Historic plantings and modernist architecture listed on the ACT Heritage Register

Released 21/11/2018

The ACT Heritage Council has registered some innovative plantings on Red Hill by Thomas Charles George Weston and a house designed by Harry Seidler, Council Chair, David Flannery, has announced.

“These registrations reflect the ongoing work of the ACT Heritage Council to identify the important heritage places and objects in the ACT,” Mr Flannery said.

“The Red Hill Historic Plantings are an assortment of colourful flowering plants including Darling Pea, Crimson Bottle Brush, and Rosemary Grevillea, and are one of the earliest known series of plantings in the ACT established for landscape restoration,” Mr Flannery said.

The plantings provide a direct, living connection to the Walter and Marion Mahony Griffin’s vision to ‘paint’ the hills of Canberra, a vision which was expressed over a century ago and was a unique approach to revegetation.

“The house at 11 Northcote Crescent, Deakin, was designed by one of Australia’s leading architects of the modern movement, Harry Seidler, in the early 1950s,” Mr Flannery said.

The house is an excellent example of the so-called ‘Post-War International Style (1940-60)’ of architecture, and was featured in the book 100 Canberra Houses: A Century of Capital Architecture, by Tim Reeves and Alan Roberts.

The design features of this style include cubiform overall shape, large sheets of glass, and the interplay of forms and levels. Seidler considered 11 Northcote Crescent one of his favourite designs.

The Council decided to register the house at 11 Northcote Crescent, Deakin, and the Red Hill Historic Plantings following periods of public consultation. The initial public consultation period for Red Hill Historic Plantings was extended following considerable community interest in the decision.

“The Council acknowledges the efforts of the Red Hill Regeneration Group in submitting the original nomination for the Red Hill Historic Plantings and for the Group’s ongoing work to conserve the heritage values of the place,” Mr Flannery concluded.

For more information on the Heritage Council, visit www.environment.act.gov.au/heritage

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