Brunswick Fire Station and Flats

[1]: 104 Seabrook's father, who was Chairman of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade at the time, was no doubt influential in ensuring his son's practice was awarded the contract, the first of twelve the firm designed which included the stations at Camberwell (1938), Brighton (1939) and Windsor (1941).

Numerous historians point to Willem Dudok's Hilversum Town Hall as the major influence on Seabrook and Fildes' aesthetic, particularly in the firm's adoption of De-Stijl decompositional techniques.

[1]: 104, 171  This is clearly evident is Brunswick station's use of prismatic forms, horizontal window banding, cantilevered hoods over fenestrations, flat roofs and minimal ornamentation save for the striking sans serif lettering above the garage doors.

Cream brickwork is also strongly associated with Dutch Modernism, however here its usage has special significance, as this colour was first introduced to the local market by Brunswick brick maker John Glew in the 1850s.

[3] In the 1930s eclecticism pervaded apartment design in Melbourne, with practitioners such as Howard Lawson, Roy Grounds and Taylor, Soilleux and Overend seeking to overcome Australia's long standing prejudice against high-density living by promoting economical but contemporary solutions that adopted variously, and often in the one project, Modernist, Moderne, Georgian revivalist and Californian inspired styles.

[1]: 71–73 Seabrook and Fildes, however, stuck resolutely to their Modernist principles, incorporating the ideas of Frank Lloyd Wright and the International Style in their flat designs with elements such as sizable expanses of glass, built-in furniture and direct engagement with the surrounding landscape.