Submissions

Parks / trees -maintenance | Heritage - Guardian House | AAT 1 - Guardian House | AAT 2 - Guardian House

The Secretary

ACT Heritage Council

PO Box 144

LYNEHAM ACT 2602

Guardian House, Woden Town Centre

Proposed entry to Interim Heritage Register

This is a submission to the ACT Heritage Council in support of the inclusion of Guardian House, formerly the Woden Canteen/Food Service Building, within an interim Heritage Places Register.

Specifically, the Woden Valley Community Council endorses the conservation o the architectural form of Guardian House through the restoration of its interior and exterior and the future incorporation of the building as a feature in the future development of the Woden Town Centre precinct.

This Council has received community feedback in support of the retention and conservation of the building from diverse perspectives including:-

• its intrinsic value as a bold, highly distinctive and enduring element of Woden's built form which dates to the early phases of the construction of Woden Town Centre, the first of the National Capital's 'new towns'

• community appreciation of its cultural heritage significance as for many years, it was a central social hub of the Town Centre

• its innovative architectural features and significance as exemplified by :

- its 'floating roof' and prefab triangulated beams providing a distinctive architectural dynamism to the adjoining mall

- its use of the Aus - 10 50 steel truss system, one of the few buildings in Australia to use this system

- being the 1970 recipient of the Canberra Medallion for Meritorious Architecture - the highest award for architecture in this Territory.

The Council wholeheartedly supports these propositions and considers that it complies with the criteria for the Assessment of the Heritage Significance of Places as specified in Schedule 2 of the Land (Planning and Environment) Act 1991, in particular:-

• as a place demonstrating a high degree of creative technical achievement
• outstanding design qualities which are widely appreciated by the Woden and broader Canberra communities
• a place demonstrated the distinctive government-worker catering arrangements applicable in the 'New Town' context of decades past
• a place of lasting associations and enduring social significance in terms of the on-going community bonds its fostered as a major people hub in the early decades of 'Woden New Town'
• one of the few intact canteens of its type
• a place which had a significant role in serving the early Woden workforce and community
• its potential to assist the architecture education profession in years to come through its significance as a noteworthy example of late 20 th century structuralism.

This Council also stresses that the building's high aesthetic appeal and unusual form and its pedestrian-friendly scale relative to its adjoining higher rise neighbours gives it a powerful and disproportionate significance in setting the ambience and pedestrian scale of its surrounds.

David Menzel

Chair

Woden Valley Community Council Inc

John Kain

Secretary

Woden Valley Community Council Inc