Edwin Hubert Henderson Architect
This site is dedicated to the life and work of Edwin Hubert Henderson, architect (1885-1939). Henderson was Chief Architect of the Commonwealth of Australia from 1929-1939.
His Banks
Henderson is perhaps best known for his work on buildings of the Commonwealth Bank across Australia.
An incomplete list of banks designed under Henderson’s direction follows. The images are drawn from contemporary journals, newspaper articles and photos. If you know of other banks, please let me know.
New South Wales
Goulburn
Gordon
Grafton
Hay
Henty
Inverell
Lismore
Maroubra Junction
North Sydney
Nyngan
Sydney
Windsor
Woolloongong
Victoria
Brunswick
Melbourne
Prahran
Queensland
Clayfield
Fortitude Valley
Ipswich
Maryborough
Rockhampton
Stones Corner
South Australia
Adelaide
Western Australia
Midland Junction
Perth
Edwin Hubert Henderson Architect 
So just had a quick look on line to see how many of this distinctive Deco commonwealth banks there are in Melbourne (I found five, two with excellent cylindrical entry features).
I also found there were similar nut not the same designs in NSW and Brisbane, so do you think they all show the hand if Henderson, perhaps with details NY others
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Thanks for your post! Henderson was certainly highly influential on bank design in the 1930s, and the similarities are striking. For example, in Brisbane, he designed the Stones Corner, Clayfield and (I believe) Red Hill branches, which all shared deco features. As he was the Chief Architect, it appears that he had significant administrative responsibilities and yet he still found time to oversee projects of notable beauty. Each state had its own Works Director. The architects in the Works Department were centralised in Canberra in 1929. I’ll put up profiles on the banks in the future.
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Oops didn’t finish – details ‘By others’. And was there such a thing as state architects, or did they all come out of Canberra?
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