Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2022L00620:body:0:p6
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2022L00620
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 14237–17375

significance), Criterion F (creative/technical significance) and Criterion H (significant associations).
West Block is of historical significance to Australia for its association with Federation.  The building is a component of the Parliament House Secretariat group, the first premises purpose-built for Australia's democratic government.  The principal component of the group is the Provisional Parliament House itself, as reflected in its siting on the Land Axis, and its visual prominence within the national capital.  West and East blocks were supporting elements.  The primary role of these multi-purpose buildings was office accommodation.  The buildings within the Parliament House Secretariat group were conceived as temporary, pending the construction of a permanent Parliament House, completed in 1988.
The Dugout is of historical significance as the building from which Prime Minister Curtin communicated with Australia's allies during World War II, using a Typex cypher machine.  The building is also significant as a remnant of the World War II defences introduced within the Parliamentary Zone during World War II.
West Block is significant for demonstrating the principal characteristics of the Federal Capital style, an interpretation of interwar Stripped Classicism which is now strongly associated with Canberra's establishment phase.  Internal evidence of the building's original/early character and layout is generally limited.
The buildings that make up the Parliament House Secretariat group are symmetrically positioned within a large-scale landscape (the Parliamentary Triangle, south of King Edward Terrace) that was conceived in the 1920s as the centrepiece of the Federal Capital.  The landscape of the Parliamentary Triangle, although much altered, is of aesthetic significance.  The formality of the planned landscape provides an appropriately distinguished setting for the Provisional Parliament House.  It also contributed to the establishment of Canberra's 'Garden City' identity.
The Parliament House Secretariat group is located at the southern end of the Land Axis (Parliament House Vista), a key symbolic and planning component of Walter Burley Griffin's concept for the National Capital.  The three buildings were designed by the office of J S Murdoch, Chief Architect of the Commonwealth Department of Works and Railways, and were sited to reinforce the formal qualities of the Land Axis.  The landscape treatment was designed and planted by Thomas Weston, with input from Murdoch.  Collectively, the planning and presentation of the Parliament House Secretariat group as a key component of Land Axis is a work of creative (technical) significance.
West Block is significant for its associations with Walter Burley Griffin, J S Murdoch and Charles Weston, each of whom, variously, contributed to the planning, design and setting for the building.

Recommendations
The core recommendations of this HMP are summarised below:
Conservation
Conservation objectives for West Block include:
      * Maintaining the external presentation of West Block as a free-standing structure with a general consistency