Old Parliament House (OPH) is a nationally significant heritage building located in Canberra's parliamentary zone. The building was home to the Federal Parliament from 1927 to 1988, making it an important part of Australia's democratic traditions.
Today, OPH is home to the Museum of Australian Democracy , an enriching institution that informs the public of Australia's constitutional, political and social history.
ICS have been involved in conserving both interior and exterior elements of OPH for many years. We were recently commissioned to conserve the two painted coat of arms’ (one British, one Australian) that sit atop the front façade of the building.
Condition
Both coat of arms’ were last treated in the early 1990's. Since then, their paint and gilding had deteriorated considerably. After many years of exposure to the elements, significant amounts of dust, dirt, pollution and bird droppings had accumulated on both structures, accelerating their deterioration.
Treatment
On Remembrance Day in 1926 this unique Honour Roll was first unveiled in the Rocky Hill War Memorial tower at Goulburn. Measuring a sizeable 4.8m x 3m, it is made of four Carrara marble panels with local sandstone surrounds and lists the names of 1400 men from Goulburn and the surrounding districts who served in WWI. ICS was initially commissioned...
The ‘Mead Morrison No. 6 Skip’ is the only remaining carriage that was part of a complex coal-loading process, which operated for over 70 years from the early 1920s at Waverton peninsula in Sydney. Its purpose would have been to transport...
The Futurist Room is one of several themed ‘character lounges’ in Sydney’s iconic State Theatre. It was designed by Henry E. White in the 1920s and presents an intriguing, Jazz Age vision of the future. Murals across each wall depict angular panels painted in soft pastel colours and bordered with gold leaf, reminiscent of the cubist and modernist art of...
