THE ARCHITECTURE OF STEPHENSON & TURNER
For Health & Prosperity
Birth of a Practice
A Revolution for Health
Simplicity & Scale
Promise & Prosperity
On the World Stage
Australian Colossus
A Spirit of Progress
The Getting of Wisdom
Keith Murdoch Gallery
Friday 12 March -
Sunday 6 June 2004
Exhibition details
Book details
PROMISE AND PROSPERITY
'Australia is in need of young men with ideas and energy', Sir William McBeath, the Chairman of the State Savings Bank of Victoria, told Arthur Stephenson when they met by chance in London. McBeath is reputed to have convinced Stephenson to return to Australia by his exhortation and a promise of patronage.
Stephenson teamed up with fellow Australian returnee Percy Meldrum, and the pair made their offices in 'Collins Court', Little Collins Street, Melbourne.
The nascent partnership flourished especially with the securing of a string of high-profile contracts for prestigious 'blue chip' clients. For instance, banker Sir William McBeath was true to his promise, and between 1922 and 1929 Stephenson & Meldrum were commissioned to design and document 14 State Savings Bank branches as well as extensions to the Head Office in 1934.
Other early commissions included a new Members' Stand for the Melbourne Cricket Club at the MCG (1925-27) with its hallowed 'Long Room' - demolished in early 2004, and alterations and additions to the Melbourne Town Hall (1925, in association with A. R. Henderson). These early designs contrast significantly with the later, revolutionary design direction the firm would take in the 1930s.
Research travel and the importation of modernist design principles played an equally important role in shaping the firm's non-hospital work, informing the Melbourne E S & A Bank (1938-40) and the Sydney headquarters of ACI (1939-41) among other buildings.
