Building Highlight - Forestry Building & Fenner Building

Building Australia's National University: 75 Years of the Australian National University

The Forestry Building was designed by Eggleston, MacDonald and Secomb in 1968 and officially opened on 16 May 1968 by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh. Students relocated here from the Forestry School at Yarralumla, which had opened in 1927. In May 1971 extensions to the Engineering Wing were completed and the Forestry Link opened. 

The University’s Wood Library (Xylarium) is housed in the Forestry Building. Initially assembled following the establishment of the Australian Forestry School in Canberra in 1927, the Wood Library contains both local and exotic timber samples and is used in forestry and wood science education and research.  It has considerable historical significance for its connection to forestry education in Australia and its links to Canberra’s built heritage. 

The Fenner Geography Building was constructed soon afterwards. Another design by Eggleston, MacDonald and Secomb, the building was completed in 1970 and was extended west to Linnaeus Way to accommodate Forestry. 

In 1990 the Geography Department moved from the John Dedman Building to form the School of Resource and Environmental Management (SREM) with the Forestry Department. The Forestry Link was also refurbished to accommodate the new school. 

The newest building on the site, the Frank Fenner Building, was opened on 24 October 2011 by the ACT Chief Minister, Katy Gallagher. The building was constructed to house the Fenner School of Environment and Society and was partially funded under the Australian Federal Government’s ‘Better Universities Renewal Fund’ with support from the ACT Government. 

The building was named in honour of Emeritus Professor Frank Fenner, a distinguished microbiologist and virologist who made significant contributions to the field of virology including overseeing the eradication of smallpox, combating malaria, and the control of Australia’s rabbit plague. In 1949 Fenner was appointed Professor of Microbiology at the John Curtin School of Medical Research. He had a long career at the ANU, including serving as inaugural Director of the ANU Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies (1973-79).   

 

References

Australian National University n.d., Acton Campus site inventory,

Smith, B 2010, Obituary - Frank Johannes Fenner, Obituaries Australia,  

 

 

Architectural drawing of the Forestry Building by Eggleston, MacDonald & Secomb, 1965 (ANUA226-595).

Architectural drawing of the Forestry Building by Eggleston, MacDonald & Secomb, 1965 (ANUA226-595).

Forestry Building ground floor interior, undated (ANUA226-596).

Forestry Building ground floor interior, undated (ANUA226-596).

Forestry Building, undated (ANUA226-595).

Forestry Building, undated (ANUA226-595).

Students work in a laboratory in the Forestry Building, 1979 (ANUA226-596).

Students work in a laboratory in the Forestry Building, 1979 (ANUA226-596).

HRH Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh at the official opening of the Forestry Building, 16 May 1968 (ANUA15-133).

HRH Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh at the official opening of the Forestry Building, 16 May 1968 (ANUA15-133).

Blackwood sculpture by Vincas Jomantas in the Forestry Building, c. 1960s (ANUA226-25).

Blackwood sculpture by Vincas Jomantas in the Forestry Building, c. 1960s (ANUA226-25).

Frank Fenner Building, 2012. Photograph courtesy of ANU Heritage.

Frank Fenner Building, 2012. Photograph courtesy of ANU Heritage.

Laboratory in the Forestry Building of the Fenner School, 2012. Photographer courtesy of ANU Heritage.

Laboratory in the Forestry Building of the Fenner School, 2012. Photographer courtesy of ANU Heritage.

Xylarium (Wood Library) in the Forestry Building, undated. Photograph courtesy of the ANU Fenner School of Environment & Society.

Xylarium (Wood Library) in the Forestry Building, undated. Photograph courtesy of the ANU Fenner School of Environment & Society.