Building Highlight - DA Brown Building and Wes Whitten Building

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

The DA Brown Building, which at different times housed both the Departments of Botany, Geology and Earth and Marine Sciences, was designed by renowned architect Roy Grounds and completed by L.V. O’Hara in 1966.   

The building was designed around a central courtyard, with a large first-year laboratory on the ground floor and a large lab upstairs that could be divided into second and third-year labs. This arrangement enabled staff to keep practical material for each class near at hand so that students could work in their own time (M Rickard 2010). 

Staff and students shared a tearoom off the courtyard, and the students had a Geological Society office that housed a pool table. This room was later converted into an experimental petrology laboratory. Graduate and honours students were accommodated upstairs, with technical services and a large geochemical lab built downstairs.  

The central courtyard became a social focus and in March 1992, Professor David Brown planted a symbolic new ‘fossil’ maiden-hair tree (Ginkgo biloba) to replace the ones that had been near the original huts and the old Geology Building on University Avenue.  

The building was named in honour of David Alexander Brown, a geologist who played a significant role in developing the study of geology in Australia. Brown was a New Zealander who worked as a field geologist in New Zealand before serving in the Second World War and taking up roles in London, where he became a world expert on polyzoa. In 1959 he accepted the position of Chair of Geology at the Canberra University College (CUC). In addition to setting up the Department of Geology, Brown also served as Dean of Science and Dean of Students.

The neighbouring Wes Whitten Building was designed by May and Russell Architects and constructed in 2009 by Hindmarsh Construction Company, who won the 2020 AIB NSW Professional Excellence in Building Award for their construction of the building. It was designed as an animal breeding establishment for teaching in the fields of biology and chemistry.

The building was named after Wes Whitten, who was the ANU’s first Veterinary Officer and worked at the university from 1949-1961.

 

References

Australian National University n.d., Acton Campus site inventory, <https://services.anu.edu.au/files/inventory/47%252C133.-dems-_and_-wes-whitten-final_0.pdf> 

 

DA Brown Building, 2012. Photographer: R Barwick. Photograph from the book Geology at the ANU (1959-2009) by Mike Rickard.

DA Brown Building, 2012. Photographer: R Barwick. Photograph from the book Geology at the ANU (1959-2009) by Mike Rickard.

Interior of the DA Brown Building, 2010. Photograph courtesy of ANU Heritage.

Interior of the DA Brown Building, 2010. Photograph courtesy of ANU Heritage.

Professor David Alexander Brown, c.1970s (ANUA225-145).

Professor David Alexander Brown, c.1970s (ANUA225-145).

Wes Whitten Building, c.2009. Photograph courtesy of Hindmarsh Construction Company

Wes Whitten Building, c.2009. Photograph courtesy of Hindmarsh Construction Company

Wes Whitten Building, undated. Photograph courtesy of May + Russell Architects.

Wes Whitten Building, undated. Photograph courtesy of May + Russell Architects.