Percy Edgar Everett
Encyclopedia
Percy Edgar Everett, was appointed chief architect of the Victorian Public Works Department
in 1934 and is best known for the dozens of often strikingly Modernist State Government institutions such as schools, hospitals, police stations and technical colleges the department produced over the next 20 years.
His most well known design is the Police Headquarters
at Russell Street (1940–1943), giving Melbourne “its first Gotham City silhouette”. Percy Edgar Everett’s mature style was influenced by a range of Modernist sources including American Art Deco
, especially Streamline Moderne, and European early Modernism
, such as Expressionism, Bauhaus and even Russian Constructivism, drawn from magazines and his two trips abroad.
, Australia
. His father, Joseph Everett was a blacksmith
from England
. Joseph established a coach building
industry as well as building industry later on, where Percy help was required for detail aspect of the buildings.
Percy received his early education in Ashby Public School, where he first tried his hand sketches. Many among his early sketches were of ship
, figure head, and the sailor
, suggesting the kind of environment he was born into. Two subjects that drawn most of his attention during his study in Ashby Public School was drawing and piano lesson.
His interest in drawing and his experience in building industry had led him to the path of Architecture as his first career choice, with music following as the second choice. He then enrolled in Gordon Technical College
, under the new direction by George R. King as its first principal, and became the first architecture student. Percy had had an experience in Architecture with W. H. Cleverdon, a Geelong architect, even before he studied in Gordon Technical Collage
. He graduated 4 years later and started his first career as a graduate architect.
The first company that he worked at was The Geelong Harbour Trust (1907–1910), where he got to plan and supervise his first structure, a wool
store., and designed the Edwardian style Sailors Rest building on the Geelong foreshore.
He then worked for the firm of Seeley & King and formed a partnership with them two years later. The Seeley, King & Everett firm was his first private practice.
His firm was taken over by Laird and Buchan during a trip to Britain
and Europe
in 1913.
While still connected to Laird and Buchan, in 1914 Percy Everett opened a separate practice in Melbourne
, but since there was in shortage of architectural work due to the First World War, he took up the post of Principle of the Brunswick Technical School (1916).
He also continued his association with Laird & Buchan, with whom he designed the elaborate bandstand in the Johnstone Gardens, which was constructed in 1919. That same year, the association also designed the Edwardian Baroque Peace Memorial on axis with the bandstand, as well as replanning the gardens in a more formal manner. The revamped park and Memorial were completed in 1926.
In 1930, like many other Australian architects during the depression, he undertook a world tour including the US and the UK, but unusually also included the USSR. In 1932 he was appointed headmaster of Brighton Technical School.
Two years later in 1934, Percy Everett was appointed chief architect in the Victorian Public Works Department. There he was responsible for the maintenance, but more importantly the design of the State's public buildings, such as courthouses, police stations, mental hospitals, TB sanatoriums, schools and tertiary institutions, as well as associated government employees’ residences.
The style of the department, where he retained absolute control over the designs, was at first historicist, like previous PWD designs, though with modernist influences, such as his designs for the Entry Building and brick fence at the Melbourne Zoo (1935), and the Spanish style Court House and State Government Offices in his native Geelong (1937). But by the late 1930s, the department was producing dynamic modernist designs for numerous high profile public buildings, many just before or at the beginning of WWII. Essendon Technical School (1939), Camberwell Court House (1939) and the William Angliss College (1940) are considered amongst the best of this period, and are all on the Victorian Heritage Register. Influences from Dutch 1920s modernism, the German Bauhaus and even 1920s Russian Constructivism can be discerned. Notable designs influenced by the US skyscraper style include the outstanding Russell Street Police Headquarters (1940-43), the smaller New York skyscraper style Ballarat State Offices (1941). His department could also produce polite modern version of historic or domestic styles where suitable, such as 'Collegiate Gothic' for the Melbourne University Chemistry School (1938), the rustic log cabin-style Yarra Bend Gold Club house (1934), or the pitched-roof cream brick of Richmond Girls School.
In 1945 Percy Edgar Everett went to North America to study recent trends in public architecture, but after WWII, the style of buildings produced under his direction did not change. As public buildings were given priority, numerous public buildings in his distinctive style, such as the TB wing at Hamilton Base Hospital (1945), RMIT Buildings 6,7 &9 (1938, 48 and 1955), Caulfield Institute of Technology (1950), and large TB Sanatoria at Heatherton and Greenvale (both now demolished)were major projects in the post war years. By then however, architectural progressives were calling for a more truly modern approach distinct from Everett's devotion to dynamic effects.
One of many governmental projects Percy Everett did at this time was the dramatic Department of Agriculture annexe to the 19th century Italianate State Government offices, built in 1948 (demolished 1997). The building housed sections for photography, films and radio units, and a small cinema, since film and radio were seen as main methods of helping farmers with education and information. . It also showed his interest in dominating older buildings, while at the same time responding to their layout. His additions and alterations at the Gordon Technical College and Matthew Flinders High, both in his native Geelong, also display this.
He retired as chief architect in 1953.
Percy Edgar Everett had been married twice in his life. The first one is in 11 June 1924 at Mentone, Victoria
, where he married to widow Georgina Buchanan Arthur, née Boyd and the second one in 26 June 1953 at Brighton, to a widow Mavis Delgany Stewart, née Richards. He had two step children. Percy Edgar Everett died at Brighton Beach, Victoria on 6 May 1967.
Public Works Department (Victoria)
The Public Works Department was a government agency which operated in Victoria between 1855 and 1987.Over its long history, the department had various responsibilities, many of which were later devolved to other departments or authorities...
in 1934 and is best known for the dozens of often strikingly Modernist State Government institutions such as schools, hospitals, police stations and technical colleges the department produced over the next 20 years.
His most well known design is the Police Headquarters
Russell Street Police Headquarters
Russell Street Police Headquarters in Melbourne, Australia was for many years the headquarters of the Victoria Police before they were moved to William Street in about 1990. The main multi-storey brick building located on the west of the site was constructed 1940-1943 in the Art Deco style by...
at Russell Street (1940–1943), giving Melbourne “its first Gotham City silhouette”. Percy Edgar Everett’s mature style was influenced by a range of Modernist sources including American Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
, especially Streamline Moderne, and European early Modernism
Modern architecture
Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...
, such as Expressionism, Bauhaus and even Russian Constructivism, drawn from magazines and his two trips abroad.
Personal life
Percy Edgar Everett was born in Geelong, VictoriaGeelong, Victoria
Geelong is a port city located on Corio Bay and the Barwon River, in the state of Victoria, Australia, south-west of the state capital; Melbourne. It is the second most populated city in Victoria and the fifth most populated non-capital city in Australia...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. His father, Joseph Everett was a blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
from England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Joseph established a coach building
Coachbuilder
A coachbuilder is a manufacturer of bodies for carriages or automobiles.The trade dates back several centuries. Rippon was active in the time of Queen Elizabeth I, Barker founded in 1710 by an officer in Queen Anne's Guards, Brewster a relative newcomer , formed in 1810. Others in Britain included...
industry as well as building industry later on, where Percy help was required for detail aspect of the buildings.
Percy received his early education in Ashby Public School, where he first tried his hand sketches. Many among his early sketches were of ship
Ship
Since the end of the age of sail a ship has been any large buoyant marine vessel. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing,...
, figure head, and the sailor
Sailor
A sailor, mariner, or seaman is a person who navigates water-borne vessels or assists in their operation, maintenance, or service. The term can apply to professional mariners, military personnel, and recreational sailors as well as a plethora of other uses...
, suggesting the kind of environment he was born into. Two subjects that drawn most of his attention during his study in Ashby Public School was drawing and piano lesson.
His interest in drawing and his experience in building industry had led him to the path of Architecture as his first career choice, with music following as the second choice. He then enrolled in Gordon Technical College
Gordon Institute of TAFE
The Gordon Institute of TAFE is the TAFE institute servicing Geelong since 1888. It has 26,000 students studying on-campus, off-campus and in business or industry ....
, under the new direction by George R. King as its first principal, and became the first architecture student. Percy had had an experience in Architecture with W. H. Cleverdon, a Geelong architect, even before he studied in Gordon Technical Collage
. He graduated 4 years later and started his first career as a graduate architect.
The first company that he worked at was The Geelong Harbour Trust (1907–1910), where he got to plan and supervise his first structure, a wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
store., and designed the Edwardian style Sailors Rest building on the Geelong foreshore.
He then worked for the firm of Seeley & King and formed a partnership with them two years later. The Seeley, King & Everett firm was his first private practice.
His firm was taken over by Laird and Buchan during a trip to Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
in 1913.
While still connected to Laird and Buchan, in 1914 Percy Everett opened a separate practice in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, but since there was in shortage of architectural work due to the First World War, he took up the post of Principle of the Brunswick Technical School (1916).
He also continued his association with Laird & Buchan, with whom he designed the elaborate bandstand in the Johnstone Gardens, which was constructed in 1919. That same year, the association also designed the Edwardian Baroque Peace Memorial on axis with the bandstand, as well as replanning the gardens in a more formal manner. The revamped park and Memorial were completed in 1926.
In 1930, like many other Australian architects during the depression, he undertook a world tour including the US and the UK, but unusually also included the USSR. In 1932 he was appointed headmaster of Brighton Technical School.
Two years later in 1934, Percy Everett was appointed chief architect in the Victorian Public Works Department. There he was responsible for the maintenance, but more importantly the design of the State's public buildings, such as courthouses, police stations, mental hospitals, TB sanatoriums, schools and tertiary institutions, as well as associated government employees’ residences.
The style of the department, where he retained absolute control over the designs, was at first historicist, like previous PWD designs, though with modernist influences, such as his designs for the Entry Building and brick fence at the Melbourne Zoo (1935), and the Spanish style Court House and State Government Offices in his native Geelong (1937). But by the late 1930s, the department was producing dynamic modernist designs for numerous high profile public buildings, many just before or at the beginning of WWII. Essendon Technical School (1939), Camberwell Court House (1939) and the William Angliss College (1940) are considered amongst the best of this period, and are all on the Victorian Heritage Register. Influences from Dutch 1920s modernism, the German Bauhaus and even 1920s Russian Constructivism can be discerned. Notable designs influenced by the US skyscraper style include the outstanding Russell Street Police Headquarters (1940-43), the smaller New York skyscraper style Ballarat State Offices (1941). His department could also produce polite modern version of historic or domestic styles where suitable, such as 'Collegiate Gothic' for the Melbourne University Chemistry School (1938), the rustic log cabin-style Yarra Bend Gold Club house (1934), or the pitched-roof cream brick of Richmond Girls School.
In 1945 Percy Edgar Everett went to North America to study recent trends in public architecture, but after WWII, the style of buildings produced under his direction did not change. As public buildings were given priority, numerous public buildings in his distinctive style, such as the TB wing at Hamilton Base Hospital (1945), RMIT Buildings 6,7 &9 (1938, 48 and 1955), Caulfield Institute of Technology (1950), and large TB Sanatoria at Heatherton and Greenvale (both now demolished)were major projects in the post war years. By then however, architectural progressives were calling for a more truly modern approach distinct from Everett's devotion to dynamic effects.
One of many governmental projects Percy Everett did at this time was the dramatic Department of Agriculture annexe to the 19th century Italianate State Government offices, built in 1948 (demolished 1997). The building housed sections for photography, films and radio units, and a small cinema, since film and radio were seen as main methods of helping farmers with education and information. . It also showed his interest in dominating older buildings, while at the same time responding to their layout. His additions and alterations at the Gordon Technical College and Matthew Flinders High, both in his native Geelong, also display this.
He retired as chief architect in 1953.
Percy Edgar Everett had been married twice in his life. The first one is in 11 June 1924 at Mentone, Victoria
Mentone, Victoria
Mentone is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 21 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Kingston...
, where he married to widow Georgina Buchanan Arthur, née Boyd and the second one in 26 June 1953 at Brighton, to a widow Mavis Delgany Stewart, née Richards. He had two step children. Percy Edgar Everett died at Brighton Beach, Victoria on 6 May 1967.
Works
- Heatherton hospital, Warrig Heatherton, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
(1945)
- Golf Clubhouse, FairfieldFairfield, VictoriaFairfield is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Darebin and Yarra...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
(1934)
- Essendon Technical SchoolEssendon Keilor CollegeEssendon Keilor College was founded in 1992 from the amalgamation of Queens Park Secondary College , Essendon High School, Niddrie High School and Keilor Heights Secondary College....
, EssendonEssendon, VictoriaEssendon is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moonee Valley...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
(1939)
- State Government Office, BallaratBallarat, VictoriaBallarat is a city in the state of Victoria, Australia, approximately west-north-west of the state capital Melbourne situated on the lower plains of the Great Dividing Range and the Yarrowee River catchment. It is the largest inland centre and third most populous city in the state and the fifth...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
(1941)
- State Accident Insurance Office, MelbourneMelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
(1941)
- William Angliss Food TradesWilliam Angliss Institute of TAFEWilliam Angliss Institute of TAFE is a TAFE institute located in the Melbourne CBD, Victoria, Australia providing a specialist centre for training and vocational education in Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts...
, MelbourneMelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
(1941)
- Police HeadquarterRussell Street Police HeadquartersRussell Street Police Headquarters in Melbourne, Australia was for many years the headquarters of the Victoria Police before they were moved to William Street in about 1990. The main multi-storey brick building located on the west of the site was constructed 1940-1943 in the Art Deco style by...
, MelbourneMelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
(1942–1943)
- F.G.Scholes Block (Wards) Fa Hospital, FairfieldFairfield, VictoriaFairfield is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Darebin and Yarra...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
(1949)
- RMIT Building 5&9, MelbourneMelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
(1938)
External links
- Adbonline, Everett, Percy Edgar (1888 - 1967) 2006
- Walking Melbourne, Heritage, Architecture, Skyscraper and Buildings Database
- Melbourne Open House, Fact Sheet 2009