Hospitals Stephenson's firm designed most of the major hospitals built in Australia in the 1930s.
Robin Boyd wrote in his book,
Victorian Modern (1947), "hospitals gave modern architecture in Australia its first big break". The early 20th century saw advancements in medical technology and treatments, which transformed hospitals into a symbol of modern and healthy society. Stephenson took full advantage of this and traveled to America in 1926–7 to research the most modern developments in hospital design and equipment. They immediately embarked on a number of hospital commissions, such as the Wangaratta Base Hospital, the
Jesse McPherson wing of the
Queen Victoria Hospital then located in William Street, and a large campus for 'crippled children' for the children's hospital at Somers. The firm's first major city hospital commission was the Healy Wing at
St Vincent's Hospital in
Fitzroy, where Stephenson provided efficient planning and accommodation of modern medical technology. All these hospitals were designed in eclectic styles typical of American hospitals, St Vincent's being the most adventurous – the design of 1928 was a massive block with arched windows at each end and columns flanking the entrance, a design which evolved when it was finally built in 1931–34 taking on some more Art Deco characteristics of a stepped skyscraper profile and patterned brickwork that varied from dark at the base to light on the top storeys. 1934|alt=|300x300px It wasn't until after Stephenson's second research trip in 1932–33 to continental Europe that hospital design in Australia drastically changed. Stephenson was inspired by European Modernism, particularly Bijvoet and
Jan Duiker's
Zonnestraal Sanatorium (1928) in the Netherlands, and the
Paimio Sanatorium (1929–33) in Finland by
Alvar Aalto, which Stephenson described as a way "to express in the simplest form the function of the building in the most appropriate materials". ,
Sydney|alt=|408x408px The success of the Mercy was followed by a succession of hospital commissions in Australia for Stephenson and Meldrum (replaced by Turner in 1937), most featuring long sweeping horizontal balconies with curved corners on a body of cream brick, a streamlined ‘functionalist’ idiom. The
Freemason's Hospital (1936) in
East Melbourne, defined by its horizontal balconies, was followed by the tall wedge-shaped United Dental Hospital (1940) in Sydney, and the rectilinear Pathology Block at the
Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne in 1941. In 1936 they began designing the new
Royal Melbourne Hospital in
Parkville, completed in 1942, which served as an American military hospital during
World War II (returned to civilian use in 1944). The front façade design departed from the sweeping horizontality that Stephenson's hospitals were known for; instead they opted for a simple and pared back
International Style, though the rear facade did include their signature sweeping white horizontal balconies. While work on the Royal Melbourne Hospital was underway, they also designed for Sydney the
King George V Hospital for Mothers and Babies (1939–41), which features the sweeping horizontal balconies on the front facades, and the
Concord Repatriation General Hospital, completed in 1942, which repeated the design of the Royal Melbourne, with a plain front dominated by a tower elements, and the sweeping balconies on the rear, but more visible than on the tight Melbourne site.
International expositions Stephenson and Turner designed the Australian pavilions at three international exhibitions, which demonstrated both his commitment to Modernism and the firms status. The Australian pavilion at the International Exposition of Arts & Technology in Modern Life in Paris (1937), was a stark cylinder, while the Australian Pavilion at the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition in
Wellington, New Zealand in 1940, was an essay in intersecting volumes, with a bold stylised classical portico. The 1939
New York World's Fair work was an interior design only, as it was an attached wing of the British Pavilion (Stanley Hall & Easton and Robertson) and was noted for collaborations with artists and photographers to create a dynamic modern experience; the United States honoured Stephenson with citizenship for his work. Stephenson and Turner, like many other firms, was hit hard by the
global economic downturn during the mid-1980s, and merged with John Castles to become Castles, Stephenson and Turner in 1995.
21st century Since 2000, all Australian operations have closed down. Stephenson & Turner operates out of four offices in New Zealand, in Auckland, Waikato, Wellington and Christchurch, specialising in social infrastructure buildings and carrying on its heritage in healthcare architecture. == Major projects ==