Function and purpose
This series consists of various sized plans for government
sponsored construction in Canberra between 1921 and 1959. The plans cover
things such as hospitals, memorials, office accommodation, shops, playgrounds,
roads, transport depots, halls, official residences and some private ones for
important people. Many of the plans are of details of the construction and even
for the lettering to be used on the buildings.
The plans are generally on thin drafting film and the condition
of them varies. The plans are usually drawn in pen but many are also done, or
annotated, with pencil. The number of the plan, who drew it, who approved it,
the topic, scale and date are usually in a box in one corner but this varies
quite a bit through the series. Many of the edges are torn and many have been
reinforced or repaired with a variety of tape. In some cases information has
been lost due to damage and this occasionally leads to problems of
identification.
There are some plans or drawings on normal white paper and
some of these are coloured to show what the building would look like on
completion.
The plans have been sorted into sections. Each section is
about a certain topic, such as Old Parliament House, but the plan numbers are
not sequential within these sections but were numbered individually on creation
and so the series numbers are roughly chronological.
Until 1932 the plans were often, though not always, given an
‘A’ prefix. The letter may have meant to refer to a broad subject, such as
Canberra but this cannot be confirmed. After 1932 the letter prefix stopped
being used. For data entry and retrieval purposes the prefix has not been
added.
There is also the occasional use of letter suffices. In many
cases these suffices are used within a group of related drawings but in other
cases there is no obvious link between them and they may have been used when a
number was inadvertently duplicated.
Using the series
This series is to be scanned and digital images created on
the National Archives of Australia database. When this project is completed the
originals are not to be issued to the public unless for a specific purpose than
cannot be fulfilled from the image.
Physical characteristics
Plans and drawings of buildings in Canberra. The plans and
drawings are on a variety of papers but the most common is a thick tracing
paper. The size of the plans are very varied and the largest are folded over.
System of arrangement and control
Single number sequence with an occasional letter suffix. Plans
up until 1932 were given an ‘A’ prefix but this is not used to order or
retrieve items and has deliberately not been entered onto the database.
Finding aids
All items in this series have been entered onto the
National Archives of Australia item level database by Preservation staff in
February and March 2003.
Series history
Most of this series was transferred to archival custody on
10 March 1972 though there were lesser transfers up until 1980.
Quantity in agency custody
Microfilm copies of this series were originally held
by CA 2779, Director of Housing and Construction II, ACT Office. As this agency
and those subsequent to it are now defunct it is not known what became of this
copy. It is possibly held by CA 8480, Department of Finance and Administration,
Central Office.