Welcome!
This website attempts to catalogue the works of F. W. Dancker & Son (1880-1944), one of South Australia's leading architectural firms of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Frederick William Dancker (1852-1936) and his son Eric Phillipps Dancker (1889-1953) made considerable contributions to South Australia's built identity over the firm's six decades of active practice, a cultural heritage largely forgotten today. While some notable works by F. W. Dancker especially are recognised, the extent of the company's impact, particularly on the residential landscape of Adelaide's inner suburbs, has never truly been assessed or appreciated for its full value.
According to information compiled by the author, F. W. Dancker & Son are responsible for over 320 residential designs over a sixty year period, an enormously prolific contribution to Adelaide's residential landscape. These homes, largely consisting of comfortable, artistic dwellings intended for middle-class lifestyles, have largely survived intact where the sprawling grand mansions of other Federation period architects have not.
At a time of great change for heritage legislation, it is important to identify and celebrate important bodies of architectural work, of which Adelaide has many examples. This database, an ongoing development as more designs by the firm are identified, is an attempt to appreciate and highlight the value of architecture produced by F. W. Dancker & Son to a wider audience.
While intended as a public resource for architectural historians and other interested parties, all researched information provided, unless otherwise referenced, is entirely the work of the author and is subject to copyright. Please contact the author for further information.
