Sunshine Concrete Housing Estate (1924)

Location

Leith Avenue, Sunshine, Victoria

Construction Type

Cast in place concrete walls

Background

The Leith Avenue precinct is an interesting example of a planned
building settlement, under the auspices of the Sunshine Harvester
Works, though financed with Victorian State Savings Bank backing.
The precinct is of architectural significance for the early and rare use
of concrete in the construction of the houses, which was still quite
an innovation in 1924, although some concrete houses had been
built in Sunshine by 1910.

The houses were constructed with the Monolyte system, developed
by S.B. Marchant of Adelaide in 1913. Reusable timber formwork
for walls was set up in place, with door and window frames set into
the concrete, and the concrete poured from above. A house, with
a traditional timber-framed roof, could be completed in just under a
week. The cottages seen in Sunshine were but three of six models
designed by chief architect for the State Savings Bank, G.B. Leith,
after whom the new street was named.
Brimbank Heritage Design Guidelines Part 3: H020