Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2021L01869:reg:2016:p3
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2021L01869
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 2016 (pt 3/11)
Character Range: 531800–534673

What could not be met from existing resources was then specifically designed to fulfil each function. To what extent furniture offers from other possible sources were canvassed remains unclear. The only recorded acquisition for Provisional Parliament House, other than the two international gifts of ceremonial furniture (the Speaker's Chair in the House of Representatives and the President's Chair in the Senate) was the admiral's table. The then Speaker, Sir Littleton Groom, accepted the offer of a mess table from the admiral's suite from HMAS Australia, a battle cruiser which had been scuttled off Sydney Heads in 1924.88

  The furniture designed for Provisional Parliament House is simple and utilitarian. Designs have no political boundaries yet each item conforms to a hierarchical system, based on the significance of the space it was to occupy and its functional requirements. Within each category of item, be it desk, chair, table or sideboard,

    85      JS Murdoch to WA Gale, Empire Parliamentary Association, 5 August 1925, A292/1,2737C, NAA.
    86      General correspondence CRS 6270/1 item E2/28/1152.
    87      Memorandum, JS Murdoch to the Secretary, Federal Capital Commission, 26 September 1927 CRS A6270 (A670/1), item E2/26/587.
    88      Memorandum, Secretary, Federal Capital Commission to the Right Honourable Minister for Home and Territories, 15 February, 1926, CRS A6270 (A670/1), item E2/26/587.
  uniformity of design created a consistent 'Parliamentary' style. It is generally devoid of any decorative motif or applied ornamentation, apart from the occasional square or roundel. The only exception to this is the design detail found on the glazing bars of bookcases and sideboards, which is adapted from the detail of the iron balustrading on the exterior of the building.

  Each item of new furniture was detailed in a working drawing, which was then traced and reproduced as a blueprint. At the final stage, the drawing was examined and checked within the office of the Architects Department of the Federal Capital Commission. Detailed specifications for the manufacture of each category of items were then prepared for quotation. For example, the contract requirement for Drawing No. Fb 148, a Small Chair for the Dining Block called for the chair to be 'to design and details shown and of timber specified in the schedule [maple]'.89

  Requirements for dining room chair

Quote from Grace Bros Ltd
58 small chairs cedar, waxed, hide 11/-/- Total £638.0.0
Dining Room Chair

Chair to be of timber specified in schedule. Front legs to be 2 x 2" cut and tapered to detail with brass foot caps fitted flush on faces and screwed underside. Back legs 1-3/4" 1-1/4" shaped and tapered to detail.
Rails to be 3-1/4" x 1-1/4" rebated at bottom, shaped as shown, and tenoned into legs and screw blocked. Back to be hollow with rails