Feiko Bouman

Feiko Bouman (born 10 June 1944) is a Dutch Australian architect and author, best known for his outback museum, The Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame, Longreach Queensland. The building was opened by Queen Elizabeth in 1988.

Early life

Bouman was born in Groningen, Netherlands. His family emigrated to Australia when he was 7 years old. Initially there were difficult beginnings living in distant Menangle Park, followed by then primitive circumstances in Oxford Falls, before the family settled in the Manly area. His education started at Manly Primary School, then Manly Boys High School, situated in North Curl Curl.

Architecture career

Bouman studied architecture at University of NSW, after gaining a Commonwealth scholarship, graduating in 1966. Some years in London followed, including working in the office of Owen Luder Partnership as Design Architect. Back in Sydney, Bouman worked with Colin Madigan in the office of Edwards Madigan Torzillo and Briggs from 1969-1975, initially as Design Architect, and later Associate Director. While in this office he joined with Christopher Kringas, to win the Australia-wide competition for the High Court of Australia Building. In 1976 he commenced his own architectural practice in Balmain.

Architecture milestones / achievements High Court of Australia Building, Canberra. Design team for successful competition entry

North Sydney Oval, North Sydney Civic Centre and Library

North Sydney OvalFrom 1980 to 1988 Ted Mack was mayor of North Sydney Council. During this time, Feiko Bouman carried out and built many major transformative works in the municipality. The Council selected Bouman’s firm from several other submissions, primarily based upon the design quality of, The Stockman’s Hall of Fame. In 2007, Ted Mack launched the book ‘Feiko Bouman Architecture’ and in his launch speech tells a detailed story of the struggles to achieve worthwhile initiatives in local politics. His speech can be seen here.

John Haskell, architectural critic, writing in The Sydney Morning Herald, has described this contribution as "conferred a distinctive visual identity on North Sydney...and...refreshingly free of fads and fashion". The Civic Centre project started modestly; repairing a vacant site next to the Council Chambers, providing a dedicated park and other community facilities. Later the distinctive Civic Centre Offices and Library were built. Around that time, progressively, seven major new buildings were designed and constructed, at North Sydney Oval. The spaces underneath the new stands were used for income-producing activities, including, a colonnade of shops, office space, function rooms and child care centre. Creative modern use of steelwork featured strongly in these buildings, as it would in many other Bouman designs. A child-care centre project in Crows Nest was another innovative project, which has an earth/grass covered roof, publicly accessible and contributes to parkland in the area. It is very energy efficient.

Manly Civic Centre and Library

Manly Civic Centre and LibraryThe Library building was designed as the first stage of a major redevelopment, on a very restricted and isolated site. It initiated a revitalisation of the area and resolves some complex planning problems.

Penrith Civic Centre and Library

Penrith Civic Centre and LibraryPenrith is the centre of a fast-growing area, west of Sydney, rapidly becoming a place of regional significance. Council operated from 4 separate buildings and there was an obvious need to centralise its activities. The completed complex has a strong presence, intended to express developing confidence. Elizabeth Farrelly, in the Sydney Morning Herald, wrote ... "people who work in the Civic Centre lyricise over the sense of endless discovery it brings, and the bytes of surprise visual joy.". She also poses the interesting question ..."Can a building, especially a public building, be liked-loved even-by all inhabitants and not be good architecture?"

Quadrant apartments, Milsons Point

Quadrant Apartments, Milsons PointA landmark building at the northern edge of Sydney Harbour, diagonally opposite the Sydney Opera House. It is now part of an adjacent group of three buildings, all designed by Feiko Bouman. Professor Laszlo Kollar has commented ...” the proposal Quadrant, Milsons Point, follows a timeless theme of architecture which is the transformation of the square on the ground into the circle in the sky. This “marriage” between the square and the circle is the theme of a great number of mankind’s most significant buildings in the East and West...a remarkable contemporary example"

Steel Treehouse, Killcare Beach

Steel Treehouse, Killcare BeachThe overriding approach of the design, was to have minimal impact on the natural beauty of the site. It is virtually a treehouse, constructed on a central core, with large cantilevers extending from the centre. Steel construction is very appropriate for a bushfire-prone area and is further enhanced through the specific roof design. Conventional gutters have been eliminated; through the device of the major curved roof forms, directly flowing onto a “flat” tapered tray system, allowing positive water and leaf run-off, into just one large downpipe, which empties into a grated sump. There are three connected “pavilions” for balance between communal and private areas.

Books

- Dutch translation upside-down world

Articles in the media

John Lahey, "Opera House of the Outback", The Age, 31 July 1987 John Haskell, "North Sydney Oval", Sydney Morning Herald, 18 March 1987 Professor John Haskell, "North Sydney discovers its own Wren", Sydney Morning Herald, 22 February 1989 Philip Drew, "Outback Cathedral", Architecture Bulletin, August edition 1988 Philip Drew, "Mother Cylinder", Architecture Bulletin, August edition 1988 "North Sydney ... first in child care design", The Northern Herald, 16 June 1988 Peter Ward, "Robust Penrith Civic Centre", The Weekend Australian, 16–17 April 1994 E M Farrelly, "Penrith defies the westie cringe", Sydney Morning Herald, 17 October 1995 Gwenda Edwards, "The Greenhouse effect/Killcare", The Daily Telegraph, 6 February 1999 Jenny Wills, "Dutch courage", The Sunday Telegraph, 31 August 2003 Tone Wheeler "AAA looks at Penrith Civic Centre and Library", Architecture & Design, 27 February 2020 Jesse "Bouman’s Career in Hardback", Indesignlive, 30 October 2007