Charles William Thomas Fulton

Charles William Thomas Fulton(1906–1988) was an Australian architect practising inBrisbane,Queensland.A number of his works are listed on theQueensland Heritage Register.

Early life

Charles Fulton was born in Sydney in 1906 and received his architectural training as an articled pupil of FE Stowe, architect and civil engineer. In 1931-32 he worked in London as a draftsman for Rudder and Grout and then B George Architects. During this period he travelled in Europe and made pilgrimages looking at buildings. He was particularly interested in the work of Dutch architectWillem Dudok,whoseHilversum Town Hallwas influential in Britain in the early thirties.

Career

In 1933 Charles Fulton returned to Australia and settled inBrisbanewhere he was employed byHall and Cook.In 1937 he entered into partnership withJohn Patrick Donoghue.In the same year he also became lecturer in charge of Architecture at theBrisbane Central Technical Collegeand he taught in the architecture school for 33 years. He made a large contribution to architectural education throughout his whole career and theQueensland University of Technologynamed its architecture facility the "Charles Fulton School of Architecture" in his honour.

Charles Fulton was a key practitioner and teacher of the modern trends in architectural design in Queensland during the late thirties and forties. TheMasel ResidenceatStanthorpe(1938),Nudgee Junior CollegeIndooroopilly(1938) and hisown residenceall received meritorious architecture awards in the early Royal Australian Institute of Architects Queensland Awards Programs. Aside from their domestic work the practice of Donoghue and Fulton was renowned as hospital architects who combined the latest ideas in hospital planning with recent developments in architectural design. TheTownsville General Hospitaldesigned between 1935-39 (built 1951), theKingaroyGeneral Hospital and Nurses' Quarters (1936–38),GoondiwindiHospital 1939,RomaHospital 1940, Nurses' QuartersNambour1941-42 (demolished 1999) were all buildings designed in this period.

After theSecond World Warthe partnership of Donoghue and Fulton was dissolved and Fulton took a new partnerJames Musgrave Collin.During this period Charles Fulton designed a number of notable hospital buildings including,BarcaldineHospital main block and Staff Quarters (1953),ClermontHospital main block (1955),Aramacnurses quarters (1957). All these later buildings were characterised by low pitched roofs, linear planning, cross ventilation, wide eaves or awnings and the use of modern materials. The firm that he founded continues as Fulton Trotter.

Later life

Charles Fulton's residence, 1944

The Fulton family occupied the Fulton Residence for nearly 60 years with Charles Fulton dying in 1988 and his wife Violet Edna Fulton in 1999. Both Mr and Mrs Fulton were very attached to the house and garden and it remained virtually unaltered from when it was completed in 1940.

References

Attribution

This Wikipedia article incorporates text from"The Queensland heritage register"published by theState of QueenslandunderCC-BY 3.0 AUlicence (accessed on 7 July 2014,archivedon 8 October 2014).