Common Australian Architectural Styles

When driving around the spectacular scenes of Heritage Architecture in Tasmania and other parts of Australia, people are often confused about what is Georgian, what is Colonial, what is Victorian, Federation or Edwardian. If one were to be pedantically correct and provide a discourse on all of the Australian Architectural Styles, one would have to supply details of over 66 recognised styles. And while this may prove fascinating for some, for others it could become a tedious trolling through irrelevant nomenclature and ornament. To please both sides of the spectrum then, may it suffice to extol the virtues, characteristics and form of Australian Architectural Styles in general applied terms, and to that end, we will refer to the wider categories as opposed to the detailed styles.

Australian Architectural Style Categories to 1940

• Old Colonial – 1788-1840
  • Old Colonial Georgian
  • Old Colonial Grecian
  • Old Colonial Regency
  • Old Colonial Gothic Picturesque
• Victorian Period 1840 – 1890
  • Victorian Academic Classical
  • Victorian Academic Gothic
  • Victorian Carpenter Gothic
  • Victorian Filigree
  • Victorian Free Classical
  • Victorian Free Gothic
  • Victorian Georgian
  • Victorian Italianate
  • Victorian Mannerist
  • Victorian Regency
  • Victorian Romanesque
  • Victorian Rustic Gothic
  • Victorian Second Empire
  • Victorian Tudor
• Art Nouveau 1890 – 1905
• Federation Architecture (aka Edwardian Architecture to the British) 1890 – 1915
• Inter War Period 1915 – 1940
• Art Deco 1925 – 1940