Anzac Memorial Centenary Extension | JPW - Johnson Pilton Walker

Completed in 1934, the Anzac Memorial is the principal war memorial in New South Wales. It is a landmark of great historic and social significance.

The Centenary Project sought to provide the Memorial with new functional underground spaces for exhibition, education and collection storage, a library and visitor facilities. It also added a water cascade to the south of the existing building, in response to the original scheme by the original Memorial architect, Bruce Dellit.

The architectural design response organized the required facilities around a new symbolic central chamber, named “Hall of Service”. This space is designed along the original building main axis and is visually connected through an open oculus to the Memorial, the existing Hall of Memory, Hyde Park and the city beyond.

The axial, sequential entry to the new underground spaces through the water cascade is enriched with a sensorial experience as the sounds of the cascade progressively dampen the noise of the city and focus the visitor on the essential nature of the Memorial.

The spatial and emotional qualities of the existing Memorial are carried through the Hall of Service and the new underground building: rigorous architectural composition, axial organization of spaces, exact proportions, noble materials and crafted detailing continue the visitor experience from the original building into the new one. Just as the existing Hall of Memory is open and connected to the surrounding park, so too natural light enters through the new oculus, a reference to the existing Well of Contemplation, and transforms the Hall of Service throughout the day and the seasons, making it an integral part of the public domain above.

While Rayner Hoff’s sculptures enrich the existing Memorial architecture, new Fiona Hall’s artworks add further conceptual meaning to the Hall of Service. The work incorporates the soil from 1701 New South Wales communities where soldiers enlisted for the First World War and soil form 100 battle sites. The experience of this space is intensified by the stories of soil collection around the State and around the World: the Hall of Service truly becomes a space belonging to the community as visitors connect to the names on the walls in different, personal ways.

The new addition is a contemporary response to its place through strong references to the existing Memorial and builds on Bruce Dellit’s original plans for the wider urban precinct. It delivers a unique and coherent experience where the existing informs the new, and the new complements the existing.

The design of the Centenary Project contributes to the contemporary relevance of the Memorial engaging visitors deeply through the experience of architecture and art.