Harold Charles Richards

Harold Richards studied engineering at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.[2] In 1951, he worked in the Design Section of Johns and Waygood, which was responsible for many of Australia's post-war infrastructure developments.[3] In 1952, the co-founded Hardcastle & Richards with business partner Roy Hardcastle, as a result of winning the design competition for the Olympic Stadium for the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. However, a change in government caused the cancellation of the project. The firm expanded to have offices in Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Brisbane and Broken Hill.[4] The firm was involved in many civil engineering projects, including the King Street Bridge over the Yarra River.[5] In 1962, Hardcastle & Richards were invited by the School of Engineering at the University of Melbourne to participate in guiding students' final year design projects.[3] These projects were based on actual projects in which the firm had been involved. This association with engineering education lasted five decades.

Other positions held:[1]

• Chairman of the Victorian Institute of Marine Science, 1994-1997
• Chairman of the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, 1997-1998
• Member of the Board of Management, Greenvale Centre and Mount Royal Hospital, 1990-1991
• President Emeritus, Broadmeadows College of TAFE, 1989-1993
• Elder, St John's Uniting Church in Australia, 1977-2014
• Councillor, Shire of Bulla, 1965-1985
• President, Shire of Bulla, 1972
• President of the Association of Consulting Engineers Australia, 1977-1980
• Vice-President of the Australian College of Professions, 1975
• National Vice-President, Institution of Engineers Australia, 1973-1975
• Member of the National Capital Planning Committee, 1973-1978
• Member of Board of Management, North West Hospital, Melbourne, 1991-1995

For almost 50 years, Hardcastle & Richards were major donors to the School of Engineering at the University of Melbourne[2] and to RMIT University. In 1979, a bronze relief by artist Michael Meszaros, entitled Compression and Tension was presented to the Department of Civil Engineering to mark the 25th anniversary of the founding of the firm.[6] Richards was the founder of the Rotary Club of Carlton in 1985 and its Charter President.[7]

• Member of the Order of Australia, 1980, for service to technical education[8]
• Honorary Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Melbourne[3]
• Elected Fellow, Institution of Engineers Australia[1]
• Paul Harris Fellow, Rotary International, 1995[1]
• Honorary Life Member, Rotary Club of Carlton, 2013[9]