Agent TypeOrganisationIdentifierUMA-AG-000001430Activities & OccupationsEngineersHistoryJL & EM Daly Structural Engineers a Melbourne based engineering firm was established in c.1946 by John Daly and his brother Edward Murray ‘Murray’ Daly. In the years after WWII Australia’s building program grew quickly after many years of slow growth during the Depression and War years. It was during the 1950s to 1960s that JL & EM Daly expanded their operations opening several offices nationally in Canberra, Ballarat and Hobart. However in the 1970s-1980s they started to contract their business and progressively closed all their offices, with the exception of Melbourne. In contrast competitor and business rival John Connell continued to expand his business Aurecon which has gone on to become a global company, securing big international contracts such as the Dubai Creek Tower, Auckland Rail Link and the local Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. In 1982 JL Daly’s son Andrew Daly purchased the business and went into partnership with his cousin.
Of significance is JL & EM Daly’s work with Eggleston, MacDonald & Secomb and University Architect Rae Featherstone on the Raymond Priestley and Redmond Barry buildings, both examples of modernist Melbourne architecture. In addition, JL & EM Daly worked with a number of Melbourne’s leading architectural firms such as Yuncken Freeman, Mockridge Stahle & Mitchell (MS&M), Buchan, Laird & Buchan and Irwin Johnson. During the 1950s to 1970s they consistently worked with MS&M on several projects such as the Faith’s Anglican Church in Glen Iris, Camberwell Civic Centre and the Canberra based government building project auspiced by the National Capital Development Commission. Of note is the Faith’s Anglican Church architectural design for its innovative ecclesiastical modern design. Other university MS&M building projects involving JL Daly & EM Daly include Whitley College Parkville, Religious Centre, Monash University which are of note for the use of the circular plan, first used by Roy Grounds in the 1950s.
By the 2000s Andrew Daly had sold his share of the business to his cousin and continued to operate as a sole trader working with industrial clients such as CSR.
Sources:
Andrew Daly March 2020
Goad, P. & Tibbits, G. 2013 'Architecture on Campus'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rae_Featherstone
Victorian Heritage Database vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au
https://www.aurecongroup.com/projects
JM & EM Daly (1946-), [UMA-AG-000001430]. University of Melbourne Archives, accessed 10/03/2026, https://archives.library.unimelb.edu.au/nodes/view/62578
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