Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L00408:front:0:p413
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L00408
Segment Type: other
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Character Range: 1317528–1320268

front of Parliament House - Parkes Place, to commemorate Sir Henry Parkes. King Edward, King George and Queen Victoria Terraces, and Langton and Walpole Crescents were named for links to the first 50 years of Federation (Gray 1995).

The Gardens designed and constructed as part of the Old Parliament House Complex was conceived by the Federal Capital Advisory Committee in the early 1920s and constructed by the Federal Capital Commission from the mid 1920s in time for the opening of Parliament in May 1927. Formal enclosed gardens were the style of the time and James Orwin of the Sydney office of the Director of Works for NSW prepared sketch plans that were finalised by Murdoch. Most of the trees for the Parliamentary gardens were planted by late 1925. Around the same time road patterns for the Parliamentary area following Griffin's concepts were prepared.

Formal rose gardens in front of the House were first proposed by Weston in 1924. The idea was finally realised when the National Rose Gardens were established in 1933 by the Canberra Horticultural Society in association with the Department of the Interior. The design was developed by A. Bruce based on the plan of petals of an open bloom with colours arranged from deep red in the central area progressing through yellow, white pink and coppery shades. Rose gardens were also commenced around the same time in the Senate and House of Representatives Gardens. By 1938, these gardens were established with formal garden beds and recreation courts, and surrounded by young cypresses which were later clipped into hedges (Patrick and Wallace).

Following the opening of the Provisional Parliament House by the Duke of York on 9 May 1927, the area in front of the House was used for official ceremonies for Anzac and Remembrance Days with a temporary cenotaph, until the opening of the Australian War Memorial in 1941. Initially this area had simple landscaping treatment of lawns. Rose gardens were added in the 1950s, and the car parking area in the forecourt added in the 1960s.

Weston and Murdoch were both given British Empire Awards in 1927 for their contribution to the nation.

In 1946 a major tree thinning of the Parliamentary Zone was initiated by Lindsay Pryor, Superintendent, Parks and Gardens. All the golden cypresses, white poplars, pin oaks and Lawson's cypress on King George Terrace were removed (Gray 1995).

In order to accommodate other government departments, a competition was held in 1924 for the design of the Administrative building, flanking the land axis in Parkes, which was to house about eight departments. The building was to be the first in the Parliamentary Triangle and its design was considered important because it would influence future