National Carillon

The National Carillon is a tower carillon in the Australian capital of Canberra . It is located on Aspen Island , an island in Lake Burley Griffin . It is operated and serviced by the National Capital Authority on behalf of the federal government .

history

The carillon was a gift from the British government to the Australian people to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of the federal capital, Canberra . Queen Elizabeth II , the Australian head of state, officially opened the National Carillon on April 26, 1970. Cameron Chisholm Nicol , an architectural firm from Perth , Western Australia, was responsible for the design of the tower . The concept was developed in 1968 by Don Ho, one of the architects of the office. In 2004 the carillon was renovated, including the internal mechanical features and the addition of two additional bells. The bells and the carillon mechanism were designed and built by John Taylor & Co. of Loughborough .

description

Bells

The 50-meter-high, triangular tower consists of reinforced concrete slabs with a striking white color. It is supported by three triangular pillars; There is a maintenance elevator in the western pillar and a passenger elevator in the east. All three pillars have emergency stairs. The floor is covered with large hexagonal plates. At night the tower is illuminated with floodlights. Carillons must have at least 23 bells to be considered such. The National Carillon has 55 (53 until the renovation in 2003). The bells weigh between seven kilograms and six tons and cover a chromatic scale of four and a half octaves . The elevated part of the tower consists of three levels: Below is the level with the keyboard , a practice keyboard and a changing room, in the middle the level with the bells. Above the bells there is a small viewing room with a kitchen that can be rented for private occasions.