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Wellesley Noel Cleve Potter (Noel Potter), born 1924 in Sydney speaks about his family background and early life; his education; in 1942 entering the NSW Public Service; during World War II enlisting in the AIF as soon as he turned 18; his war service including a tour of duty in New Guinea; at the war's end, being posted to Japan as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces; how this posting led to further studies towards his architectural career, including a job designing buildings for the occupation forces in Japan; returning to Australia in 1947 and beginning his architectural degree at Sydney University under the Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme; obtaining his degree in 1953; successfully applying for a position with the architectural firm of Bunning & Madden; his experience growing from small-scale housing projects to large-scale public and commercial buildings.
Potter talks about taking on the role of 'roving architect' and regularly travelling to Canberra to supervise building work for the National Capital Development Commission (NCDC) and Australian National University (ANU); being offered a partnership by Walter Madden; moving permanently to Canberra in 1962 to oversee the design and construction of the National Library of Australia (NLA); being the site architect for the Library but also supervising the work in progress at several ANU sites, local schools, houses and embassies; his commitment to the NLA by offering his services and advice whenever it is required.
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