22 April 2014
The University of South Australia will honour its own Anzacs as part of an exciting refurbishment of the more than 100 year old Brookman building at its City East campus.
The project to sensitively renovate the main stairs of the building and the public areas of two floors complements the extensive upgrade of the building’s façade begun in 2010.
And in collaboration with the UniSA alumni association, the project managers have used the opportunity to commemorate the involvement by students and staff from the School of Mines and Adelaide Technical High School in both WWI and WWII.
Transparent panels etched with images of Australian soldiers and including the names of alumni involved in the wars will take pride of place in the building.
UniSA Chancellor Dr Ian Gould says the refurbishment will breathe new life into one of the State’s important historic buildings and at the same time draw attention to the great sacrifice made by many of the young men who once walked the halls of the Brookman Building.
“Brookman building was home to schools where some of the most gifted young people in South Australia came to study,” Chancellor Gould says.
“The Anzac honour boards serve as a reminder of their sacrifice but also of the great loss society endures in the face of war.”
The two honour boards list the names of 310 WWI soldiers from the School of Mines and the WWII boards holds 105 names of soldiers who attended Adelaide Technical High School.
Project manager, Andrea King-Jones says she hopes to find support for a third honour board to complete the historical picture.
She says the outstanding results of the project have in no small part been due to a highly creative partnership that has involved students, industry and local artists and craftspeople.
“The interior refurbishment of the public face of Brookman building was sparked by design students through UniSA’s Match Studio student project,” Andrea King-Jones says.
While not adopted in their entirety, she says the student designs have informed the style of the refurbishment which was carried out by principle consultant, ICE Architects with interior designers Abeo Design and lighting design from In-Light.
“Some of the highlights include individually designed carpet in which words explaining the history of the building – its architects, its construction and design and the leading figures engaged in its development – are woven,” King-Jones says.
“It is designed in charcoal and grey and looks absolutely stunning at the same time as telling the story of the building.
“Another outstanding feature is the inclusion of a suite of beautiful Indigenous artworks from Northern Territory and local South Australian artists including commissioned Audrey Brumby on levels five and six.”
Original oil portraits from the past have been repositioned in a refreshed space on level six next to an original staircase providing an historical nook in the building. Work in the building tower also revealed more of the magnificent stained glass that is a feature of the gracious stairwell spaces in the building.
Freed from old timber work that had obscured them, the windows are now a feature of this historical corner of the building.
Brookman is a flagship building of the University and one of its oldest. Today it is home to SAIBT, teaching local students and many from around the world and the City East Library.
Media contact: Kelly Stone office 8302 0963 mobile 0417 861 832 email Kelly.stone@unisa.edu.au
