The Modern complex for St Columba (now Trinity College) consists a dining hall, and an administration block, a library and a chapel. These blocks that include four virtually independent buildings are arranged around a central courtyard and linked by open stairs and bridges and covered walkways. Geoffrey London commented on Howlett’s architectural approach that demonstrated an ongoing commitment for experimentation. Howlett’s drive for speculating new types of housing and commercial spaces is notable, while he engaged in an inventive use of everyday materials.[1]

 An example of this approach can be seen in the innovative use of the textured concrete blockwork. Where custom made split faced concrete blockwork that contained vertical ribbing, are laid in stacked bond to emphasis the verticality of the ribs to emit a continuous shadow effect, in turn became a new industry standard of the era.

 This complex for the St Columba church of UWA is an important project as it sets a new standard of block laying techniques to which similar blocks were mass produced soon after. Furthermore, while the concrete blockwork is innovative on its own accord, the entire third level of the buildings in this complex is hidden behind a mansard roof, clad in terracotta tiling. At first glance the buildings portray a rather over-scaled presence with a top-heavy, yet conventional mansard roof. However what is revealed upon further inspection is that the entire roof component acts actually as another full height level. Howlett’s innovative way of concealing the upper level is repeated in the suburbs. His mansard townhouses in South Perth on Onslow Street, (1969) (only here the terracotta tiles are painted white) and reemerges later again on Jubilee Street, (1975) with black painted tiles. There is an interesting dichotomy here with Modernism’s purity of the use of White and that of the inverse effect of Postmodernism’s Black.[2]

These projects conceived by Howlett, succeed in challenging the notion behind the typical mansard housing type. By making ambiguous statements in the proportioning of the roof component, in turn, compositionally balances on the edge to be an either a sloping wall or a roof. What is also remarkable is that Howlett’s mansard buildings partake in a two-decade housing experiment concerned with the typology of housing,[3] and has led to many other imitators of its kind.

Another note to mention in Howlett’s mansard townhouses is his preference to resist a townhouse as a detached dwelling. Instead he has opted for a seemingly stretched manor type. As a consequence, these projects are hard to see that they are broken internally with separate dwellings inside their extruded linear volume, a similar type to the terrace or row house and therefore quite unique for Perth’s preference for the detached dwelling.

Notes:

[1] Geoffrey London, “Introduction,” Jeffery Howlett, Architectural Projects, Lawrence Wilson Gallery, 1992.

[2] Michael Markham, “John Glenn’s Skyline,” Jeffery Howlett, Architectural Projects, Lawrence Wilson Gallery, 1992.

[3] Markham, “John Glenn’s Skyline”, 1992.

Photo source: 

http://www.trinity.uwa.edu.au/