Filigree architecture

Old Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, Botany (c. 1884).[1]
Ardmore terrace houses, Fremantle (c. 1898)[2]

Filigree architecture is a modern term given to a phase in the history of Australian architecture. The phase was an embellishment of the "Australian verandah tradition",[3] where the verandah evolved from its functional usages in the Old Colonial period to become highly ornamental.

The filigree style was a vernacular tradition of buildings possessing prominent verandahs that screened the facade, cloaking the exterior in an ornamental veil that obscured the rest of building. On filigree-style buildings, the verandah was the main visual element. The name "filigree" refers to the intricate texture of this screen-like verandah, which was often perforated to let air and light pass through, creating dazzling displays of shadows.

In the Victorian era, the style exploded into popularity. Double and triple-storey verandahs lined the main streets, with some rare examples reaching up to four storeys. Victorian Filigree-style verandahs were made almost exclusively from cast iron, and their delicate appearance gave rise to the term: "cast iron lacework".[4] In the Federation era, the style evolved into the Federation Filigree style, when timber eclipsed cast iron as the material of choice, and the shape and form of the verandah became more novel.[5]

The style was mainly popularised by speculative builders,[6] but it also did not have a class consciousness, being used both on humble workers cottage developments, as well as by prominent commercial architects such as Richard Gailey and Andrea Stombuco. Neither was it reserved for a single setting, being used in domestic, commercial, and governmental settings,[3] becoming particularly well associated with the Australian terrace house,[3] and the Australian verandah'd pub.[7][8]

These strong associations have led to the filigree style being "regarded as distinctly Australian."[9] And while both ornamental cast iron and verandahs can be found elsewhere in the world, Australia possesses a unique interpretation of the design and form of this style, as well as a prevalence unseen elsewhere.[10]

  1. ^ "HMS - ViewItem". www.hms.heritage.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
  2. ^ "inHerit - State Heritage Office". inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
  3. ^ a b c Apperly, Irving, & Reynolds (1994), pg 63
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Apperly, Irving, & Reynolds (1994), pg 108-111
  6. ^ Apperly, Irving, & Reynolds (1994), pg 63
  7. ^ Apperly, Irving, & Reynolds (1994), pg 111
  8. ^ Turner (1885), pg 115-136
  9. ^ Apperly, Irving, & Reynolds (1994), pg 60
  10. ^ Miles Lewis, ‘10.02.10 The Verandah in Australia’, in The Culture of Australian Building [dynamic web publication], as at April 2023