The federal government’s own heritage body has weighed in on the controversial redevelopment plans for the Australian War Memorial, arguing that potential alternatives to the expansion have not been adequately considered and that the project would have “a serious impact” on the memorial’s heritage values.
The Australian Heritage Council made a submission on the proposal as part of the latest round of consultations under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.
Chair of the council and former Liberal minister David Kemp said in the submission that operational and functional changes should be considered as an alternative to adding more space.
“These include different and technological methods of interpretation and museum display, as well as opportunities to introduce a more sustainable visitation strategy,” he said.
“Both are important aspects of a comprehensive heritage management programme and should be considered as key approaches to improving capacity.
“Physical expansion to support the display of large objects such as submarines and aircraft is not a sustainable intent over the long term and, in the current circumstances, cannot be achieved without significantly impacting listed heritage values.”
The submission calls for a reconsideration of the plans to avoid the impact on heritage, questioning the need to demolish the existing Anzac Hall, designed by Denton Corker Marshall, as well as the expansion of the C.E.W. Bean building.
“Regrettably the council cannot support the conclusion that the proposed redevelopment will not have a serious impact on the listed heritage values of the site and recommends that the matters above be given serious attention,” Kemp states.
Costing $500 million, the plan to expand the war memorial has attracted widespread criticism since it was first proposed. The Australian Institute of Architects released an open letter signed by a number of Gold Medallists slamming the proposal and launched a campaign to fight it, while a separate open letter signed by 83 distinguished Australians said the project would represent an “excessive veneration of the Anzac story.”
The project would consist of a new southern entrance designed by Scott Carver, a new Anzac Hall and glazed link designed by Cox Architecture, as well as the extension to the Bean building.
Much of the criticism has focused on the proposed demolition of Anzac Hall, which received the 2005 Sir Zelman Cowan Award for Public Architecture as well as the 2005 Canberra Medallion.
The heritage impact statement prepared for the memorial by Hector Abrahams Architects concedes that the demolition of the existing hall will represent a “significant loss of value” and have a “substantial negative impact on the heritage significance of the place.”
However, “since the perhaps superior values of historical processes are conserved, this is reasonable.”
Hector Abrahams found that the proposal as a whole is acceptable in heritage terms.
Source: Architecture - architectureau
