Brian

12/06/1922

A passionate advocate for architecture and both the built and natural environment, Brian Polomka’s influence in Adelaide in both preservation and design spanned some five decades.

Polomka, whose grandfather was Polish, was born in Melbourne in 1922 after his parents, Louis and Ethel, had moved there from Adelaide. They had leased a pub in Prahran but decided to return to Adelaide when Brian was seven. They rented a small house in Birkenhead and Louis became a contractor. From there Brian attended Le Fevre Primary and Woodville High schools. In 1936, at the age of 13, he won a three-year scholarship through the Port Adelaide Institute to the South Australian School of Mines where he studied drawing and architecture three nights a week. He also managed to get some early works published in the The Sunday Mail Possum Pages. Polomka had to leave school before his 14th birthday so he could contribute to the family income (Polomka family papers). During World War Two he joined the RAAF, having had a friend sign his enlistment papers. He became a pilot in Canada ‘where his duties included test flights of planes that had crashed and then been repaired’, with some close calls (Lloyd 2003: 72; Polomka family papers). Upon discharge at the age of 23, Polomka was given a suit of clothes and £300. He married Helen O’Loughlin in 1947 and after renting for some time, they purchased land at 110 George Street Norwood with financial support from his employer, Dean Berry, and War Service Homes. Brian was then able to design and have built a two storey home. Polomka recalled, ‘I had a lonely childhood and always wanted a big family so our three sons and four daughters were a delight to me’ (Polomka family papers). He was an energetic man ‘pursuing several lives’ worth of work’, often using the hours between 2am and 4am for thinking time (Lloyd 2003: 72; H. Polomka, 2006, pers. comm., 6 November).

According to Brian Polomka, ‘a talent for drawing brought me into the profession’ (Page 1986: 189). This talent led to his first employment, that of a draughtsman with Reid Bros. Timber Merchants, and then to a junior draftsman’s position in 1938 with the architects Berry & Gilbert. After the war he continued with Berry & Gilbert, matriculated and undertook architectural studies for six years alongside John Chappel who became a life long friend. He became a partner in Berry, Gilbert & Polomka in 1959, later Berry, Polomka, Riches & Gilbert, and was the sole director from 1972 to 1982 (Polomka family papers). Instead of retiring, being 60 at the time, Polomka returned to designing houses within his own practice. He continued as a consultant with Berry, Polomka, Riches & Gilbert for the next five years. In 1986 the firm was absorbed into Woodheads, retaining the original name until 1988. (Polomka family papers; B. Riches, 2006, pers. comm., November).

An active member of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA), Brian Polomka became a Life Member in 1992. In 1974 as a result of ‘educating’ his colleagues, the Historical Matters Committee of the RAIA (SA Chapter) undertook a Mini-Heritage Study which led to the preservation of some 124 buildings in the Norwood area (Page 1986). He was on the judging panel for the Civic Trust Awards in 1981and 1982 and again in 2002. He was a building referee for the Prospect and Clare Councils and Chairman of the restoration committees for the Old Queen’s Theatre in Adelaide, the Norwood Town Hall and St Lawrence’s Church, North Adelaide (Polomka family papers).

Brian Polomka showed himself to be a man with a broad vision, passionate about the environment and determined to involve the wider community. During the 1960s, he appeared in a series for television on architecture and lectured for the Department of Further Education and to Local Government bodies (Page 1986). In 1994 Polomka wrote that ‘devastation of the environment was the main reason I became a member of the Norwood Council’ (Polomka 1994: 7). He was a member from 1972 until 1982, serving as councillor, alderman and mayor (1981-82), then returning in 1984 for four more years. He was Chairman of the Norwood Planning and Development Committee.

Ahead of his time, Polomka was instrumental in convincing Norwood to care for its built heritage, preventing the Parade being fronted by large supermarkets and ensuring common ground could be found between developers and planners through the Development Assessment Panel. Council achievements during his tenure included the creation of the Norwood shopping mall and mini-parks, the rezoning of some areas for housing instead of industrial development, and Housing Trust projects in Kent Town and West Norwood which attracted Civic Trust Awards (Page 1986; Polomka 1994). The City of Norwood, Payneham and St Peters have honoured Brian’s legacy in their Urban Design Awards with the Brian Polomka Design Award for the best overall development (Urban Design Awards online). Upon Dean Berry’s retirement as Architect to the Botanic Gardens Board, Polomka was appointed to take his place. He was awarded an Order of Australia in 1992 for service to Local Government and Architecture (Polomka family papers).

From the early 1950s, Polomka incorporated little understood energy-efficient principles into his designs, using his own home in Norwood as an example. His original residence in Norwood (110 George Street, 1954-64) is on the RAIA Register of South Australia Significant Twentieth Century Architecture, being in the Functionalist and International styles. He received a number of Civic Trust Awards, among them his houses at 93-95 (1977) and 113 (1983) George Street Norwood, the latter being designed to withstand potential flood waters and thus add weight to his argument that ‘the creeks running down from the Mt Lofty Ranges would not need to be confined with concrete channels and tunnels, but could be enjoyed by all’ (Warburton 1986: 28). This home also won the Timber Achievement Award in 1982 (BPRG brochure nd).

Through his firm, Polomka participated in a number of ecclesiastical commissions either in the restoration of existing buildings or in the creation of new ones. One of his favourites was the chapel for Woodlands Church of England Girls Grammar School with the Bishop of Lambeth describing it as ‘an excellent example of modern architecture in its best sense’. Others projects included St Raphaels Catholic Church, Parkside, Immanuel College, St Barnabas’ College Belair (now St John’s Grammar School) and St Ignatius Church, Norwood, the latter being chosen for his funeral in 2003 (Page 1986: 255; Lloyd 2003).

Berry, Gilbert & Polomka designed for commercial projects, their first ‘million-dollar commission’ being the Australian Eagle Insurance Building (1965), Grenfell Street (in association with Yuncken, Freeman Pty Ltd, Melbourne). Three years later they also worked in conjunction with another Melbourne firm on the John Martin’s car park on North Terrace, Adelaide, having to adjust their plans to abide by the relatively new Planning and Development Act. They were involved in institutional design, winning Civic Trust Awards for Coober Pedy Hospital and the Prospect Library Thomas Street Centre, Nailsworth in 1984 (Warburton 1986). The former was also awarded a Commendation in the RAIA (SA Chapter) Design Awards in 1983 (RAIA Collection).

Despite ill health, Brian Polomka maintained an active interest in architecture, designing a fire resistant house following the devastating bushfires in Canberra in January 2003, just weeks before his death on 20 February (H. Polomka, 2006, pers. comm., 6 November).

Alison McDougall

Citation details
McDougall, Alison, 'Polomka, Brian’, Architecture Museum, University of South Australia, 2008, Architects of South Australia: [http://www.architectsdatabase.unisa.edu.au/arch_full.asp?Arch_ID=34]