John Sulman - Career in Australia

Career in Australia

Sulman went to Sydney in 1885, and as a partner in the firm of Sulman and Power was associated in the designing of many of the finest buildings in Sydney and other capital cities. These included the Thomas Walker Convalescent Hospital, Concord, Sydney, the A.M.P. buildings in Melbourne and Brisbane, the Mutual Life Association building, Sydney, afterwards known as New Zealand Chambers, the Sydney Stock Exchange and several suburban churches. Between 1887 and 1912 Sulman was P. N. Russell lecturer in architecture at the University of Sydney. After 1908 he retired from active practice to some extent to develop his interest in town-planning. From 1916 to 1927 he was the Vernon lecturer in town planning at the University of Sydney. In 1921 he published his An Introduction to the Study of Town Planning in Australia.

Sulman published his plan for the capital city that became Canberra in his book The Federal Capital in 1908. However his plan was not chosen. Sulman however became involved with the planning of Canberra in 1921 when he was appointed head of the Federal Capital Advisory Committee. Sulman's alterations to the Griffin plan made the city less like the one Griffin had planned and more in line with the English garden city movement.

The Melbourne and Sydney buildings in Canberra's city centre, Civic, were based on design principles set by Sulman although the design work was finalised by J H Kirkpatrick. The buildings were the model which establish the colonnade principle, an important design element throughout Civic.

One of the most coveted architecture prizes, the prestigious Sir John Sulman Medal, also known as the Sulman Award, recognises excellence in public and commercial buildings. The medal is awarded by the New South Wales Chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects. The medal was first awarded in 1932.

He was a trustee of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales from 1899 and its president from 1919. The Sir John Sulman Prize for "the best subject/genre painting and/or murals/mural project executed during the two years preceding the date ..." has been held at the Art Gallery of New South Wales since 1936. It is hosted concurrently with the Archibald Prize, the most prominent Australian art prize, along with the Wynne prize and Dobell art prizes. The prize was established as a bequest by the Sulman family. Sulman had been appointed a trustee of the art gallery of New South Wales in 1899 and was its president from 1919. When initiated the prize was about £100 annually and for the best subject painting or mural decoration by artists resident in Australia.

Sulman also endowed a lectureship in aeronautics at the University of Sydney in memory of a son killed during World War I while serving with the Flying Corps.