A man of wide interests, Gustav Joachimi practised as an architect for the Public Works Departments of Victoria and South Australia, and as a private architect in Adelaide.
Joachimi was born in 1826 to Reverend Gottlieb and Frau Fridrika Joachimi of Anhalt, Germany, with extended family members including a Chief Justice, a Chief Magistrate, a Baron and a Mayor. He arrived in Australia from Saxony in 1854 and was employed as an architect by the newly formed Public Works Department (PWD) in Melbourne, Victoria. He later taught at the Artisans’ School of Design (‘The Artisans’ School of Design’, 1872: 6). Joachimi married Elizabeth Mary Purser Padley in 1859, whose father, Thomas, was a builder. Padley built a house in East Melbourne for Joachimi in 1864 and later extended it (‘East Melbourne, Gipps Street 155’). The couple had three sons, two of whom died in infancy, and three daughters (‘Announcements’, 1899: 42; Ancestry.com.au).
Joachimi designed a number of notable public buildings during his tenure with the Victorian PWD. These included the Pentridge Gaol Entrance Gates Building (1858-9) which was in a mediaeval style common in England at that time, and Victoria Barracks A Block (1860-7) which was in Victorian Classical style. These and the former Benalla Court House (1865) are listed on the Australian Heritage Places Inventory (Australian Heritage Commission, 1983: 18, 81, 176).
The earliest account of Gustav Joachimi C.E (Civil Engineer) in South Australian newspapers is in connection with a lecture he gave in Victoria about the cultivation of beetroot sugar (‘Agricultural and Station Memoranda’, 1874: 7; ‘Mittheilungen aus Melbourne’, 1874: 7). He referred to a neighbouring colony being suitable for such production and may well have meant South Australia as he presented another lecture on this subject in Adelaide on 18 November 1875 for an Exhibition mounted by the Chamber of Manufactures. Described as a member of the Berlin and Victorian Institutes of Architects, Joachimi provided a history of the development of the industry across the world and a detailed methodology of cultivation. Upon being thanked, Joachimi ‘pointed out the usefulness of the Chamber of Manufactures as an institution, but said he did not think it went far enough … He recommended schools of design … and said that if any such school was established in South Australia he would be very happy to give his services gratuitously as a lecturer’ (‘Second Day’, 1875: 8).
It is not clear why Joachimi came to Adelaide, but it appears he was ‘let go’ from his position with the Victorian PWD (‘Carl Gustav Joachimi’). His attendance at a Queen’s Birthday Levee at Government House, Adelaide, in 1875, indicates he was resident in South Australia by at least May of that year (‘The Levee’, 1875: 25). Membership records of the South Australian Institute for 1876 show he was living in Flinders Street (Subscribers, South Australian Institute, State Records of South Australia). Later, he was on De Deutsche Club committee and a member of the Concordia Lodge (Sands & McDougall Directory 1882: 462; Chronicle, 1885: 6). He contributed Letters to the Editor on a range of topics, from beautifying the Torrens Lake to establishing a Government Bank and currency, in which he showed a broad knowledge (‘The Torrens Lake’, 1885: 5; ‘A Hint for the Treasurer’, 1885: 22). Joachimi’s death notice refers to his employment in the Public Works Department of South Australia although his name does not appear in the Appointment lists in the South Australian Government Gazettes for 1872 through to 1876. Entries in South Australian Directories show that he worked, at times, as a surveyor.
In December 1876 Joachimi submitted plans for the University of Adelaide design competition. He expressed concern that his proposal would be too late as the deadline for entries had changed. This alteration was subsequently rescinded. (Joachimi, ‘Explanation for late delivery of plans’, 1876). On 28 February 1877 he wrote to the Editor of the Advertiser in response to criticism of his design for the university (Collegiate Tudor style), stating there had been no criticism of the use of such a style for the University of Melbourne for which he had been a junior some 20 years previously (‘The University Designs’, 1877: 5). Further correspondence between the University and other architects in the competition indicates that Joachimi did not gain a prize. As was usual, he was subsequently requested to ‘remove’ his plans at his ‘early convenience’ (Barlow, ‘Requesting removal of the University Building Plans’, 1877).
In the above correspondence Joachimi was practising at 168 Rundle Street, Adelaide, where he remained until moving to Paddock Chambers in 1883. These chambers were first listed as being on Flinders Street then later Wakefield Street. His private address changed from Flinders Street to Birrell Street, Norwood in 1887 (Boothby/Sands and McDougall Directories).
In 1886 G. & G. Joachimi were listed as inaugural members of the South Australian Institute of Architects (SAIA), the second ‘G’ being his son, Gustav (SAIA Roll Book). Gustav Senior was elected a Fellow by 1887. Together, they had evidently submitted plans for the proposed Jubilee Exhibition building, as they joined others in the protest ‘against the unfair treatment we with our fellow competitors have been subjected to by the Choosing Committee’ (‘To the Editor’, 1886: 3). This commission was eventually awarded to the previously disqualified entry by Withall & Wells (Rymill, 2009). It appears Joachimi Senior worked until 1887 and remained in the SAIA listing until 1889. His son had returned to Melbourne prior to his marriage at St Matthew’s Church, Kensington, South Australia in 1887 (‘Joachimi-Cox’, 1887; 4). Gustav Joachimi Junior subsequently moved to Western Australia and it was at his residence in Victoria Park, Perth that Gustav Joachimi Senior died in 1899.
Joachimi had established a steady practice in Adelaide for residential and commercial projects (Jensen & Jensen). In 1878-79 he was the supervising architect for the German Club on Pirie Street, Adelaide, designed by Melbourne architect, G.R. Johnson (‘The new German club house’, 1878: 6; Marsden et al, 1990: 118).
Joachimi was responsible for a new building for the Port Adelaide Market Company in 1879. It consisted of shops and offices around an arcade with stalls, and a hotel, all of which now have local heritage status (‘Opening of the Port Adelaide Market’, 1879: 4). He made substantial additions to a house on South Terrace under instruction from Mr Bruggeman as part of its conversion to a private hospital. The most notable section was ‘a fine two-story structure, sixty feet in extent, having two wings and a recess, with a nicely sheltered balcony, from where the convalescents can enjoy a splendid southern aspect of the hills’; and ‘indeed, the architect seems to have recognised every possible desire there could be on the part of inmates of such an institution’ (‘Private Hospital’, 1883:4, 5; Chronicle, 1883: 23).
On the corner of South and East Terraces is perhaps Joachimi’s most flamboyant work. Ochiltree House (1882), built for pastoralist, businessman and politician, John Rounsevell, has been attributed to him as his tender was the only one for such a commission for that area and size within an eight month period (Marsden et al: 212). It has a Victorian Italianate appearance and an unusual French influenced mansard roof. Its architectural merit and connection to that particular boom time, has resulted in its listing on the State Heritage Register (SHR: ID 13461).
A further commission currently under nomination for the State Heritage Register is a pair of two-storey, semi-detached houses at 323-325 Wakefield Street, Adelaide. These bluestone houses were built for J.F.D. Langhans in 1882. Plans and elevations in ink and watercolour are contained in the Langhan Family Papers held by the State Library of South Australia (PRG 880). In 2009 an application for demolition was made, however they have now been included on the Adelaide City Council’s Local Heritage List and are currently extant (Beaumont, 2010: 14,15).
Alison McDougall
Citation details
McDougall, Alison, ‘Joachimi, Gustav Carl’, Architecture Museum, University of South Australia, 2014, Architects of South Australia: [http://www.architectsdatabase.unisa.edu.au/arch_full.asp?Arch_ID=124] | 
Architects of South Australia, Copyright 2008, Updated regularly