Woodards House 1920s creation of F. Kenneth Milne in palazzo style; cut to half its original size by the Depression

Woodards House in Waymouth Street, Adelaide city, was originally intended to be eight storeys but this was cut to four with the onset of the Deopression from 1929. A fifth storey was added in 1953.
Image courtesy City of Adelaide

Woodards House, built in 1928-29 on the Waymouth-Bentham streets corner, Adelaide city, was an outstanding rare example of a building of the inter-war commercial palazzo style adopted by Australian architects, reinterpreting the Italian Renaissance palazzo façade.

Prominent South Australian architect F. Kenneth Milne regarded this building as one of the most important among his other state heritage works including the Adelaide Oval scoreboard, Goldsbrough House, Hampshire Hotel in Grote Street and the South Australian Brewing Company offices in Hindley Street, Adelaide city. Milne’s many house designs included the heritage Sunnyside in North Adelaide.

Woodards House was built as the South Australian head office of Norwich Union Fire Insurance Society. The company was in South Australia from 1874 when J. Gilbert Boothly opened an Adelaide agency. In 1898, Norwich Union Insurance Society took over the South Australian Insurance Co., founded in 1862, and operated from that company’s former offices on the northern corner of Pirie and King William streets, Adelaide city. When more office space was needed, the company moved to the National Mutual offices, then Citizen Building, before constructing its own offices.

Woodards House was originally intended to be eight storeys but, as a result of the Depression, only four storeys were constructed. An additional floor was added in 1953, with the design by the same architectural firm that had evolved into F. Kenneth Milne, Dawkins Boehm & Ellis. It was built by William Essery & Son Ltd.

Built with reinforced concrete, the building featured high-quality interior finishes including polished marble, terrazzo, coffered ceilings and bronze doors and light fittings and figured blackwood panelling.

In 1976, the building was sold to the Catholic Church Endowment Society. It continued to be used as offices and tenanted by the South Australian College of English on three levels, Skills Australia on level two and some small government and private agencies on the ground floor.