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| 1 CIVIC SQUARE - HENTY HOUSE |
This is the building many people love
to hate. Leo Shofield referred to it as "a hideous building resembling a cement cooling tower". At risk of being labelled one of the “trendoids” to whom he
refers, I have to confess as a Launceston resident, I'm actually
rather fond of it.
I vaguely remember (showing my age
here) seeing drawings before it was built projecting what it would
look like when finished. Every level had green vines trailing down
over the balconies – an amazing pyramid of greenery. It has, of
course, instead turned out to be a huge grey monolith that dominates
the edge of Civic square. The “wood” texture of on some of its
surfaces only seems to emphasise its inorganic character. Yet, there
is nothing else quite like it.
Civic square is a wonderful
architectural assortment that is nicely rounded off by Henty House.
I like the way that Macquarie House reflects in the windows of the
newer structure, and the fact that every time I walk past I see
something else that I haven't noticed before. I love that it makes
people think and talk about how they want their city to look.
Henty House was built for its current
tenant, the State Government in 1983. The architect was Peter
Partridge. People have been married here, become Australian citizens
here, celebrated passing their driving test and so on. It is a
building of many stories. There has been considerable debate over
whether it is worthy of inclusion in the state heritage list. This
blog is mainly about the history associated with various buildings
rather than the structures as such, but if anything were to happen to
Henty House there would be a large gap in the story of Launceston in
the 1980s. Its worth considering the question of what makes a
building worthy of preservation.
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