1976 - a derelict building!
1980s Redevelopment
In 1976 the government tried to sell the now derelict Ruthven Mansions by tender but could not find a buyer at the required price. The government then proposed that the University of Adelaide could use the building as student accommodation but the University was not interested. The government then planned to demolish the building but a public outcry ended that plan. Finally in 1978 the government sold the building to developer Joe Emmanuel who demolished the interior structure and converted the building to one and two bedroom flats under the guidance & plans of Architect, John Chappel.
Advertiser Newspaper articles from the late 1970s before the redevelopment below…
Stranger than Fiction
Transcription of Adelaide Advertiser newspaper article Friday April 21st, 1978
Adelaide architect John Chappel outlines the history of the city’s controversial Ruthven Mansions
Ruthven Mansions it’s surely Adelaide‘s most controversial, and most mysterious building.
Besides its oriels, turrets, gargoyles, balconies And all the trappings of Art Nouveau flamboyance, the building also has a history that borders on the bizarre.
The Mansions began life in 1912 – reputedly as Australia’s first block of high-rise apartments – a building of spacious magnificence, incorporating, every conceivable innovation of the day.
Unheard of luxuries, such as central vacuum, cleaning, automatic entrance, doors, and mechanical ventilation – the wonder of the period – were all features of Ruthven (pronounced Rivven) Mansions.
Stage one, originally consisted of 12 large apartments with electrical lifts, spacious, staircases, and servant accommodation.
A proud first for Adelaide, the flats at that time had balconies above Pulteney Street, a restaurant in the basement, and an elaborate laundry and covered drying area on the flat roof.
This was the height of the Art Nouveau period in Australian houses, and ‘The Mansions’ was a unique building, in that this almost exclusively domestic style, was interpreted into a multi story structure.
Messrs Black & Fuller, leading architects of the period, were commissioned by client Mr Ruthven-Smith to design this venturesome project.
The builder of stage one was A. R. Maddern and Son, stage two being built by South Australia’s most colourful and innovative builder, Walter C Torrode, for £14,000.
Stage two, completed in about 1914, consisted of 28 flats of less ambitious nature than the original 12, but with a politely coordinated facade, despite the completely separate structure.
The exterior, with its balconies, oriels, turrets, and Gables also posted such fashionable innovations as Marseille roof tiles, timber balustrades, with louvres, sunshades, casement, windows, French doors, and leadlights, all in the delightful art nouveau style.
The building, within easy walking distance of the then trendy Grand Hotel – later Foy & Gibsons – was the height of fashion in its time.
In the 1930s, when the basic wage was less than £3 a week, the weekly rent for the large flats was about £6.
During World War II, and the housing shortage that followed, and particularly the smaller ones, facing Austin Street, became fashionable lodgings for the trendy un-marrieds.In the main, the larger flats continued to be occupied by their long-term tenants, some of whom enjoyed continuous occupancy for many years.
In the 1950s, the building was bought by the Playford government for about £90,000, and there was talk of it being used for a chest clinic and nurses accommodation.
But it was rumoured that the then matron of the Royal Adelaide Hospital decided nurses accommodation of this type was “inappropriate”.
The government arranged the conversion of the ground, floor and basement to a chest clinic, but the question of what to do with the residential section remained unresolved.
The lifts subsequently declared unsafe, and rather than have them repaired, all the tenants were evicted to enable a thorough upgrading of the building.
The government, commissioned architects to redesign and prepare estimates for the upgrading of all flats, and a detailed report was prepared.
The estimates were regarded as too high, and the decision was finally made to board up the residential flats, and isolate them from the clinic.
Subsequently, the balconies were removed to save their repair costs, and the structure, containing about 40 habitable flats remained unoccupied.
Fifteen years later, when a new chest clinic was completed, the ground, floor and basement were also vacated, and the future of Ruthven Mansions was once more in question. This was about 1974.
The government was advised to demolish The Mansions, and an instruction to that effect was given by the minister of works, Mr Corcoran, who advised the City of Adelaide Development Commission. It was the CADC’s expressed concern at losing this valuable residential potential in the heart of the city, that gained Ruthven Mansions its next reprieve.
The once-proud building, trimmed of most of its art nouveau magnificence, was in a limbo between economic restoration and the bulldozer.
The government, then offered the building to the Housing Trust, but was told that it was unsuitable for the trust’s purposes, called for proposals from consultants for its restoration in January 1976.
In June 1976, tenders were called from developers, interested in purchasing the building for renovation and restoration for residential purposes, and to a standard acceptable to the government.
Offers with various conditions were made, but none were accepted.
The minister, justifiably near despair, again, announced his intention to demolish the building and landscape the site until a suitable use was found.
This was again met with protest from the Adelaide City Council, the City of Adelaide Planning Commission, and the private sector, all of whom called for further investigation.
I am convinced the building can be economically revived. Many other people, including, I believe, the Premier Mr Dunstan would dearly love to see it saved – so why not give the private sector an opportunity.
