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3).
While the two buildings were not mirror images in plan – possibly relating to their original uses, which were quite distinct (see discussion of West Block's original occupants at Section 2.5) – both East Block and West Block are arranged on a north-south axis with main entrances on the east-west axis, perpendicular to the Land Axis, from which they are equidistant (Figure 10).  The arrangement of blocks of varying sizes on an axial alignment provided for a degree of flexibility, enabling change and alterations without abstracting the formal presentation and architectural character of the building complexes.
Figure 9 View of West Block from the north-west, 1929: note the corner balconies and verandahs
Source: National Archives of Australia, NAA A3560, 5426
Figure 10 View looking south from Mount Ainslie, 1927: the area now known as Anzac Parade is in the centre-ground, with East and West blocks to either side of the Provisional Parliament House
Source: National Archives of Australia, NAA A3560, 908

2.4.2               John Smith Murdoch (1862-1945)
The majority of buildings for Canberra's establishment phase (1920s) were designed by Public Works Department (PWD) staff based in Melbourne and Melbourne-based architectural practices.  Among them, the principal voice was John Smith Murdoch, a Scottish architect who migrated to Victoria in 1885.  Murdoch joined the Commonwealth Department of Home Affairs in 1904, as a senior clerk in the Public Works Branch.  Ten years later he was promoted to the title of Commonwealth Architect, and in 1919 he became Chief Architect of the Commonwealth Department of Works and Railways.[38]
Murdoch and his department were prolific during the early decades of the twentieth century, designing Commonwealth facilities across the country in a variety of styles.  Murdoch's design for the Commonwealth Offices in Treasury Place, Melbourne – the first purpose-built premises of the Commonwealth Treasury and Cabinet departments – was inspired by the Edwardian Baroque.  Murdoch, as the senior Commonwealth architect, was also closely involved in planning for the federal capital.
His work in Canberra adopted a quite distinct idiom, a synthesis of revivalist and overseas styles including neo-Georgian, Colonial Revival, Spanish Mission and the Prairie Style.  This synthesis has come to be known as the Federal Capital style.
Works attributed to Murdoch in Canberra, aside from the provisional Parliament House and the two Secretariat buildings, include: the Canberra and Kurrajong hotels (1924 and 1926 respectively), to accommodate public servants required to relocate to the Canberra; the Kingston Power House (1916); and the first buildings at the Mount Stromlo Observatory.  The residential suburbs of Reid, Ainslie, Forrest and Barton also evolved from the same cycle of construction.[39]

2.4.3               Landscaped setting
The original landscaping treatments to the west, north and north-east of West Block were among the