Of Tragedy and Valor
Keith Neighbour AM

Keith Neighbour was born on 13 June 1919 at Goolwa, South Australia, the son of Arthur Neighbour and Ivy (nee Doddridge). 

Keith was the only son of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Neighbour, who ran a store in Goolwa.

Educated at Victor Harbor High School, Neighbour then studied sculpting and painting at the South Australian School of Arts and Crafts. 

In 1940 Keith joined the RAAF air crew at aged 20 and trained at Point Cook as a gunner on a bomber. 

On 5 February 1941 Keith married Lorna Pauline, daughter of Ernest and Florence (Florrie) Crafter, with whom he would later raise two girls.

He was posted to 2 Squadron in Laverton, before flying to Singapore in late 1941. The crew was taken to Kota Bharu to await a return trip to Australia but right then Japan entered the war. The RAAF men were bundled into planes to fly out. He was then with 1 Squadron in Lockheed Hudsons operating out of Singapore, transferring to Sumatra the day before Singapore fell. 

The Sumatra airstrip was taken over by the Japanese and the group moved to Java where after a month they had to surrender, in March 1942. He was held as a Prisoner of War for a total of 3 ½ years (1248 days) in camps such as Changi in Singapore, Bicycle Camp in Java and Burma Railroad in Thailand.

The Thailand Burma Railroad was a 415 km, 1,000 mm (or 3’3” ) gauge railroad built under Japanese management and constructed by British, Dutch Australian, New Zealand and American POWs and imported labourers between Nong Pladuk, Kanchanaburi, Thailand and Thanbyuzayat, Burma. It was buillt provide logistical support for the Japanese invasion of Burma.

While Keith was forced to work on the Burma Railway in between torturous bouts of chipping rocks in Hellfire Pass, Neighbour drew sketches of camp life – the huts, the jungle and the people. His sketched of Allied war graves were later recovered from being hidden and now displayed in museums.

Together with his fellow prisoners, Neighbour suffered appalling hardships as a prisoner of the Japanese. Keith did his best to maintain spirits, helping write and run concerts and working with Major "Weary" Dunlop. He participated in P.O.W. camp concerts, as occasionally permitted by the Japanese, as a writer, director, scene artist, and actor in many plays and productions.

The following report from “A Land Abounding” outlines his war service.

“The Neighbour family, for example, who ran a store in Goolwa, lost complete contact with their son and brother, Keith, after he had been taken prisoner of war. Having no news and fearing the worst, the family would gather with others at the post office every evening awaiting notification of Keith’s fate. 

His sister, Betty remembers the night when the postmaster ran out to greet them with a small card. He, too, had received one from his son - also a prisoner of war. Keith’s card bore the words ‘I am alive and well’. In due course, after the surrender of Japan, Keith returned home. Betty was there to meet the train that brought him. Keith emerged, says Betty, with ‘skin a little bit tinged with yellow and [he] was thin, although not as thin as the first photographs... Everything that Keith brought back with him...’smelt peculiar’

The local Red Cross and Comforts Fund combined to give Keith and other prisoners of war a ‘welcome home’ in the Town Hall. Basically, it was a concert and meal held in the Town Hall, but Betty says that ‘everybody was too excited to eat”. 

Once he regained his freedom in 1945 at the end of the war he returned to Adelaide.  He studied architecture at the South Australian School of Mines and Industries and the University of Adelaide and graduated with a Fellowship in Architectural Engineering at the South Australian School of Mines and Industries and the University of Adelaide Degree of Bachelor of Engineering in Architecture in 1952.

Keith Neighbour became one of the first of the new breed of architects who shaped his own role as a Project Manager and entrepreneur. His designs showed a sophisticated use and understanding of concrete as a material.

Between 1948 and 1953 he was articled at Hassell and McConnell Architects. He then worked in the Architect-in-Chief's Department in South Australia before travelling to the USA as an International Fulbright Scholar. He was awarded the Albert Kahn Memorial Fellowship by the University of Pennsylvania and, in 1954, a Master of Architecture. While in the US he published articles in an Adelaide.

The work of Neighbour's practices is varied. The Highways Department building, Walkerville (1959) is a prime example of reinforced concrete with exposed structural elements, whereas Nunyara Chapel, Belair (1962) nestles within a bushland setting and uses domestic materials, form, construction and scale to integrate the spiritual with daily life.

Keith was an avid and talented photographer, having photographs and articles published in photographic magazines. His recreational pursuits included swimming, power boating, shooting, computer programmes and astronomy. 

He was a member of numerous clubs including the Astronomical Society of South Australia. One  story goes that astronaut Buzz Aldrin – the second man to walk on the moon – visited with him at his home, a guest of Keith at a party in the 1970s.

During the early 1970s, Keith and Lorna separated and decided to live apart.  Keith would later meet Gudrun Tamandl and began a relationship that would last until his death some 30 years later.

Keith was a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects and has been a member of the Architects Registration Board of South Australia since 1979 to 1995,  becoming its Chairman from 1987 to 1995. Keith was awarded the RAIA (SA Chapter) President's Medal in 1994.

He has lectured at the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia and written on architecture for the local architectural media. 

In 2003, assisted by fellow descendant and architectural graduate Matt Rumbelow, Keith's significant works were donated to the University of South Australia's Architecture Museum. 

Named in his honor, The Keith Neighbour Graduate Study Program aims to support all young members of the profession who are thinking of going for their registration.

Keith became a Member of the Order of Australia in 1992 for his services to architecture.

In 2011 Keith died aged 91 and was buried at a graveside service at Currency Creek Cemetery on Sunday 13th February.

Obituaries: Adelaide Advertiser

https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/ipad/obituaries-tributes-to-three-of-our-finest-/news-story/313568b1526d1db93adaaaa8965d97dc

Keith Neighbour, AM
PoW, architect
Born: June 13, 1919; Goolwa
Died: February 4, 2011; Adelaide

KEITH Neighbour survived nearly four harsh years as a prisoner of war to become a leading and respected architect, a statesman of the profession but also a peacemaking negotiator.

He was born to Arthur and Ivy Neighbour, educated at Victor Harbor High School and studied sculpting and painting at the South Australian School of Arts and Crafts.

In 1941, he married Lorna Pauline with whom he raised two girls.

Keith joined the RAAF air crew in early 1940 as a wireless air gunner. He trained at Point Cook, Victoria, and was posted to 2 Squadron in Laverton, before flying to Singapore in late 1941. The crew was taken to Kota Bharu to wait a return trip to Australia but right then Japan entered the war.

The RAAF men were bundled into planes to fly out. He was then with 1 Squadron in Lockheed Hudsons operating out of Singapore, transferring to Sumatra the day before Singapore fell. But the Sumatra airstrip was taken over by the Japanese and the group moved to Java where after a month they had to surrender, in March 1942.

Keith was a PoW in Changi and then other camps as he worked on the Burma railway. He was PoW for 1248 days. He drew sketches of camp life and Allied war graves, sketches which were later recovered from being hidden and now displayed in museums.

He and fellow prisoners suffered cruel hardships. But he did his best to maintain spirits, helping write and run concerts and working with Major "Weary" Dunlop.

At war's end, he was discharged as a warrant officer and in 1945 he returned to Adelaide. Being one of the few survivors from his wartime group, he was not going to waste one minute, one opportunity in life. He studied and qualified in architecture and engineering. From 1948 to 1953, Keith was an articled student for Hassell and McConnell Architects, then worked in SA's Architect-in-Chief's Department.

Keith attended the University of Pennsylvania 1953-54 as a Fulbright Scholar.

In 1954, he obtained a Master of Architecture for his thesis on Architecture and Medicine and Health, published in the US. He worked in Philadelphia and London.

In 1954, he returned to Adelaide to join Lawson, Cheesman and Doley.

He chaired the firm's committee on its day-to-day management, acted as chairman of directors and spent much time as project manager.

Keith's practices covered homes for the aged, hotels, motels, cinemas, drive-ins, service stations, hospitals, schools and multi-storey office buildings, houses, churches and factories.

The architects' firm in 1959 designed the Highways Department building at Walkerville - a prime example of reinforced concrete with exposed structural elements. Keith's design influence is seen in the IMFC building, King William St, city, the Ligertwood building at the University of Adelaide, St Martin's Church of England on Gorge Rd, Campbelltown, the Millicent Civic and Arts Centre and the Adelaide Kindergarten Teachers College, North Adelaide.

From 1972 he was the sole remaining chief partner of the firm and more landmark buildings followed: Regency Park College, Noarlunga Regional Centre and Civic Centre, extensions to the Renmark Hotel, the South Australian Institute of Teachers, Unley, Greater Union theatres, the Wilochra Chapel, Reynella Lodge, the football stadium at West Lakes, the Sheraton Hotel at Alice Springs and the Commonwealth Centre in Currie St, city.

His practice worked on the Hilton Adelaide hotel on Victoria Square and the Flinders Medical Centre at Bedford Park.

Hospital design was a passion and he worked back in Malaysia.

Keith was an avid photographer. He enjoyed swimming, power boating, shooting, computer programs and astronomy. He was a member of the Astronomical Society, the Italian Association and Adelaide Pistol Club. He developed post-traumatic stress, having recurrent nightmares of his PoW years, forcing him out of full-time work.

Keith Neighbour is survived by his partner, Gudrun, children Latha and Gina and four grandchildren.

President’s Comment – February 2021

8 February 2021

On the 10th anniversary of Keith Neighbour’s passing, John Held fondly remembers his former mentor and friend, who was a strong advocate for mentoring, connection and support within the profession.

A successful architectural practice is often a balance between the experience, skills and wisdom of its senior members and the creativity, freshness and inexperience of its younger members. It’s important that the good bits (wisdom and don’t-do-that-it-will-leak) are passed from one generation to the next without stifling that creativity and freshness. Indeed, it’s critical to the success of the profession. Sharing knowledge through mentoring is an important part of professional responsibility.

It’s ten years this week since former ACA – SA President Keith Neighbour died, still in office, at the age of 91. He led a remarkable life, with his ambition to become an artist interrupted by the Second World War. After service with the RAAF he was captured by the Japanese in Java in 1942 and was held as a Prisoner of War for 1248 days in camps such as Bicycle Camp in Java, Changi in Singapore and then on the notorious Thai Burma Railway.

On his return, Keith studied architecture and went on to run the largest practice in Adelaide whilst contributing to the ACA, the Australian Institute of Architects, the Architects Board and many government advisory groups. He was known for his mentoring of younger architects, including me. In South Australia we commemorate this through the Keith Neighbour Graduate Study program, organised by ACA for graduates studying for registration. What we particularly value is that the group is self organising, with recent alumni volunteering to mentor the next group through the process. When those architects move to more responsible positions, such as associates or directors/principals, there are training courses available but few informal support mechanisms.

Modernist masterpiece

Genevieve Meegan

Anthony Basheer

https://www.indailysa.com.au/salife/homes/2025/01/31/modernist-masterpiece 

Jan 31, 2025, updated Jan 31, 2025

It’s one of Adelaide’s most significant mid-century modern homes, designed by acclaimed architect Keith Neighbour for his family in 1958. Now, the home’s newest owners are embracing the form and function of this timeless beauty, which, in many ways, seemed destined for them.

There’s a well-known saying that a house will find its owners, not the other way around. And that’s exactly as it was for Alexandra Psaltis and Mark Ragen.

The couple and their two children live in one of Adelaide’s most significant mid-century modern homes, known as the “Neighbour House”, in Torrens Park.

Designed in 1958 by one of South Australia’s most renowned modernist architects, Keith Neighbour, it was his family home.

By coincidence, Alexandra’s father, Stanley Psaltis, also an Adelaide architect, was lectured by Keith Neighbour when attending the University of Adelaide. And so begins a list of uncanny connections that ultimately leads this family to this remarkable home.

That journey begins in 1992 in Lucerne, Switzerland, where Alexandra, an accomplished violinist and music teacher, had moved in order to complete her Masters in performance and chamber music.

She went on to play across Europe and the United States, as well as teaching music at an international school.

“It was the most amazing time of my life,” she says.

Mark, a New Zealander who works in finance, was also living and working in Lucerne and the couple met on the slopes of the Swiss Alps. When Mark was seconded to his firm’s Sydney office in 2014, the couple packed up and headed back to Australia.

They bought an apartment and settled into the harbour town, but by 2019, with one child and another on the way, they decided to relocate to Adelaide, keen to buy a bigger home and be closer to Alexandra’s family.

By the time they were ready to move in March 2020, Covid restrictions were in full force and the family went into quarantine on arrival here. They then moved into a large rental property in Netherby as they began searching for a home to buy.

“We thought buying a house in Adelaide would be easy,” Mark muses. “As an outsider, I was told houses are cheap and easy to find and you get much more for your money.

“But once we landed here and started looking, we realised that’s not the case anymore. Those days are gone.”

The couple was looking mainly in the foothills and had a checklist of things they wanted to cater for young children. That list included four bedrooms, allowing for a spare room for visitors, a good-sized backyard with a fence, no balconies, and no creeks or anything dangerous.

“It’s all the things that you don’t have in Sydney,” Alexandra says. “So, that’s what we were aiming for, and we gave agents this list of must-haves, which seemed quite reasonable for Adelaide homes.”

But, two years later, the couple had still not found their family home and Alexandra says they were on the verge of giving up.

“We saw a place on Belair Road which was expected to go for around $990,000 and on the first weekend they had remote offers, sight unseen, for $1.4 million,” she says. “When we pulled up to the inspection there was a queue of about 50 people, which was just as it was in Sydney.

“After that experience I said to one of the agents who called us, ‘we are taking a break from house hunting for now’.

“That’s when the agent said, ‘I’ve got two places off market, they don’t match your criteria, but I think it’s worth looking at them anyway’. This house was the first one we saw.”

Little did Alexandra and Mark know, they were actually walking into one of South Australia’s most famous and important examples of mid-century architecture, a house with a history as colourful as its red doors and painted besser block.

Stuart Symons is the founder of an organisation called Modernist Adelaide and is an expert when it comes to Adelaide’s mid-century architecture. He leads tours of mid-century architecture across Adelaide and has taken groups through the Keith Neighbour home over the years.

“It’s one of Adelaide’s most important modernist houses, written up in a number of journals and books, such as Australian House and Garden in September 1965, and most notably Neil Clerehan’s seminal Best Australian Houses 1961 book, which summarised the leap Australian architecture had made in the 1950s,” Stuart says.

“More recently, it featured in the incredible 2017 book, An Unfinished Experiment in Living: 150 Australian Houses 1950-65, by Geoffrey London, Philip Goad and Conrad Hamann, as well as in my own book.”

In another twist of fate, Stuart’s book, Modernist Adelaide: 100 Buildings 1940s-1970s also contains information about the Greek church in the Adelaide CBD, which Alexandra’s father designed, the Cathedral of Archangels Michael and Gabriel Greek Orthodox Church in Franklin Street.

That book was on the dining table when Alexandra and Mark first walked into this house.

“I said to Alexandra, ‘Isn’t that the book your father has a building in?’,” Mark recalls. “It was a sign, one of many. Stuart is also good friends with Alexandra’s brother, they went to school together and still play in a band. There are just so many connections between us and this house.”

Stuart describes the Keith Neighbour home as a “beautifully crafted yet modest celebration of functional design and honest exposed materials, such as besser blocks, timber and Solomit strawboard ceilings…”

“Keith Neighbour’s story is extraordinary,” Stuart says. “He was the survivor of three-and-a-half years in Japanese POW camps (in World War II) and was a Fulbright Scholar. Like many of his generation of architects, he wanted to use design to create a better society, becoming one of the giants of Adelaide’s post-war architecture at a time the movement was at a creative peak.”

The story goes that astronaut Buzz Aldrin – the second man to walk on the moon – has visited this home, a guest of Keith and his wife at a party in the 1970s.

All this notoriety is impressive, but Alexandra and Mark fell in love not with the fame but with the feel of this unique home – the light, the natural materials such as timber detailing and straw ceilings – as well as the hip mid-century aesthetic that people now pay a premium for.

“My first thought when we walked in was, ‘what’s the catch?’,” Mark says.

Alexandra adds: “We really were so excited. When I first came up the stairs and walked in, I had the feeling that I was in a tree house. We had a look around and the agent said, ‘have a think about it and give me a call’, but we walked outside and stood by the pond and agreed we didn’t need to think about anything. We put in an offer on the spot.”

The offer was accepted that afternoon. The couple felt that the previous (and only second) owners of this home chose them because they knew Alexandra and Mark would retain and value the home and its history.

“I think they felt confident that they wouldn’t drive past in a week’s time and see the house had been knocked down,” Mark says. “I think it’s tricky to find the right people for a house like this and that’s who we are.”

“We also thought finally we have found the right home for ourselves and our mid-century furniture… which we’ve been moving around the world with us for years,” Alexandra laughs.

The home remains in near-original condition, other than some added pops of red and new flooring, which Keith Neighbour added when his wife tired of the original grey. A balcony was also added when the Neighbour’s daughter was married.

“You can see the city lights twinkling between the trees at night and all the way down to the sea from here, it’s beautiful,” Alexandra says. “We love to entertain, and the balcony is the perfect spot to see the Glenelg fireworks on New Year’s Eve.”

Interestingly, the home, which sits on a 1400 square-metre block, contains none of the must-haves on Alexandra and Mark’s wish list. There are three bedrooms, not four, no fences, a balcony and a creek. The third bedroom doubles as a home office and Lego space.

“We wondered if we could somehow fence the property but began to enjoy chatting to the neighbours walking past, walking their dogs and waving,” Alexandra says.

“It’s a nice community and since we don’t have fences, people stop and chat about the house. All of them say they didn’t know it was even for sale, and they are glad we didn’t knock it down.”

However, cutting down or trimming trees and creating a flat area on the sloping block for the boys to play has been a priority. This not only forms great entertaining/play areas outside but allows for more light to flow into the home.

“The boys love it here,” Alexandra says. “And when they go out to play, they run out the door and jump on the trampoline or swings hanging between the trees and I can see them from here – it’s an inside out house.”

The boys also love riding their scooters around the circular driveway which runs underneath the balcony, forming a fun track.

Cutting down hazardous trees on the large block has been a matter of safety as well.

“We’re still in the process of making the garden our own. We had an arborist come and advise us and he looked at one tree, an enormous lemon-scented gum, and said it should go,” Mark says. “We said we’d like to keep it and the following week we had visitors over and we were standing in the driveway chatting when the wind picked up, so went inside.

“Just moments later we heard this massive noise, and a whole limb had come down right where we had been standing. Then we understood why those gums are called widow-makers.”

That tree is now gone.

Alexandra, who works in orchestral management for the Adelaide Concert Orchestra and recent collaborator with long-time friend and owner of Amazing Grazers, launching Adelaide’s first “Build Your Own Platter Box” business, says they would like to expand the home once the boys are a little older. The idea is to create a new wing, linked to the home via a glass walkway.

“That way it doesn’t have to be done in a way that fits exactly with this house, but rather a way that complements it,” Alexandra says. “It’s about how we can increase the footprint without disturbing the existing beauty of this home, doing it with respect.

“We would never want to interfere with the original building, so the best idea would be to add a walkway and create a parents’ retreat and second living area.

“I think with young children, they like to be around you. We had a big five-bedroom home in Netherby with a playroom and yet the kids wanted to play where we were. But as they get bigger, that will change.”

Alexandra says she loves waking up to the peace, calm and green surroundings of this home, which sits on a corner block and is opposite a reserve.

“That’s why it puts everyone in the right frame of mind to start the day,” Mark says. “So many houses are being knocked down, duplexes are going up, and people are building right to the boundary. There is a sense of space and light here.

“The fact that this is still a functioning, beautiful home is a credit to Keith Neighbour and his visionary design. We would love to stay here forever. I can’t imagine living anywhere else.”

References

Architectural Museum entry, by Julie Collins

The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA: 1931-1954)

 Tuesday 24 March 1942

“Sgt. Air-Gnr. Keith Neighbour only son of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Neighbour, of Goolwa, has been reported missing, presumed prisoner of war in Java. Sgt. Neighbour enlisted on the outbreak of war, and was in action in Malaya, Singapore, and Java. He married Miss Lorna Crafter, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E. R. Crafter of Warrakilla, Mylor.”

The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954)

Friday 7 September 1945

“Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Neighbour, of Goolwa, have received a cable from their son Keith, who has been a POW in No. 4 Camp, Siam, stating that he has arrived safely in India, and hopes to be home soon.”

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The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931-1954)

Thursday 13 September 1945

“Mrs. Keith Neighbour, of Warrakilla, Mylor, has received a letter from her husband, Sgt. Keith Neighbour, RAAF, who has been a prisoner of war in Japanese hands since February, 1942. He is now in Rangoon, and says he is well, and hopes to be home soon. Sgt. Neighbour is the only son of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Neighbour, of Goolwa.”

MARRIAGE

The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931-1954)

Saturday 8 February 1941

“The marriage was celebrated on Wednesday morning at Trinity Church, North terrace, of Miss Lorna Pauline Crafter, second daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E. R. Crafter, of Warrakilla, Mylor, and Mr. Keith Neighbour (R.A.A.F. Laverton, Victoria), only son of Mr. and Mrs. A. Neighbour, of Goolwa. The bride, who was given away by her father, wore a short-sleeved frock of beige-gold angora, with pleats at the back of the skirt giving slight fullness. She wore a close-fitting black velvet turban and black accessories. Miss Marjorie Smith was bridesmaid, and Mr. John O'Loughlan best man. The Rev. R. M. Fulford officiated.”

Architect's Second Scholarship

The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931-1954)

Friday 10 July 1953

Mr. Keith Neighbour, an SA architect, was informed yesterday that he had been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship by the US State Department. This scholarship, which is in addition to one awarded by the University of Pennsylvania, will pay his fares to and from the US. Under the university scholarship Mr. Neighbour will study hospital architecture at Philadelphia for a year.”

The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931-1954) - Wednesday 30 June 1954 – Page 2 -

“Mr. Keith Neighbour, an Adelaide architect, who is in the US on a fellowship and scholarship grant, has been appointed programme planning consultant for an £8m. project at Stanford University School of Medicine in San Francisco.”