WITH the announcement that the Australian War Memorial will receive $498 million towards a huge expansion, it was also announced that Anzac Hall will be demolished – and architects aren’t happy. 

The “deeply distressed” Australian Institute of Architects is determined to fight any plans to demolish Anzac Hall, saying it’s a major public work and it’s not disposable.

While fully supporting moves to honour and better tell the stories of Australia’s servicemen and women, the Australian Institute of Architects national president, Clare Cousins, says the institute was shocked at the lack of consultation with the community, the institute and the architectural moral right holders of the existing structure.

Opened in 2001 at a reported cost of $17 million, Anzac Hall has been lauded for its sensitivity to the heritage and cultural context of this national memorial while also providing functional design. 

Architect Denton Corker Marshall won the Institute’s prestigious national Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Architecture for the building in 2005. 

“As architects we are passionate about preserving Australia’s heritage and honouring our national history, nowhere more so than the extraordinary service and sacrifice of our servicemen and women,” Ms Cousins says.

“That’s why Anzac Hall was designed with such care and sensitivity to the highest standards of design excellence.

“Bringing in the bulldozers to destroy such an investment – of effort, of culture and at the end of the day taxpayer dollars – is a colossal waste and mark of disrespect.

“It is incomprehensible that in planning what would otherwise be such a welcome extension at the War Memorial, so little regard has been shown for the cultural significance of Anzac Hall, which is a national landmark and much-loved exhibition space.

“The apparent secrecy surrounding the plans, which were reportedly being explored since 2015, together with the complete lack of consultation is hugely disturbing.

“There has to be another way forward and the Institute is willing to work with the Federal Government and the Australian War Memorial’s management to find an acceptable alternative.”