ANZ Bank Building

Statement of Significance

Aesthetic Value – ANZ Bank Building is a good example of the Federation Free style applied to a commercial building. The place is characteristic of other buildings in Carnarvon’s commercial precinct.
Aesthetic Value – ANZ Bank Building is a distinctive part of the streetscape and makes a positive contribution to the character of the town.
Aesthetic Value – ANZ Bank Building in association with other buildings adjacent and along Robinson Street forms the commercial precinct of Carnarvon.
Historic Value – ANZ Bank Building is closely associated with the development of banking facilities in the agricultural regions of the state in the early part of this century. The scale of the building and materials used reflect the confidence the Union Bank had for the area in the early years of the twentieth century.
Historic Value – Built in 1905, ANZ Bank Building represents the growth and development of Carnarvon at the end of the gold boom period.
Historic Value – ANZ Bank Building is closely associated with the ANZ Banking Group, and the financial life of Carnarvon and surrounding pastoral and agricultural districts. The place was purpose built for its predecessor and has housed its banking functions since 1905.
Historic Value – ANZ Bank Building was purpose built for the Union Bank. It was also the first bank built in Carnarvon.
Historic Value – ANZ Bank Building was designed by architect J. J. Talbot Hobbs, and his partners E. H. Dean Smith & W. J. Waldie Forbes, who were also responsible for the Bank of New South Wales, Carnarvon (1928) (Homeswest Building), as well as many other bank buildings throughout the State.
Historic Value – Local bricks, made by Sidney Stansmore, were used in the construction of ANZ Bank Building. Stansmore manufactured bricks used in the construction of several buildings in Carnarvon being the Anglican Church, former Masonic Hall and Lefroy Townhouse.
Social Value – ANZ Bank Building holds significant social value to the Carnarvon community as it contributes to the community’s sense of place, having occupied a prominent site on Carnarvon’s main street since 1905. The place has figured prominently in the financial life of the community.
Representativeness – ANZ Bank Building is representative of the Federation Free Classical style used in the design of buildings for the Union Bank of Australia from the late 1890s to the 1920s.

Physical Description

A substantial two storey building with a prominent entrance portico embellished with stucco decorative elements. The building previously housed the Union Bank.

History

ANZ Bank Building is a two storey brick and iron building constructed in 1905, for the Union Bank of Australia Ltd, to a design by architects Hobbs, Smith & Forbes. Various additions and alterations have been made to ANZ Bank Building over the years. The Union Bank of Australia established a presence in Carnarvon on 3 June 1902, after the bank’s Western Australian inspector identified ‘good prospects’ at Carnarvon, considering the area to be particularly attractive because it was believed to be ‘not subject to drought’. The Union Bank did not build their premises immediately, but waited to see how well their banking business would develop in the district. Edward Houghton Angelo was the first manager of the Union Bank in Carnarvon. While the Union Bank was the first trading bank to operate in Carnarvon, banking services were already being conducted by Dalgety and Company. The bricks used in the construction were locally made by the contractor, Sidney Stansmore. The Union Bank of Carnarvon became ANZ Bank Building in October 1951, with the merger of the Union Bank of Australia and the Bank of Australasia to form the Australia and New Zealand Bank. In 1953, Hobbs, Winning and Leighton designed a two storey brick addition to the north-east side of ANZ Bank Building, accessed from the original private side entry. In 1967, architects Duncan, Stephen & Mercer designed an extension of the banking chamber, which entailed a single storey addition on the east side of the building and to the frontage of the 1953 toilet addition. In 1972, another single-storey addition was made on the west side of the building. Internal renovations were carried out in January 1989. In 1998, the outer leaf of brickwork on the upper section of the west wall peeled off and collapsed onto the roof of the single-storey extension below. The wall has been repaired. The ANZ Bank Building continues to provide banking services for the district today.

Integrity/Authenticity

HIgh/Medium

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.