Esmond Dorney

He was born to Marie Louise Kiernan and James Henry Dorney in Melbourne, Victoria, and grew up from his teenage years in Elwood.

[2] With the help of his mother and his father-in-law as clients, he began designing apartment blocks, especially in the Elwood area, eventually completing perhaps about 18 in that suburb alone.

Starting with Windermere in 1936, many of his designs were strikingly Moderne; they featured dynamic compositions of contrasting horizontals and verticals, often with thrusting semi-circular ended balconies or window bays.

[5] Dorney's career as an architect was interrupted by World War 2, when he enlisted and served as a pilot in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve from 1940 to 1945.

[6] Dorney returned to Australia, and moved from his home in Melbourne to Hobart, Tasmania, citing health and personal reasons.

Other notable designs include the arch-roofed St Pius X Church (1957), and opposing skillion roofs of Snows Dry Cleaners (1960).

The triple fronted façade is composed of a north and south wing and a projected central portion featuring a large brick chimney giving the building a strong vertical element.

A large 1980s single storey addition to the north side features an almost matching projecting semi-circular window element, adding to the complexity.

Built in 1959 in the Hobart suburb of Sandy Bay, this was Dorney's most widely celebrated residential projects[10] before his own house became publicly accessible.

Supported on a light steel frame, the north, the east and much of the south and west is fully glazed, providing the living spaces with panoramic views over the city of Hobart, the harbour, the Derwent estuary and Storm Bay and the Southern Ocean.