Parliament House in Darwin has been the seat of the

Northern Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory (also known as the Parliament of the Northern Territory) is the unicameral legislature of Australia’s Northern Territory. The Legislative Assembly has 25 members, each elected in single-member ...

since 1994. Parliament House is located on State Square in the centre of Darwin, which is also the administrative centre of the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

law and government. It features

Postmodern Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting the wo ...

features and was designed by architect Tim Rogers, of Meldrum Burrows and Partners Pty Ltd. It is

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

's newest parliament building. Construction of Parliament House began in 1990. The building was completed in 1994, and officially opened by the Governor-General of Australia, Bill Hayden on 18 August 1994. The Northern Territory Library is also housed in Parliament House.

History

The former Northern Territory Legislative Council established in 1948 was housed in various temporary buildings around Darwin until 1955, when the former site of the Palmerston Post Office, destroyed in the

Bombing of Darwin The Bombing of Darwin, also known as the Battle of Darwin, on 19 February 1942 was the largest single attack ever mounted by a foreign power on Australia. On that day, 242 Empire of Japan, Japanese aircraft, in two separate raids, attacked the ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, was redeveloped to house the Council. The current building stands on the same site. After 1974, the

continued to operate from the site and adjacent government buildings. In 1988, the NT government announced the planned construction of State Square, which was to house a new Parliament House and Supreme Court. The buildings on the site were demolished in 1990 to allow commencement of the construction of Parliament House. From 1990 to the end of 1994, the Assembly temporarily met in the Chan Building.

Current building

The current building was constructed between 1990 and 1994 as a part of State Square, which also includes the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, car parks and landscaping at a total cost at the time of around $170 million. Two workers were killed during construction when a crane collapsed in March 1991 - the memorial fountain in the Speaker's Green is dedicated to their memory. The building incorporates cyclone resistance features and

passive solar building design In passive solar building design, windows, walls, and floors are made to collect, store, reflect, and distribute solar energy, in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer. This is called passive solar design because, unli ...

in its parasol roof and façade, which diffuse about 80% of direct sunlight. The building was designed to serve for 100 years, and to be adaptable and able to accommodate increasing usage. The colour scheme of the Legislative Assembly Chamber is green with eucalyptus motifs on the walls, commemorating the similar shading of the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Australian Senate, Senate. Its composition and powers are set out in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. ...

, itself commemorating the brighter green of the

House of Commons of the United Kingdom The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

. The chamber provides for 25 members with room for further members in the future. In addition to the Legislative Assembly Chamber, the building also houses the Department of the Legislative Assembly, parliamentary offices and Counsel, media facilities, a café, a craft shop, and the Northern Territory Library.

Awards

In 2023 the building was awarded the Northern Territory Enduring Architecture Award by the Northern Territory Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects. The award recognises longevity and civic contribution of the building to Darwin and the Territory.

References

External links

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Parliament House History

Northern Territory Legislative Assembly website
{{Darwin, Northern Territory landmarks Legislative buildings in Australia Buildings and structures in Darwin, Northern Territory Tourist attractions in Darwin, Northern Territory Parliament of the Northern Territory 1994 establishments in Australia Government buildings completed in 1994 Postmodern architecture in Australia