St Kilda Domestic Air Raid Shelter
23 MITFORD STREET ST KILDA, PORT PHILLIP CITY
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Statement of Significance
David V Isaacs, a consulting engineer, designed this air raid shelter for the owner, Mrs Sicree in December 1940. Construction began in February 1941. The builders were Pollard Brothers.
Research has clearly established that the Sicree shelter is not typical of those structures commonly constructed in great numbers by citizens in their backyards after 1941. The shelter is unusual for its very early date, the sophistication of its engineering and for the lack of soil cover over the concrete roof. The comfort provided for the few occupants is also unusual. The sophisticated design of the air raid shelter suggests a British influence. It was later shown that the extra effort and cost of elaborate subterranean concrete shelters was not justified by a corresponding improvement in protection. The shelter remains surprisingly intact.
There is added significance in the association through the engineer, Isaacs, with the earliest official concern about home defence. Isaacs was a member of a sub-committee formed by the Royal Victorian Institute of Architects and the Institution of Engineers, Australia, Melbourne division. The two bodies had been asked to prepare a series of reports to the State Emergency Council for Civil Defence early in 1940.
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St Kilda Domestic Air Raid Shelter - Physical Description 1
Date Started 1941; Date Finished ; Storeys 0; Desc INDIVIDUAL BUILDING OR GROUP; Walls REINFORCED CONCRETE;
St Kilda Domestic Air Raid Shelter - Usage/Former Usage
; UNKNOWN ;
Veterans Description for Public
St Kilda Domestic Air Raid Shelter - Veterans Description for Public
The St Kilda Air domestic air raid shelter was designed by the engineer David V Isaacs for the Sicree family in February 1941, when, following the bombing of Rotterdam and the fall of France in June 1940, precautions against air attack were being investigated in Victoria. The builders were Pollard Brothers.
The Sicree shelter is not typical of those structures commonly constructed in great numbers by citizens in their backyards after 1941. The shelter is far more elaborate and costly than the subsequent local examples, and is of reinforced concrete with a barrel-vaulted ceiling, escape hatch in the toilet compartment, hand basin, three bunks, two folding benches, and food containers.The level of comfort provided in the designfor the few occupants, also makes its unusual. The sophisticated design of the air raid shelter suggests a British influence. It was later shown that the extra effort and cost of elaborate subterranean concrete shelters was not justified by a corresponding improvement in protection. The shelter remains surprisingly intact.
There is added significance in the association through the engineer, Isaacs, with the earliest official concern about home defence. Isaacs was a member of a sub-committee formed by the Royal Victorian Institute of Architects and the Institution of Engineers, Australia, Melbourne division. The two bodies had been asked to prepare a series of reports to the State Emergency Council for Civil Defence early in 1940.
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