From Wattle and Daub to Concrete and Steel: The Engineering Heritage of Australia's Buildings by Henry J Cowan

This is the first history of building techniques in Australia, from the primitive buildings of the early colonies to today's high-tech construction materials.

Few of the people who came with the First Fleet had any skills in the building crafts, and they inevitably lacked knowledge of the properties of Australian timber species. Our earliest buildings were constructed either of wattle-and-daub, a weave of sticks of young timber whose gaps were plugged or daubed with mud, or of hand-made clay bricks.

These problems caused much hardship in the early years but were quickly overcome. Two remarkable buildings - Elizabeth Bay House and the Darlinghurst Court House were built a mere half century after the first settlement.

Despite the long time it took for information to reach Australia, significant innovations such as corrugated iron, gas light, piped sewerage, hydraulic lifts and reinforced concrete were frequently adapted for local usage within a few years of their development overseas.

Sophisticated changes in building technology in the 20th century revolutionised how Australians designed and used buildings. Electric lighting and new heating, cooling and ventilation techniques have had dramatic effects. (book flap)