Post by City of Adelaide

Modern Marvels: Gerard and Goodman Building 🔌🏢 Adelaide is renowned for a cityscape that champions the past as much as it embraces the future and proudly boasts a diverse range of 20th Century architecture, including examples of Inter-War, Modernist, and Brutalist styles. Buildings from this period celebrate both the city’s growth and architectural innovation. Today we feature another modern marvel, the Local Heritage listed Gerard and Goodman Building, located on Rundle Street, Adelaide. The Gerard and Goodman Building is closely associated with one of South Australia’s most successful manufacturing and electrical supply businesses, Gerard & Goodman. Alfred Gerard established the company with a modest £100 loan from his father-in-law and later combined his wife Elsie’s maiden name with his own surname to form the business name. Supported by his four sons, the company expanded rapidly. A major milestone came in 1920 when Alfred Gerard developed an adjustable clip-on metal conduit fitting. Marketed under the name Clipsal - derived from its ability to “clip all” - the product became highly successful and ultimately evolved into one of Australia’s most recognisable electrical brands. Constructed in 1938, this elegant two-storey shop and office building served as the company’s principal showroom and public face. It was internally connected to Gerard and Goodman’s former warehouse at the rear in Synagogue Place (now demolished), allowing the business to combine display, administration, and distribution functions on a single city site. Designed by the architectural firm Woods, Bagot, Laybourne-Smith & Irwin, the building is a refined example of restrained Art Deco design from the Inter-War period. Its sandstone-faced façade presents a strong geometric composition, featuring a subtle fluted central motif above multi-paned first-floor windows, black Vitrolite glass panels, aluminium trim, and a recessed entrance—balancing modernity and elegance through simplified ornamentation and careful proportion. One of its most distinctive features is the cantilevered verandah, which curves around the corner into Synagogue Place, reinforcing the streamlined character of late Art Deco design. The northern side wall is finished in scored render, while remnants of the original signage and clock framework remain in place. Learn more about this heritage listed place: https://brnw.ch/21x3IIc Discover the Modern Marvels Self-Guided Trail: https://brnw.ch/21x3IIb