Rationale

 The prefabricated buildings of the nineteenth century, known at the time as ‘portable buildings’, constitute an international phenomenon of historical, economic and technical significance.

 The growth of prefabrication was one of the major outcomes of the Industrial Revolution, and these buildings are also associated with historical, episodes of great moment – including exploration, gold rushes (in Australia and the USA), the Crimean War and the development of steam navigation.  They are also a reflection of economic conditions, because the trade in buildings required cheaper labour, cheaper materials and/or superior production capacity in the country of origin, as compared with the country of receipt.  The trade reacted sensitively to changes in demand or in costs (notably the rise in the price of iron in the mid-1850s).

 Prefabrication always stimulates the most advanced building technology, and in this case that technology included:

·             the first panelised systems in timber

·             various patented systems of cast iron framing components

·             carpentry adapting Malay and Chinese traditions to European requirements

·             a patent system combining timber and iron

·             cladding in sheet zinc

·             cladding in corrugated galvanised iron

·             continuous arched roofing in corrugated iron, using minimal ties

·             cast plate iron with lead-run joints

·             patent conical roof vents

 Fortuitously, most of the world’s surviving examples are in Australia, and especially Victoria. They came mainly but by no means exclusively in response to the gold discoveries of the 1850s, because by the 1850s suppliers were geared up for export, having already sent buildings - in much smaller numbers - to the Californian gold rushes. All of the early Californian examples have since been destroyed, and an interesting side-effect of this is that the Australian buildings best illustrate what was once to be found in San Francisco.  Australia not only has more prefabricated buildings of this period than any other country: it has, by a considerable margin, more than the rest of the world combined.

The critical period is approximately 1840 to 1880, because this is when the Australian market was pre-eminent.  After this time prefabricated structures are important elsewhere, such as Latin America, although the numbers are far smaller.  But if the period 1840 to 1880 were strictly adhered to, it would exclude some extremely significant buildings in Western Australia and the Northern Territory.  Therefore the list incorporated in this proposal consists of examples imported up to 1900.  It does not include buildings prefabricated within Australia itself.

 There are 119 known examples (though some are very fragmentary).  65 of these are in Victoria, 17 in New South Wales, 17 in South Australia, 5 in Tasmania, 4 in Queensland, 9 in Western Australia, and 2 in the Northern Territory. A majority are already protected under the relevant heritage controls, and a number are in public ownership or in accessible uses such as guest houses, restaurants and shops. A significant proportion of them, perhaps 20%, are too fragmentary or altered to be understood visually, but they are nevertheless important to the story of prefabrication in Australia.

 The national benefits of World Heritage listing in terms of prestige, tourism and national identity are well understood and have been demonstrated by the previous listings of cultural and natural sites, the former being:

 ·        Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens

·        Sydney Opera House

·        Australian Convict Sites

·        Budj Bim Cultural Landscape