Holyman House is an iconic

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

building in the central business district of Launceston,

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, Australia. The building was designed by H. S. East and Roy Sharrington Smith architects, of Launceston, with Clive Steele, of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, as consulting engineer. The building was built in 1936 to house the various branches of Holymans shipping and aviation interests as well as an automobile showroom for Holyman's automotive division. The building was designed to reflect the bold futuristic vision of the Holyman Company with the sleek curves, neon-lit spire and modern steel frame construction. Holyman House was most infamously the headquarters of

Australian National Airways Australian National Airways (ANA) was Australia's predominant aerial carrier from the mid-1930s to the early 1950s. The Holyman's Airways period On 19 March 1932 Flinders Island Airways began a regular aerial service using the Desoutter Mk.I ...

, an evolution of Holyman's Airways. After the fall of the Holyman's empire in the 1950s, it was sold to

Ansett Australia Ansett Australia was a major Australian airline group, based in Melbourne, Australia. The airline flew domestically within Australia and from the 1990s to destinations in Asia. After operating for 65 years, the airline was placed into adminis ...

and eventually divided into office spaces. Holyman House now houses a travel centre on the ground level corner allotment where the flight lounge used to be. The building is on the

Tasmanian Heritage Register The Tasmanian Heritage Register is the statutory heritage register of the Australian state of Tasmania. It is defined as a list of areas currently identified as having historic cultural heritage importance to Tasmania as a whole. The Register is k ...

. There is also a heritage listed building in Flinders Street,

, Victoria with the same name.

Records

University of Tasmania special collections holds records of the operations of the Holyman businesses related to the building.

Plans

The Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

hold plans made for the construction of the building.

Gallery

References

{{Launceston landmarks Art Deco architecture in Tasmania Buildings and structures in Launceston, Tasmania Aviation in Australia Tasmanian Heritage Register