initiatives are described in more detail later and include the development of campuses. For example, a major lateral space crosses the Land Axis between the Treasury and John Gorton Buildings, and another links the National Library of Australia and the National Gallery of Australia. Over time, it is intended that each of these significant buildings will become the centre of new campuses of buildings that will be grouped around the central, iconic building. Such an approach will reinforce the place of the people and create meaningful functional relationships and landscape experiences.