Collingwood's Architectural Heritage
140 Hoddle Street, Collingwood: Built in 1885-90 to a design of Melbourne architect, George Johnson, the Collingwood Town Hall complex comprises town hall, library, municipal offices, court house and post office, all spaciously arranged in a heavily ornamented two-storey fabric of brick, stucco and wrought iron, dominated by a soaring clock tower. The clock may be the original one from the Melbourne General Post Office which was removed from that building in 1890. The clock bell was cast by Mears and Stainbank at the Whitechapel Foundry, London, in 1890. Extensive alterations to the interior were made in 1938 by AC Leith and Associates.
The Collingwood Town Hall is considered a monument to the aspirations of the predominantly working class municipality of Collingwood in the late 19th century. It has also played a major and continuing part in the social life of the area. It has been, especially between the wars, an extremely popular dance venue, and from the early years of the 20th century the main hall was used as a cinema.
174-180 Smith Street, Collingwood: The former Collingwood Post Office was established at 174-180 Smith Street in 1868 having been relocated from its previous location on the north side of Peel Street. The 2.5 metre deep facade designed by John Marsden of the Public Works Department, was added to the building in 1892. The building's facade, which comprises a deep recessed loggia with central Mansardesque tower, is a well designed example of the Victorian mannerist style. The facade arranges conventional tectonic elements in an unusual and playful manner. The addition of 1892 is also an early example of Accadism; the balance of the building, to the rear of the facade is of relatively less significance. The building has been redeveloped as apartments.
The Collingwood Technical School complex, later Collingwood TAFE at 35-63 Johnston Street, Collingwood, was created in stages in 1913, 1923, 1938, 1948-9, 1950s for the Education Department (Victorian State Government) and has historical associations with the numerous pupils, parents of pupils and teachers who attended or visited the school. The building has been given heritage staus, contributing factores being its many long associations for the community, the inter-war and immediate post Second War wings that served as war-related training venues, and the Keith Haring mural in the courtyard.
In the 20th century, the Collingwood Technical School complex developed as an alternative public centre to the former town hall and court house. The school was opened in 1912 at the former Collingwood municipal offices and the first purpose-built school structure was completed in 1913 (facing Perry St) but most of the complex developed around the World War Two era, playing a major role in retraining of returned soldiers. The school complex contains the highly significant 1938 Administration Building, with its arched Johnston Street entry bay. A superior example of international Dudok Modernism, the building was designed by the Public Works Department Chief Architect, Percy Everett.
Partial decay of the tower of the (former) Yorkshire Brewery belies the Collingwood icon's former majesty as Melbourne's tallest building. Architect and engineer James Wood built the multi-level, polychrome brick tower in 1876. It was designed in French Second Empire style and included a smoke stack that has since been demolished. The tower was the prominent feature of a brewing complex consisting of cellars, stables and ancillary structures. It belonged to the architect's father John Wood, who also ran the Yorkshire Hotel. Location: 88 Wellington Street, Collingwood.
More >>
45 Harmsworth Street, Collingwood: Now used occupied by the Dight Street Community Centre, the foundation stone for this building was laid on 24 March 1876. The small Gothic Revival church has tuck-pointed brick walls, which has been painted, with a bluestone plinth. The gabled roof, clad in slate, is penetrated by three small ventilation gablets along each slope. Gable and buttress copings and window sills are rendered. Window and door openings are narrow pointed arches. The east elevation has a central pointed arch entrance flanked by staged buttressed spires topped with fleur-de-lys. Historically, the building recalls the shared responsibilities of the various churches in caring for Collingwood's children during the mid-Victorian period.
45 Harmsworth Street, Collingwood: Named because of its size, the Dolls House is believed to be the smallest extant house in Victoria. It consists of two rooms and is only 8 feet 6 inches (just over 2 metres) wide. It was probably built in the 1880s after an 1870s subdivision, and remained occupied until 1978. The Dolls House has a strong association with the history of the working class in Victoria, providing evidence of the living conditions experienced by slum dwellers in an urban industrial environment. More by good luck that good management, it managed to escape the actions of the slum clearance movement of the early 20th century. Originally located in Islington Street, Collingwood, the house now stands in the grounds of Collingwood College.
172 Powlett Street (Cnr Victoria Parade), East Melbourne: The timber East Collingwood Rifles Volunteer Orderly room was initially constructed in 1864 by builder William Radden with donations from members of the unit. The hall was at that time situated at the north west corner of a reserve which had been used as a cricket ground. Following the defence reforms of Sir Frederick Sargood in 1884 the East Collingwood orderly room was one of the few metropolitan halls taken over by the government for the newly formed paid militia.
In 1885 additions were made in the form of attached offices, a new transverse hall and a sergeant-major?s quarters (since demolished). These additions were designed by Victorian Public Works Department architect Samuel Bindley and their detailing is typical of many other drill halls of the period. In 1937 a brick addition was made to the north end of the 1864 building in the moderne style and the 1864 hall was given a jarrah floor to replace the former asphalt. The drill hall has been used by a variety of army units including infantry, artillery, ordnance and survey. The 1864 hall still has an extensive shingle roof under its corrugated iron.
G&J; Coles store, 288 Smith Street, Collingwood
170-172 Smith Street, Collingwood is the site of Coles G J and Co Ld, Fancy Goods and Drapers, Collingwood store, the very first in the chain of stores that developed into the retail giant of Coles. George James ("GJ") Coles, in partnership with his brothers Jim and (Sir) Arthur, opened a fancy goods store at 288 Smith Street, Collingwood In April 1914, under the banner of G&J; Coles. Jim Coles died in 1916 so, after the war, George and Arthur sold their store to an uncle and in June 1919 opened another, larger premises at 170-172 Smith Street. They began to use the slogan 'nothing over 2/6' which became a by-word for the business. Expansion was swift. During the 1920s G. J. Coles & Co. acquired further stores and in 1924 opened one in Bourke Street, in the heart of Melbourne's central business district, diagonally opposite the Myer Emporium. It contained what was said to be Australia's first self-service cafeteria. On the eve of World War II the company operated eighty-six stores nationally.
This was the first store for the new firm of G. J. Coles & Co. Pty. Ltd., created on 1 July 1921, with George as managing director. A new shop at 170-172 Smith Street was rebuilt in the late 1930s for Harry L Moss who leased it to GJ Coles. This shop has since been demolished.
114 Smith Street, Collingwood: The Grace Darling Hotel, one of the few remaining 1850s goldrush era hotels left in inner Melbourne, is thought to be among the oldest group of retail buildings in Melbourne. Built in 1854 in bluestone with Tasmanian dressings, it was the work of George Wharton, an important early Victorian architect who later became the President of the Victorian Institute of Architects. During the 1850s, the majority of Collingwood buildings (unlike those in Melbourne and Fitzroy) were constructed of wood. The few substantial brick or stone buildings were hotels or churches. The Grace Darling Hotel provides a striking remnant of these early years of Melbourne s suburban development and an excellent example of an early stone building in Collingwood. The Hotel was the venue of the inaugural committee meeting of the Collingwood Football Club in 1892, at which a decision was made to form a football club to play in the new Victorian Football League. The use of a hotel for such purposes was not unusual, pubs serving important social and community functions in the absence of other venues and institutions in early Melbourne.
8-10 Johnston Street, Collingwood: Belmont is one of Collingwood's oldest residences, being a two storey bluestone and brick building. It is believed that Moses Craven built a single storey three-room stone house on the site some time prior to 1857. A further storey was added c. 1876 by James Wilson. Subsequently the building was divided into two residential units. The age of the house is betrayed by the balcony and verandah which are cantilevered over the footpath and by the front door steps which encroach onto the footpath. These unusual features are evidence of the lack of building regulation in Collingwood at the time the house was built. The first floor, constructed some time after the lower floor, is of brick and more typically Victorian in style, perhaps reflecting the more established nature of Collingwood by this stage, although the projecting verandah reminds us of the tenuous regulation that characterised the origins of the suburb.
79-93 Oxford Street, Collingwood: The Foy and Gibson company was a pioneer in the history of retailing in Melbourne. Its department store chain, Melbourne's earliest, was modelled on the trading principles of the "Bon Marche" of Paris and other European and American stores. The Foy and Gibson factories and warehouses, which were responsible for the production and delivery of goods to the department stores, were remarkable for the range of goods that they produced, including soft furnishings, manchester goods, clothing, hats, hardware, leather goods, furniture and a range of foods. Such production, wholesaling and retailing arrangements, which were an indication of the largely local focus of producer, supplier and retailer networks, are rare in contemporary retail establishments which source their products from all over the world.
As early as 1906 the former Foy and Gibson complex was described as "undoubtedly the largest factory in the Southern hemisphere". The complex employed 2000 people and was considered technologically advanced, employing steam and electric power from an early date. Today, however, the equipment and shafting have been removed and the boiler house stacks form the only extant evidence of Foy and Gibson's technological achievements. The four storey section of the factory, at 79-93 Oxford Street, was possibly built prior to 1887, thought to be the earliest building still extant in the Foy and Gibson complex. The two level buildings on either side of it were added in 1900 (to the south) and 1908 (to the north). These buildings have elaborate timber roof trusses with turned struts incorporating long rectangular roof lanterns. The remnants of the laneway divisions between the original buildings are also of interest as interpreted from the brick piers at ground level, and the light wells on the upper level.
The Part of the Foy and Gibson complex at 95-101 Oxford Street, Collingwood, consists of a powerhouse, motor garage and associated workshops and was constructed in 1908. These particular buildings were substantially intact, both externally and internally, until damaged by fire on Wednesday, 16th October, 1991. The power house that is part of thiese buildings is one of the few remaning relics of early industrial infrastructure in Melbourne. The need for an on-site power house reflects the size of the Foy and Gibson complex, and reveals the expensiveness and limited nature of Melbourne s early electricity supply. The power house was one of Melbourne's first power generation houses. The motor garages that are part of the buildings were used for home delivery vehicles before the widespread use of automobiles by the general public.
The building was the ork of William Pitt (1855-1918), an eminent Melbourne architect, with a great talent for distinctive industrial buildings. As well as the vast Collingwood factory complex, Pitt was responsible for the retail store design for the 1911 Smith Street Diamond Cut Lingerie building in Fitzroy. The factory complex can be compared with Pitt's early sections of the Victoria Brewery complex, the facade of which formed the prototype for many later additions, and with his Bryant and May complex in Church Street, Richmond.
The first store was established as a drapery in Smith Street, Collingwood, by Mark Foy. In 1955 The Fox and Gibson was bought out by Cox Brothers. The retail empire was progressively dismantled, the ten WA stores being sold to David Jones in 1964; the Melbourne store to Woolworths 1967; the Adelaide store to Harris Scarfe.
162 Wellington Street, Collingwood: The Singleton Medical Centre is a two storey brick building with a rendered facade, established in 1889 by Dr John Singleton as a dispensary to administer free medical attention and provide spiritual guidance to the poor. The dispensary originally included a large central mission hall at the rear with meeting rooms. The main building contained a large dispensary, two waiting rooms, two consulting rooms, a reading room, a registry office for the unemployed, a coffee room and book store.
Dr Singleton was one of Melbourne's most active and generous philanthropists. Born in Dublin in 1808 and arriving in Victoria in 1851, he was initially involved with temperance societies and gaol visiting, and was a vocal opponent of capital punishment. Whilst practising medicine in Warrnambool, Mt. Gambier and Maryborough, he developed an interest in Aboriginal affairs and helped establish the Framlingham Aboriginal Reserve near Warrnambool. After returning to Melbourne in 1867 Singleton continued his philanthropic works, establishing the free medical dispensary in 1869 as well as a number of other facilities such as night shelters and a retreat for friendless and fallen women and widow's cottages in Collingwood. The Dispensary was one of the first ventures to distribute free medical attention to the poor, and was also the first home of the Salvation Army in Melbourne, the Army using the dispensary's hall.
