The Australian Coat of Arms has been depicted by different artists throughout Parliament House, offering a variety of interpretations of the iconic kangaroo and emu. The presence of the Coat of Arms in all instances acknowledges formal Commonwealth ownership and authority.

The Coat of Arms at the Executive Entry greets Ministers, building visitors and staff. Artist Robin Blau combined his skills as a small-scale jeweller and large-scale sculptor to create a sculpture both highly detailed and structurally engaging.

Executive Entry Coat of Arms; courtesy of photographer Wade Bartlett, Pamille Berg Consulting.

Commission of the Executive Entry Coat of Arms
Integral to the design of Parliament House are site-specific art and craft works commissioned by the Parliament House Construction Authority. All of these works responded to detailed design briefs prepared by the architects, Mitchell/Giurgola & Thorp (MGT). More than 85 Australian artists and craftspeople were commissioned for the design of over 70 works of art and craft for specific locations or uses in the building and its precincts. Together they created a series of works that communicates the diverse historic, cultural, and political contexts of the Parliament to Australian identity and democracy.

All commissioned Coats of Arms at Parliament House had to meet the specifications set out in The Armorial Ensigns of the Commonwealth of Australia. The artists followed a guide of which elements were fixed, and which were open to interpretation, written by Australian designer Stuart Devlin. Devlin understood the challenges of re-interpreting the Coat of Arms from his work designing the first Australian decimal coins in 1966.

Blau’s Great Verandah Coat of Arms was in the fabrication phase when he was offered the second commission. This was so the two works could have a similar design language, but where the differing contexts of the north and south entries would allow unique design solutions. The two were official gifts from the Parliament, and the Government and people of New South Wales.

Blau worked closely with MGT Senior Partner architect Romaldo Giurgola to achieve the design intent. Although within the same style as the Great Verandah Coat of Arms, this work was required to be much smaller and suit the circular aperture where it was to be situated. This resulted in a horizontal structural truss solution made of interwoven circular forms to support the Coat of Arms.

The construction of the Executive Entry Coat of Arms 
The work was hand-fabricated in fine stainless steel by Blau, with the interior of the shield etched into glass to catch and reflect natural light. In the design phase a scale model was constructed to better assist with the final large-scale construction.

 
Robin Blau (born 1946), Maquette for the Coat of Arms for the Executive Entrance, 1987, Art/Craft Program, Parliament House Art Collection.

Robin Blau’s full-scale fabrication drawing juxtaposed with the star and bar elements of the Coat of Arms, undated; photo courtesy of Robin Blau’s personal collection.

Pamille Berg, former partner of MGT writes that,

This work stands as a demonstration of the conceptual integration which can be achieved between an architect and an artist, one which simultaneously respects the building’s architectural language while achieving a lively, dignified sculptural interpretation of the required Commonwealth insignia.¹            

Robin Blau
Robin Blau (born 1946) is an Australian sculptor who trained as an architectural draftsman and graduated from the Sydney College of the Arts in sculpture and jewellery making. He has completed numerous public sculptural commissions in Australia and Asia, including at Parliament House, the Federal and State Law Courts in Sydney, St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Parramatta, and the Singapore Armed Forces Training Institute in Singapore.

References
1. M. Pamille Berg, Interwoven: the commissioned art and craft for Parliament House, Commonwealth of Australia, 2018, p.18.