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HERITAGE
Demaine Partnership has a long
and distinguished heritage. From R S Demaine Architects in
1938, our company evolved to become Demaine, Russell and Trundle in
1943, then in 1957 Demaine, Russell, Trundle, Armstong and
Orton. In the mid 1980s the company adopted its present name,
Demaine Partnership.
Here is a summary of the
achievements of our former partners.
Robert S
Demaine
Robert Snowden Demaine was born
in 1895. He served during the First World War in Egypt and
France, returning to Australia in 1919. He was admitted to
the Victorian Institute of architects in 1923, working in various
architectural offices including Stephenson and Turner, a leading
health practice of the period. He commenced private practice
under his own name in 1937. During the Second World War,
he acted as locum architect to a number of Victorian architectural
practices in implementing important wartime building projects, when
directors were serving overseas. This experience provided a
basis for development of a strong Victoria based practice during
the post war period, and as early as 1945 Robert Demaine was
considered an authority on hospital and industrial building
design. In 1945 he was elected president of Royal Victorian
Institute of Architects, and from 1952-1954 served as Australian
president of the Royal Australian Institute of
Architects.
Arthur Russell
Ailsa Merle Trundle
(1916-2002)
Ailsa Merle Trundle was born in
Murwillumbah, New South Wales, and was one of the first
Australian women to be offered a partnership in an architectural
firm (Associate,1946, partner, 1956). She specialized in designing
for the welfare field, designing facilities for the Autistic
Children's Association, the Presbyterian Home for the Aged, the
Greenvale Geriatric Centre, the Carnsworth Garoopna Nursing Home
and the Dalkeith Home for the Aged, amongst others. -The
University of Melbourne eScholarship Research
Centre.
Tony Armstrong
Lloyd Orton
(1918-1996)
Educated at Camberwell Grammar
and Scotch College, Lloyd Orton seriously considered becoming
a sculptor until his parents persuaded him that this might not be
the best way of making a living. in 1936, he enrolled in
architecture at the Melbourne Technical College, graduating 10
years later from the University of Melbourne. when the war
intervened, he served with the Corps of Royal Australian Engineers
in the Middle East, New Guinea and the South West Pacific; he was
discharged with the rank of Captain.
After finishing his degree, Orton
travelled in Europe and the United States on a Haddon Scholarship,
and extended his stay to study sculpture in an M.Arch course at
Cornell University, New York.
Two years after returning to
Melbourne in 1951, he co-founded the firm of Armstrong & Orton.
In 1957, this office joined with Demaine, Russell and Trundle in an
expanded practice which he co-directed until 1984. During that
period, he also served as President of the RAIA's Victorian
chapter, president of the Swinburne Technical College and Mayor of
the Melbourne municipality of Hawthorn.
After his retirement, he returned
to sculpture and rapidly produced pieces in stone, wood and bronze
which were exhibited in group displays around Victoria, and was
awarded prizes by the Association of Sculptors of Victoria. Over
eight visits to Zimbabwe, he worked closely with the Shona
sculptors-displaying great humility and perseverance in working on
his sculpture while sitting on a hard stump under a tree for many
hours in blinding heat. Back in Melbourne, his passionate
explanation of a Shona piece could move an audience to
tears—Tony Armstrong.
Lloyd Orton's legacy is also
found in the Scotch College Orton Family Music Scholarship program,
based on a substantial bequest to the school made in 2006 from the
estate of Lloyd's wife, Helene. The scholarship also
commemorates Lloyd's father, Albert Orton, a teacher and later in
charge of admissions at the school.
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