David
Chancellor
Education
1943-44 Civil Engineering,
Night School
1947-51 Bachelor of Architecture,
Melbourne University. Graduated with outstanding academic honours.
Shared two War Memorial Scholarships.
Professional
Experience
1943-44
Johns
and Waygood, engineering draftsman
1952-53 Sole architectural
practice
1954 Founded Chancellor
+ Patrick Architects with Rex Patrick
Other
Experience
1945-46 Royal Australia
Navy
Rex
Patrick
The son of
tram driver but with relatives who worked in the building industry,
Rex Patrick became early interested in pursuing a career in architecture
Education
Bentleigh
West Primary School
Brighton
Technical School
1943 Architecture, Melbourne
Technical College. Won an Alison Harvery Scholarship for the
best four years performance.
1947-49 Scholarship was
used to complete his studies in Architecture at the Atelier in
the University of Melbourne.
Professional
Experience
19?? At the age of 14,
he was briefly articled as an Architectural assistant with the
practice of Purnell & Pierce for which his parents had to
pay £100 per annum. As this was not possible he returned
to Brighton Technical College to complete his studies there.
1947 -
54 Yuncken
Freeman Brothers, Griffiths Simpson Architects, Ronald J. Wilson
Architects.
1954 Founded Chancellor
+ Patrick Architects with David Chancellor.
working
here working here working here
Rex Patrick:
Architect
Rex Patrick, March 2000.
It was a concreter who set a four and a half year old boy on
the pathway to architecture. When he was watching some men constructing
a cross-over near his home in Bentleigh, Rex Patrick was asked
by one of the workmen what he wanted to be when he grew up. Rex
said, "What you are."
The workman immediately replied, "You don't want to be a
concreter. You want to be an architect." Rex admitted that
at the time he had no real knowledge of what an architect was,
or did, but the idea stuck in his mind.
Rex's father was a tram driver but there were relatives engaged
in various activities associated with the building industry.
For example there were land surveyors and stone masons. As he
grew up his parents were very accommodating to his interest in
architecture.
"I got quite interested in making my own sort of city and
my parents allowed me to transform our suburban backyard into
a city with concrete roads, houses and other buildings. It took
up half the backyard. The rest was fenced off for a vegetable
garden."
After leaving Bentleigh West Primary School Rex continued at
Brighton Technical School until he was fourteen. Then followed
his first stint in an architect's office with Purnell and Pierce
on the corner of Elizabeth and Collins streets in the city. There
he undertook all the menial tasks normally assigned to a beginner,
tracing things, delivering drawings to clients and answering
the telephone.
"We worked in one room. Arthur Purnell, the boss, and draughtsman
Bob Irving were there. The 'boss' had his desk on one side of
the room with a telephone on the wall. I sat at a drawing board
on the other side. When the telephone rang I would have to walk
across the room, lift the phone and say Purnell and Pierce here.
Who am I speaking to? I would get the message that the caller
wanted to speak to the boss so I would hand the receiver to him.
He wouldn't answer the phone himself."
An important part of Rex's training at this time was accompanying
the architect on site visits where he would gradually learn the
problems associated with the whole business. As he became more
proficient the young boy was given more responsible types of
work. Rex recalled being sent by Arthur Purnell to the MCG one
Saturday morning so that he could write a report on the things
for and against a particular building which had been designed
by Purnell and Pierce. The report had to be with his employer
by Monday morning.
Working hours were long including Saturday morning. The usual
finishing time on a Saturday was about 2 o'clock. For this work
there was no pay only refunds for travel costs. Working in an
architect's office was seen more as a privilege and the common
way of entering the profession. There the 'master' imparted his
knowledge and professional 'secrets' to the uninitiated. Not
only was there no financial remuneration for the aspiring architect's
work, he or his parents were expected to pay for the opportunities
provided.
After six months at Purnell & Pierce, Arthur Purnell informed
Rex's parents that they would have to pay £100 per year
for the training their son was receiving.
"They couldn't pay that and together with the knowledge
I had already gained at that stage I realised my education wasn't
advanced enough. So I went back to Brighton Technical School
to finish a course there before moving in 1943 to Melbourne Technical
College to undertake studies in architecture."
There he was awarded an Alison Harvey Scholarship for the best
four years' performance which allowed him to continue his studies
at night at the University Atelier graduating in 1949. During
this period he worked during the day at Yuncken, Freeman Bros.,
Griffiths and Simpson - Architects and Ronald J Wilson's Architectural
Office.
According to Rex, one of the big breaks he had early in his career
occurred while working at Yuncken Freeman. There he was working
directly with Mr Yuncken Senior who at that time was very ill.
It was at Yuncken Freeman that Rex met David Chancellor. They
decided to work together in submitting designs for various competitions.
One was for a swimming pool for the Melbourne Olympics. The design
didn't win but it was the beginning of a cooperative working
relationship. From this experience the two men decided to set
up in partnership.
David Chancellor had just commenced his architectural practice
on the first floor of the Austin Building, Bay Street, in Frankston
and it was there in 1954 that Rex joined him in creating the
firm, Chancellor and Patrick, Architects. Initially their commissions
involved a lot of domestic architecture on the peninsula but
some major projects were also undertaken. These included the
Frankston Hospital and work for the Brotherhood of St Laurence
at Carrum Downs. About this time Rex designed and built his first
home for his own family at 19 Olympic Avenue, Cheltenham.
Chancellor & Patrick opened an office in Domain Road, South
Yarra, later selling it and moving to Albert Park. The office
in Frankston was closed but work opportunities continued to grow.
From the time when Chancellor & Patrick consisted of just
the two architects it grew to a situation where almost 30 people
were employed to complete the commissions.
Much of Chancellor & Patrick's work depended on government
finance so as the focus of government priorities changed the
nature of the commissions undertaken also changed. Initially
attention was on hospitals, then universities and later technical
schools.
"We would suddenly find that hospitals were not being funded
so we promptly became experts in university buildings. Then followed
residential accommodation at Latrobe University and Monash University
including Chisholm College and the Student Union building at
Latrobe and Farrer and Deakin Halls at Monash. When the budget
for university development was exhausted we moved to technical
schools. We were prepared to have a go at anything. In addition
to hospitals, residential accommodation and schools there were
always a few churches, homes for the aged and industrial buildings,"
commented Rex.
One of the first commissions in what was to become the City of
Kingston was an ES&A Bank in Charman Road, Cheltenham.[1]
By that time Chancellor and Patrick had designed a whole series
of ES&A banks including those at Frankston and Colac so they
had an established record as understanding the architectural
needs of the bank.
As Rex explained, he designed the Cheltenham bank with a white
cement rendered strongroom cantilevering out from a Dromana granite
stone wall on the west side ofCharman Road, facing east
ES&A Bank, Charman Road, Cheltenham.
"I got a call from the ES&A bank saying we had a problem
with the building. 'The newsagent opposite has complained about
the glare reflected from the bank's white strongroom. Could you
go and see him and see what you can do to minimise the problem?'
I proposed covering the strongroom with green glass mosaic ceramic
tiles. From that visit came a commission to modernise the old
two storey brick building on the corner of Charman and Railway
roads owned by Stephenson and Cutland where they conducted their
authorised newsagency. The front of the modernised building was
a continuous show window with box-shaped display units built
into it. These units were finished in natural timber and were
supported by steel columns in the shop window.
Newsagent, Charman Road, Cheltenham.
Other work in Charman Road included the redevelopment of Wilson's
Chemist shop on the north-east corner of Charman and Station
roads. This involved the creation of several new shops running
down Station Road with professional suites on the first floor.
A commission followed later to design a new dispensary and chemist
shop south of the railway line for the United Friendly Society
at 276 Charman Road.
There was also a dentist surgery next door. It was also in Cheltenham
that Chancellor and Patrick designed two church buildings
for the Anglican church. The first in Follett Street was
a multi-purpose building used as a church and a hall. The second
commission was for a group of buildings on the corner of Nepean
Highway and Park Road. Here Rex Patrick designed a complex of
buildings including a new vicarage, hall and church. This latter
task involved a great deal of discussion with the congregation
of St Matthew's to determine the attributes required in their
new building.
Interior
of St John's Anglican Church, Follett Road, Cheltenham.
As the architect, Rex had to consider the nature of the site,
its triangular shape, its proximity to noisy traffic, the cost
of the enterprise and the congregation's wish to break down barriers
between the worshippers and the sanctuary.
"The old 'gothic' style where the congregation is remote
from the rituals near the altar was rejected," commented
Rex. "An architect may develop many alternative ideas of
how a commission might be completed so it then becomes a process
of elimination. I consider the total concept, try to recognise
the important things, then present them to the client as my recommended
solution to the brief. Experience tells me if I give the client
too many options, particularly where a committee is involved,
I won't get a decision. Because of previous experience with similar
buildings you have foreseen most of the problems, so you feel
you have the answers. It requires more research when you have
never designed that particular type of building before."
[2)
St Matthew's Church, Cheltenham is constructed from split
face concrete blocks and other materials left in their natural
state. The main supporting beams over the Church are precast
concrete with quartz aggregate exposed by sandblasting. The UFS
Dispensary makes use of band sawn Pinus Radiata formwork to give
texture to exposed concrete and facebrick walls with deeply ironed
mortar joints.
"I like to express things in a natural way and create the
impression that the structure is going to support itself. I like
cantilevers that grow from a substantial base and buildings with
horizontal lines, and a sense of repose."
In his career Rex Patrick acknowledges the influence of Frank
Lloyd Wright and other architects on his work but says his
buildings are an expression of each particular set of project
requirements such as site, cost and his expertise.
Dispensary,
Charman Road, Cheltenham.
Many of the buildings designed by Chancellor & Patrick continue
to serve their original purpose while others, because of changing
needs, have been modified.
In Cheltenham the ES&A bank no longer exists, the Stephenson
& Cutland site has been redeveloped and the Church of St
John the Evangelist in Follett Road has become a community centre.
St Matthew's church continues to serve the local Anglican community
and the United Friendly Society group of buildings remain opposite
the Cheltenham Cemetery.
"Sometimes when you see a building being demolished, one
into which you put a lot of effort, you feel you have lived too
long. But if a building is valued it can be modified to suit
current requirements and protected." was the comment of
Rex Patrick, Architect.
St Matthew's
Anglican Church, Cheltenham.
Author Graham J Whitehead References Whitehead
G., Interview Rex Patrick, March 2000.
Footnotes The ES&A bank was closed and recreated as
a coffee shop.
Churches designed by Chancellor & Patrick include:-
1)St John the Evangelist, Cheltenham
2) St Matthew's Anglican Church, Cheltenham
3) St James, Presbyterian Church, Wattle Park
4) St Luke's Anglican Church, Dandenong. Article Cat. People
Article Ref. 85
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