PrintSensory Time Trail
A key design feature of the Lifestyle Centre is a celebration of Australia’s Federation from 1901 to 2001. By capturing the most notable periods of local architecture, this building provides a permanent record of the styles of this time.
Architect Leigh Mattingley designed this building to represent different eras throughout the nineteen hundreds. This can be seen when walking around the outside of the building, where different building materials, designs and reflective garden beds can be observed.
1900s
Typical architecture of the 1900s can be observed when looking at the building from the left. A wider base support wall with common red bricks and mortar has been utilised. Another architectural feature is the regular and narrow, recessed window openings, with white double-hung timber windows. Exterior walls of the Victorian era were relatively plain; offering the opportunity for intricate internal details such as ornate plasterwork.
1920s
We move on to the 1920s, where texture and detailed designs become more common. This traditional three quarter red bricked wall, rendered with off-white mortar, is complemented with protruding, white ornate windows. Flora in this era can also be observed in the flowerbeds below, including Dwarf Box and Clivea.
1940s
The use of changing coloured brickwork and larger window panels can be observed in the next wall - frequent attributes of the 1940s. This is also noted with the traditional blend of cream pink hues for the main wall with blue clinker bricks and charcoal mortar. The windows utilise steel, which had become widely available, providing slender lines and a distinct look to the wall.
1960s
The mellower 1960s brought cream coloured bricks with natural mortar, a softer palette for the time. However colour was still used in the contrasting blue bricks at the base of the wall, a narrow dark glazed band and three quarter wall height. This minimalist approach is also reflected in the use of steel windows, similar to the 1940s, however much simpler side panels were used.
1980s
The 1980s brought on a new look for Maroondah, featuring textured and rendered walls, with a wide variation of colours and finishes. Large, black aluminium and highly simple windows were utilised for this era, to ensure no detail marred the clean, crisp surfaces of the building.
2000s
The birth of a new era, the 2000s, brought high-tech finishes and materials into use. Fine and precise lines and seamless joins can be observed in the form of a polished silver aluminium wall, finished flush with frameless tinted glass; all to give a sense of a ‘space helmet’ and the future.