Person
Fowler, Thomas Walker (1888 - 1942)
- Born
- 31 December 1888
Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia - Died
- 1 September 1942
Freemasons' Hospital, East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia - Occupation
- Agricultural educator, Agriculturalist, Engineer and Inventor
Summary
Thomas Fowler, successfully pioneered a tilt-slab method for the construction of precast concrete farm buildings and houses, patenting his Fowler system of construction in 1926. The system initially involved casting walls on site, on flat horizontal tables, with door and window openings. The slabs were then tilted up onto previously prepared piers. The Fowler system of construction was readily adopted by many leading architects and builders, was supported by the Australian Cement Company, and operations quickly expanded with casting factories at Werribee and Laverton.
In 1939, the newly formed Victorian Housing Commission held a competition for the design of houses, and awarded second place design, by architect Arthur Cedric Leith, and fourth place design, by Frank Heath, to houses that used the Fowler system. The following year, the Commission awarded Fowler a contract to build twenty-eight houses based on the Leith design, and other orders followed.
After Fowler died, the plant continued producing three houses a week, using six fixed casting tables, and was soon used by the Housing Commission.
Thomas was possibly assisted in the design of the Fowler tilt slab system, by his mechanically trained brother James Barrington Walker (1887 - 1946), and his civil engineer father Thomas Walker Fowler (1859 - 1928).
Before 1926, Fowler was a respected irrigation and agriculture expert and trainer.
Details
Chronology
- 1908
- Education - Diploma of Agriculture, Dookie Agricultural College
- 1909 - 1916
- Career position - Agricultural officer, at Tatura farm, Nanneela district of Rodney, Tongala, and then at Werribee
- 1916 - 1918
- Military service - First World War. Gunner, 36th Artillery Group, Australian Imperila Force [served in France]
- 1918
- Career position - Irrigation agricultural instructor, Weymouth [establised the first agricultural class by the A.I.F. Education service in England]
- 1919 - 1942
- Career position - Farmer, Werribee
- 25 Sep 1926
- Patent - An improved method of and means for use in erecting concrete structures [3982/1926]
- 1927 - 1942
- Career position - Manager, Fowler system of concrete construction
Related entries
Parent
Published resources
Edited Books
- Lewis, Miles ed., Two hundred years of concrete in Australia (North Sydney: Concrete Institute of Australia, 1988), 137 pp. pp. 104, 199, 125. Details
Newspaper Articles
- "Agrestic", 'Irrigation Development at Werribee', Weekly Times (1921), 23, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article222572927. Details
Resources
- CA 2001 Australian Imperial Force, Base Records Office, 'NAA: B2455, Fowler T W', B2455 First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920, National Archives of Australia, RecordSearch, https://RecordSearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=4023826. Details
- CA 555 Australian Patent Office, 1904-1992, 'NAA: A627, 3982/1926 : Application for Letters Patent for an invention by Thomas Walker Fowler , titled - An improved method of and means for use in erecting concrete structures', A627 Applications for patents, single number series with year suffix, 1904-1992, National Archives of Australia, RecordSearch, https://RecordSearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=4215191. Details
- IP Australia, Commonwealth of Australia, 'Application: 3982/1926. Title: An improved method of and means for use in erecting concrete structures [Includes digitised specification]', Australian Patent search database, Commonwealth of Australia, 2015, https://ipsearch.ipaustralia.gov.au/patents/1926003982. Details
Ken McInnes
Created: 7 October 2024, Last modified: 23 October 2024