Matt Dillon
Mechanical and building services contractor A.G. Coombs has two reasons to celebrate. In a year in which the firm is celebrating 75 years in operation, this week the organisation is acknowledging what would have been founder Allan George Coombs’ 100th birthday.
“Allan Coombs was instrumental in the establishment of the HVAC industry in Australia straight after WWII, the development of industry standards and trade-based training for the industry, and the founding of the Air Conditioning and Mechanical Contractors Association – AMCA,” says A.G. Coombs Strategic Development Director Bryon Price, F.AIRAH.
“He was recognised for his contribution to the industry with an Order of Australia (AM) in the 1979 New Year’s Honours List, and was one of the inaugural inductees to the ARBS Industry Hall of Fame in 2010, along with James Harrison.”
Headquartered in Melbourne, A.G. Coombs was established in August 1945. One of the firm’s early breaks was winning the plumbing installation job for the Olympic Village at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. A few years later in the 1960s, A.G. Coombs delivered the air conditioning and mechanical services at the then-new Royal Children’s Hospital complex in Melbourne – at the time Australia’s largest mechanical services contract.
“With its reputation for technical excellence,” Price says, “A.G. Coombs has gone on to design, install, maintain and operate building services in prominent facilities throughout Australia.”
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