Edward Henry (Harry) Rembert (1902-1966) was born in Hurstville, Sydney and was articled in 1920 (backdated from 1922) to architect Thomas J. Darling, with a requirement that Rembert attend Sydney Technical College night classes. He was registered as an architect in 1924 and then worked for Henry White, architect of various cinemas in Sydney and Melbourne during 1925 and 1926. Later in 1926, he joined the NSW Department of Public Works, where his first projects included the Quirindi Courthouse (1930), the Department of Electrical Engineering at Sydney Technical College (1931) and the children’s ward at Parramatta Hospital (1933). He also designed five houses, including his own residence, ‘Fairway’ in Blaxland Road, Wentworth Falls (1935-late 1940s); the Barrow house, Blaxland Road, Wentworth Falls; the Diment house, ‘Grunewald’, Falls Road, Wentworth Falls (1934); the Adlide house, Neirbo Avenue, Hurstville (1935) and the Johnson house, Weemala Road, Northbridge (undated). His mid-career buildings included the masterplan, science building, mechanical engineering building, trades classroom building and the Chandler Building for Newcastle Technical College (1934 onwards); the boot trades school block and Hoskins Block for Sydney Technical College (1938); the Fort Street Primary School on Observatory Hill (1941); a maternity block for the Royal Hospital for Women; the private ward block (1944) and (with others) the general ward block (1946) for St Margaret’s Hospital, Surry Hills; the Regent Street Police Station (mid 1940s); the Wallace lecture theatre at Sydney University (1945); the Milton house, Wentwiorth Falls (1948) and the Lambert house, Leura (1946). In 1947, he was appointed senior designing architect under Government Architects Cobden Parkes and Ted Farmer, Harry Rembert ran the Design Room of the NSW Public Works Department. He mentored a group of key trainees who dramatically influenced the office’s quality of work: Peter Webber, who later became Government Architect (joined in 1948), Ken Woolley (1950), Peter Hall (1952), Michael Dysart (1955), Andrew Andersons (1959), Lionel Glendenning (1959), Ian Thomson, a later Government Architect (1960), Ross Bonthorne (1960), Colin Still (1961) and Ted Mack (1961). A creative environment had built up with the design room driving the architectural agenda. This small number of architects became interested in Scandanavian architecture and Scandanavian characteristics appeared in a number of their buildings. In 1955, Rembert took a four month study tour to the United States, Europe and the UK and in 1958 declined because of poor health to stand for the position of Government Architect being vacated by Cobden Parkes. Rembert retired in 1965.
Sources
—Webber, Peter. Probably 1982. E.H. Rembert: The Life and Work of the Sydney Architect 1902-1966. Sydney: University of Sydney and NSW Department of Public Works.
—Brochures from the NSW Government Architects Office
- Writers:
-
Davina Jackson
- Date written:
- 2015
- Last updated:
- 2015
