Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2021L01868:reg:6:p11
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2021L01868
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 6 (pt 11/86)
Character Range: 38747–41808

smaller meeting rooms, offices and other service areas which are placed on the lower ground, main and upper floors.

  There are two enclosed courtyards, located between the North Wing of the building and the South Wing. Dining Rooms are features of the South Wing. A vestige of the Library courtyard also survives as a link between the larger courtyards.

  The original flat concrete and membrane roofs have been covered with low-pitched metal roofs.

  Old Parliament House has undergone many changes over its life (see plans in Appendix D). There have been major additions to the building on both sides, front and back (the south-east, south-west, north-east and north-west wings), which contain many offices and meeting rooms. These have generally maintained the construction, external finish, height and rhythm of the façade but have changed the mass of the building.

  These extensions house the Prime Minister's Suite and President of the Senate's Suite. Other changes include the enclosure of verandahs and balconies. There have also been changes to, and loss of, original finishes in many rooms, though not the major spaces.

  Major interior spaces of architectural interest include: King's Hall, Library, Senate Chamber, House of Representatives Chamber, Members' Dining Rooms and Bar, Senate Opposition Party Room, Speaker's Suite, Clerk of the Senate's Office, Leader of the Government in the Senate's Suite, Prime Minister's Office, Cabinet Room, and the President of the Senate's Suite. The interiors feature impressive Tasmanian blackwood finishes.

  The contents of Old Parliament House include furniture, signs, light fittings, carpets, office furnishings and equipment. Many of these items have been retained in their original locations. Significant among the collection are items presented to Provisional Parliament House to mark the opening of the building in 1927 and the large collection of original furniture and fittings specifically designed for the building and installed that year. Subsequent additions to the original collection document important stages in the adaptation of the building to meet the ever-increasing demand to accommodate more members and their staff. This process continued until the relocation of the Australian Parliament to the new Parliament House, where new specially commissioned furniture and fittings were provided.

  The collection of contents in Old Parliament House also includes fittings and fabric which have become disassociated from their original location or function.

  Old Parliament House is an example of the Inter-War Stripped Classical style of architecture. Key features of the style displayed by the building include a symmetrical façade, division into vertical bays indicating classical origins, vestigial classical entablature, simple surfaces, and spandrels between storeys that have been subdued to emphasise verticality. Some of the 1927 interior furnishings include timber wall panelling, division clocks, feature carpets in the Chambers and feature rubber and parquetry flooring