St Joseph’s Church, Quarry Hill

St Joseph’s Church is the home of the Catholic community of Quarry Hill. The Church was built in 1964, by Bates-Smart-McCutcheon, employing “a planar elegance as the Wesley-boat shed.”

The side walls extend to enclose a courtyard in which the congregation space can be more than doubled. The whole plan forms a simple rectangle 64 ft. by 100 ft. Walls are concrete block, externally split-faced charcoal grey and internally smooth-faced pale grey. The metal deck roof, with a deep Oregon fascia, "floats" above the grey glass clear-storey. Daylight floods the sanctuary from windows raised above the nave roof in a white rendered tower. Floors, ceilings and seats are timber, natural finish. The skilful hand- ling of few materials and the theme of courtyard, wall plinth, roof platform and white tower with closely spaced vertical mullions is mindful of good Finnish architecture, and is none the worse for that. (Bates Smart & McCutcheon Pty. Ltd., archts & engrs; Bernard Landy (Bendigo), bldr.) (Source: University of Melbourne Department of Architecture, “Cross Section,” https://rest.neptune-prod.its.unimelb.edu.au/server/api/core/bitstreams/cdf5c693-51ce-5fbc-8e94-a4b074192782/content)

Address: 46 Russell St, Bendigo, Vic 3550