Aaron Bolot (1900-1989) was born in the Crimea, arrived in Brisbane from Russia at age 11 and graduated with a diploma of architecture from the Central Technical College in 1926 with the Queensland Institute of Architects Gold Medal for best student. In 1929, he was registered to practice in Queensland. After graduation, he worked with Hollinshead and Gailey, assisting on the Melbourne Comedy and Brisbane Regent theateres. He set up a practice in Sydney’s Pitt Street during the early 1930s and freelanced during the Great Depression for other architects; including working with Walter Burley Griffin on documentation of the incinerators at Pyrmont and Willoughby. His later theatre designs were also influenced by the work of another Sydney architect, Bruce Dellit. His ouevre includes numerous theatres and cinemas; apartment buildings and houses in the P&O and Tudor/Arts and Crafts styles. Before World War II, Bolot completed the Hillside apartment building, 412 Edgecliff Road, Edgecliff (with EC Pitt, 1935); the Goulburn Ritz theatre, Goulburn (1936); the Astra in Wyong (1936); Hoyts Theatre, Goulburn (1936); the Randwick Ritz, 43-47 St Paul’s Street, Randwick (by 1937); the Regal theatre, Gosford (by 1937); the Ashdown apartment building, Elizabeth Bay Road, Elizabeth Bay (1938); remodelling the Liberty (formerly Metro) Theatre, Melbourne (1939); remodelling the West’s Theatre at Nowra (1940) and the Oatley Radio Theatre (later the Mecca; 1942). During the war, he served overseas from 1941-1946. After the war, his key projects included an apartment building at 17 Wylde Street, Potts Point (1951); the Erina drive-in theatre (1957); the Goomerah apartment building, 9 Goomerah Crescent, Darling Point (1957); the Murilla units at Bellevue Hill (1960); a project for R. Pollard and the Basser wing (both 1966); a chapel at the Temple Emmanuel, Rosemont Avenue, Woollahra and the AL Poole residence, 24 Thomas Street, Chatswood (both 1966); the Moby Dick Surf Club, Whale Beach (1966); projects for S. Pearson, Allpress & Farram and Carruthers Farram (all in 1967); Belmont Chambers for Simon Green (1968); probably houses or house renovations for JB Kirk, Edward Fay, L. Poole and Mrs RG Lamb (all 1968); Undated buildings also include the Bondi Rex Hotel, the Edgecliff Motel, Edgecliff; the Riga factory, Marrickville; an office building for Automotive Components Ltd (Blaxland Rae division); townhouses at Rosemont Avenue, Woollahra; flats at McMahons Point; the Ba Ritz flats at Point Piper; flats at Balmoral; the Silverna units, Darling Point; an apartment building at 10 Etham Avenue, Darling Point; a Tudor-style house at Edgecliff; three houses in Newcastle for the Kloster family; two houses for Bill Montham; a radio station at Dubbo; the Dorchester in Macquarie Street; enlarged windows and a motel addition to Jonah’s restaurant, Whale Beach; the Ashfield RSL Club; houses at Tamworth, Cootamundra, Palm Beach, Woollahra, Beauty Point (Griffith), Vaucluse (Bend), Wahroonga, Vaucluse (Melocco) and Point Piper (Grainger) He was elected a Fellow of the RAIA in 1978 and remained active in the Jewish community. He was survived by his wife, Thelma who at 2004 still lives in his Goomerah apartment building, ph 9363 5163. His last office (during the 1980s) was at Asbestos House, 67 York Street, Sydney.
Sources
—Hill, Jennifer/Architectural Projects. Undated. ‘Aaron Bolot’s contribution to cinema in Australia’ on website www.teachingheritage.nsw.edu.au
—Bolot, Thelma. 2004. Interview with Davina Jackson, November, and copies of her papers and photographs by Max Dupain.
—Lists of undated buildings written by Aaron and Thelma Bolot; one addressed to Trevor (probably Trevor Waters), obtained from Thelma Bolot November 2004.
—Press clippings archived by the NSW RAIA 20th Century Buildings Committee.
—Veale, Sharon. Undated. Research report archived by the NSW RAIA’s Heritage Committee.
- Writers:
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- Date written:
- 2015
- Last updated:
- 2015
