Last Week's speaker
Our guest last Thursday was Rebecca Conway, Architect, who was the Project Manager of The Australian War Memorial renovations.
It was fortuitous timing as we had held a club social outing to the AWM to see the new additions in September, so we all had questions about the processes involved in the redevelopment.
Rebecca explained the original AWM was conceived by Charles Bean (War correspondent WW1) in 1925, however the works were delayed and not completed until 1941.It was designed and built to recognise those servicemen who had died serving our country in war and in peacetime or humanitarian services.The memorial has grown with each generation so that it now recognizes a new group of over 100,000 who have served since it was opened. Thus the need for expansion and renovation.
Work started in 2021 with 5 builders and 5 groups of architects and specialists working on different aspects of the work. They had to excavate up to 3 stories underground and yet keep the memorial open for visitors whilst work proceeded. Huge technical issues were encountered and solved eg the featured Occulus had a 3mm tolerance allowed in the concreted rim. Grey sandstone was found at the original quarry near Gosford, whilst technological changes allowed for a thermal power station to be incorporated, thus saving energy costs.
The result is outstanding, New galleries and displays, and easy explanations of what contributions our service personnel have made over many decades.
Many thanks Rebecca for an excellent explanation, and congratulations on her achievements.
More information can be seen on the SBS programme:
https:s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonawa.com/awm-media/collection/F10167/video/4212356.MP4
Ed.
