OFFICER UNION CHURCH & PUBLIC HALL (FORMER LIBRARY)
16-18 TIVENDALE ROAD, OFFICER, CARDINIA SHIRE
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Statement of Significance
What is significant?
Officer Public Hall and Officer Union Church, in Tivendale Road, Officer. The two buildings sit side by side on a large block of open land, with a windbreak of mature pine trees along the southern boundary. Officer Public Hall, built in 1913, is a simple, gable-fronted timber building with a corrugated-iron clad roof and a gabled open front porch (added 1915). There is a rear extension added in 1922. Later extensions, on the sides, are not significant, nor are the recent neo- Federation details. The Officer Union Church was designed by architect H. Vivian Taylor. Construction commenced in 1929. It is a small, red brick gable-fronted building with simple Romanesque Revival features, buttresses, and a terracotta tile roof, which appear to be entirely intact.
How is it significant?
Officer Public Hall and Officer Union Church are of local historical, social and architectural significance to Cardinia Shire.
Why is it significant?
Officer Public Hall, in its open landscape setting with mature pine windbreak, is historically significant as an early surviving public building in Officer and as a township landmark (RNE criterion B.2). It has associations with an important early family in the district, the Tivendales, for whom the road was named (RNE criterion H.1). Officer Public Hall is socially significant for its strong associations with the Officer community as the focus of their social life for nearly a century. (RNE criterion G.1)
Officer Union Church is architecturally significant as a highly intact example of a modest interwar brick church of Romanesque influence (RNE criterion D.2). Also for its associations with its designer, architect H. Vivian Taylor (RNE criterion H.1).
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OFFICER UNION CHURCH & PUBLIC HALL (FORMER LIBRARY) - Physical Description 1
Officer Union Church and Officer Public Hall sit side by side on a large block of open land, with a windbreak of mature pine trees along the southern boundary of the site. They are both set back from the road, the Hall approached via a wide semi-circular drive.
The Hall of 1913 is a utilitarian, gable-fronted timber building with a corrugated-metal roof. It has a simple, gabled open porch at the centre of the facade, under which is a rectangular ledged double door. The north side elevation has three windows, and a ledged door between the second and third. The rear third of this elevation is covered by a skillion-roofed extension with an entrance porch with inappropriate ornament (neo-Federation). The south side elevation also has three windows. At the rear is a partially enclosed entrance porch linked to a detached toilet block via another 'neo- Federation' porch. There is a large skillion-roof extension to the rear of the building as well. Decorative timber brackets and a finial have been added to the front porch, as well. The entire building has been covered in vinyl siding. The windows have been replaced with aluminium oneover- one sashes.
The Church, of 1929, sits on the south half of the site. It is a small, red brick gable-fronted building with simple Romanesque Revival features. It has a steeply pitched roof, clad in terracotta tiles. Copper guttering appears to be original. The facade has a low parapet, following the line of the gable, with heavy rectangular buttress on either side. There is a large cross at the apex of the gable, below which are three small multi-pane round-headed windows. The Church is entered via an enclosed porch at the centre of the facade. Its form echoes that of the church itself: a parapeted gable-front with buttresses on the sides. It also has a terracotta-tile roof. The entrance is roundheaded ledged double door beneath a brick arch accented by projecting bricks. There are roundheaded windows on the side elevations of the porch. The side elevations of the church are punctuated by two shallow 'buttresses' (more like engaged piers), which reach to the height of the tops of the three round-headed windows.
The rear (east) elevation is very austere, with two large corner buttresses and two narrower ones between them. There is a gabled parapet like that of the facade. Just above the two centre buttresses is a circular window. There is a round-headed (double) ledged door between buttresses on the north side. The Church does not appear to have any external alterations and is in good condition. The interior of the church is also intact [1].
Heritage Study and Grading
Cardinia - Cardinia Local Heritage Study Review
Author: Context P/L
Year: 2007
Grading: Local
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BERWICK POTTERYCardinia Shire
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JAMES HICKS PTY LTD POTTERYCardinia Shire
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