20 January 2008

DFAT Comms Centre

| andym
Join the conversation
31

As requested by Mr Evil here a few pics from the old DFAT Communications Centre which was located under the southern carpark of the old Admin Building.

The first two are of the foyer and the third of the hallway. The centre was basically a square shape with the hallway running around it. The outside of the hall was office space, rec room etc. The inner core was composed of computer room and comms centre.

The ceiling in the open areas was made up of these funny metal plates as mentioned elsewhere. Purely decorative, but they rattled like buggery during the Newcastle earthquake.

Supposedly the foyer was a standing wave tube, so no electromagnetic radiation could penetrate or escape even though it was open ended. The second photo shows the narrow door at the top which could be closed to seal the centre.

Last two photos show some sections of the graffiti wall.



Join the conversation

31
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest

It would be good to get a few more photos of these locations or first hand accounts. I’m sure most people in Canberra have no idea this stuff exists. I have decided I need to do the tourist thing and visit a few of these places.

This thread was excellent, I had NO idea of any of this. Thanks! I wish I’d taken some piccies when I used to work in the Melbourne Building. There was a whole system of vaults down in the basement, some were all boarded up (we unboarded them) with old massive safes/rooms, hand-painted signage from when the place was built, amazing stuff. at the time you never think of it.

The “strange stuff in Canberra” thread was also a total eye-opener, really fascinating stuff. I’ve lived and worked here all my life but here’s all this stuff I didn’t know.

I found a photo of one of the light wells:

There is something about old Cold War bunkers that is really fascinating.

Link 1/a>
Link 2

Note for new posters: RiotAct uses HTML.

[URL=http://img50.imageshack.us/my.php?image=comcen3sm3.jpg][IMG]http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/7655/comcen3sm3.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

You forgot the link.

Here are a few more. First image shows the aboriginal art work on the upper and the old rec centre on the lower. The second image shows the computer room on upper and middle and the printing room on the lower.

Wouldn’t it be more noticeable if you were in a high rise building, not underground. I was in Newcastle on that day and it was quite the earthquake.

I remember the day of the Newcastle Earthquake well (Thursday 28th Dec 1989 – not a public holiday). I was in the Administration Building on the third floor. I happened to be walking across the floor when it struck and it felt like the whole building wobbled as if it was made of jelly. Nothing severe mind you but enough to the think WTF was that. If you were sitting down you probably would not have noticed it.

If you walk the carpark outside JGB, you can see the outline of the faraday cage as the soil has subsided, causing the carpark tarmac to have a noticeable dent where the cage ends.

Well done the Canberra construction industry, forgetting to pack the earth.

Chere http://www.ga.gov.au/servlet/BigObjFileManager?bigobjid=GA4189 where it shows a score for central Canberra on the “Earthquake felt” diagram on Page 36.

Geoscience Australia suggests it is possibly not a myth.

It was still 500kms away.
And it was 5.5 on the Richter scale.
So it wouldn’t have caused ripples in a glass of water in Canberra. Urban myth sounds like.

Impressive! Thanks for the photos!

A Public Holiday maybe, but I imagine the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade keep a 24 hour roster for their communications.

DFAT Comms = 24/7/365.

The shift allowances were hard to give up, so a lot of looong time employees in the centre.

Awesome. Thanks for posting. 🙂

The Newcastle earthquake??
It happened 500kms away.
On a public holiday.

There’s something ironic in the AGO fighting rising water levels in their own building.

That’s the neatest and most highbrow graffitti I’ve ever seen!

Holden Caulfield9:07 am 21 Jan 08

Thank you for sharing!

Growling Ferret7:47 am 21 Jan 08

The Australian Greenhouse Office sits in the Basement of the Admin (John Gorton Building).

The spiral staircase and the disco chamber still exist, almost identical to the photo.

The graffiti wall was lost during the refit, but was copied and an exact replica is now on one of the walls.

That’s the SES carpark, as you’re looking towards OPH? Yes, there are some structures there (in the plants). Wow. And I imagine Heritage infest it?

The comms centre is under the carpark in front of JGB. During the refurbishment they cut some large holes in the roof/carpark to create new light wells. There is an emergency exit that pops up in the middle of the carpark.

idea_authority12:14 am 21 Jan 08

Wow, thanks for the pics, though the bunker is far less than what imagined. I pictured a moody and dark version of NASA mission control, this looks like a silvery nightmare of drab 70s interior design.

So where are these offices now? In Finance or Heritage? Under the JGB? Puzzled!

That spiral ramp was a bugger to get heavy trolleys up and down. More than one B-Class got away from me there.

Impressive! I got in trouble about 5 years ago for taking photos of the new DFAT building (you have to admit, the foyer is impressive and photo-worthy). Funnily, I was working for the Australian Federal Police at the time. My mistake though – should have known better. Young and naive 🙂

ant, well no, its gone. Been converted to offices and the roof has had sunken gardens and light wells put it.

Wow! That’s incredible. And it’s under the current outdoor SES carpark at Finance? There are some venty-looking things in the plants in that carpark, but to think all that lot is under it is incredible. I had no idea.

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.