Melbourne Architecture
The City of Melbourne is recognised for its mix of modern architecture which intersects with an extensive range of nineteenth and early twentieth century buildings. Some of the most architecturally noteworthy historic buildings include the World Heritage Site-listed Royal Exhibition Building, constructed over a two-year period for the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880, A.C. Goode House, a Gothic style building located in Collins Street designed by Wright, Reed & Beaver (1891), William Pitt's Venetian Gothic style Old Stock Exchange (1888), William Wardell's Gothic Bank (1883) which features some of Melbourne's finest interiors, the incomplete Parliament House, St Paul's Cathedral (1891) and Flinders Street Station (1909), the busiest commuter railway station in the world in the mid-1920s.
The city also features the Shrine of Remembrance which was built as a memorial to the men and women of Victoria who served in World War I and is now a memorial to all Australians who have served in war. The now demolished Queen Anne style APA Australian Building (1889), the world's 3rd tallest building at the time of completion,[133] is said to have anticipated the skyscraper race in New York City and Chicago.
As of 2012, the city contained a total of 594 high-rise buildings, with 8 under construction, 71 planned and 39 at proposal stage[134] making the city's skyline, the second largest in Australia. The CBD is dominated by modern office buildings including the Rialto Towers (1986), built on the site of several grand classical Victorian buildings, two of which the Rialto Building (1889) designed by William Pitt and the Winfield Building (1890) designed by Charles DEbro & Richard Speight still remain today and more recently hi-rise apartment buildings including Eureka Tower (2006), the 10th tallest residential building in the world.
Architectural Highlights
2001 - Polymer Engineering Centre, Kangan Batman TAFE, Broadmeadows Campus, Vic.
The Polymer Engineering Centre is a new training facility for Polymer Manufacturing. Kangan Batman TAFE is Victoria's leading training institution in the plastics industry and has developed close and ongoing working relationships with manufacturers and industry groups. The projct brief therefore included plans to make the new facility a centre for the promotion of the plastics industry as well as a leading training institution. The building could also be a demonstration of platics products in the building industry. The building includes a large double volume manufacturing space housing a variety of polymer manufacturing plant, and a two level stack of teaching and administrative accommodation. Architect: Cox Sanderson Ness
2007 - Altona Meadows Library and Learning Centre, Altona Meadows, Vic
The AMLLC is located on a narrow parcel of land located at the rear of a shopping centre car park alongside a supermarket loading dock. This context called for a building that would be noticeable from the main road and would draw people in with its transparency to the activity inside. The building puts on display its inner workings on display like an ant farm . According to the architect, the building relies on an assembly of simple components for its aesthetic merit rather than complex detailing or extravagant materials. Architect: Haskell Architects.
1908 - 7 Drewery Lane, Melbourne, Vic
Built in the Edwardian period in the Chicagoesque style as the Snider & Abrahams Building office building. It was only the second example of American C A P Turner's flat plate system of reinforced concrete construction to be built and was begun in the same year as Turner's Lindeke Warner Building in Minnesota, USA. The building was designed by H R Crawford who held the Australian rights to the Turner system. Erected to a height of seven storeys, the top two floors were added later. Facades are decorated with foliated capitals and arches at the top floor level of the original building, but otherwise the walls are not decorated.
1958 - Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Kings Domain, Melbourne, Vic.
The Sidney Myer Music Bowl is a canopy of aluminium-faced plywood supported by steel cables and tapered steel masts, stretched over a stage and orchestra pit with some fixed timber seating, and a sloping lawn area. At the rear of the stage and under the stage are a number of service and support rooms. In the international context, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl differed from the concrete shell structures which may have partly inspired its designers, and which offered a challenge to traditional architectural forms during this period.
Structural expression and material experiment were popular amongst Melbourne's more avant-garde architects in the 1950s, but this interest was expressed mainly through residential buildings. In terms of larger scale public buildings, only the Melbourne Olympic Swimming Pool has some similarities with the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. Along with the hinged, trussed Swimming Pool building, the Bowl is a notable experiment in the use of a steel tensile structure, and in the architectural expression of structure through form, and both buildings drew national acclaim. The Sidney Myer Music Bowl was the first major purpose-built outdoor cultural venue to be constructed in Melbourne and was designed to accommodate a completely new scale of live outdoor performance events. Since opening in 1959, the Bowl has been the scene of a wide range of memorable events and performances for large numbers of Melburnians.
1982 - Hamer Hall, The Arts Centre, 100 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Vic
Hamer Hall (formerly Melbourne Concert Hall) seats up to 2,600 over three levels and is painted in the colours and patterns of Australian minerals and gemstones. As you walk though the lower entrances, above is the kaleidoscope of Sidney Nolan s specially commissioned Paradise Garden series featuring 1,336 images examining the life cycle of plants. The Hamer Hall building also houses EQ Caf?bar, the BlackBox Theatre and Alfred Brash SoundHouse. The Theatres Building, Hamer Hall and Melbourne s iconic outdoor performance space, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, comprise The Arts Centre.
1893 - Eastern Hill Fire Station, 23-41 Gisborne, Street, Melbourne, Vic.
The Eastern Hill Fire Station is a two storey brick building with accompanying watch tower built on an elevated with a wide panorama of the City. Thomas Cockram & Co. constructed the building at a cost of nearly ?16,000. The fire station was the headquarters station for the newly established Metropolitan Fire Brigades Board. The Fire Station displays some traces of the Queen Anne revival style that was popular in Britain in the 1870s and 1880s. The contrasting materials of red brick and cement, the use of parapeted gables with flanking scrolls, the steeply pitched roof and tall chimneys all contribute to this style. The building remains essentially a composition in the classical style, combining arcuation and trabeation. Architects: Tayler & Fitts, and Smith & Johnston.
1990 - City of Waverly Exhibitions Gallery, 170 Jells Road, Wheelers Hill, Vic
The building consists of a rectangular flexible space in which artworks of virtually any kind can be displayed; freestanding, on walls or suspended on screens. The space is lit from S-shaped overhead southlight windows which admit diffused daylight. Depending on the artworks, natural light is controlled by means of movable vertical blades. This building with its wave formed gallery; skylights and sculptured tumbled masonry perimeter walls, stands on a sloping manicured lawn with long views of distant mountains. Cost: $1.5 million. Architect: Harry Siedler & Associates
1888 - former Melbourne Teachers College, University of Melbourne, 156-292 Grattan Street, Carlton, Vic
Building was built as a residential teacher training institution for the Victorian Education Department, it is sited on the University of Melbourne reserve, on a section of land which had remained undeveloped by the university in the 1880s. The building, which displays strong Queen Anne style influences, is one of the oldest buildings of its style in Victoria. The 1888 building also appears to draw directly on the formality and planning of training establishment precedents in England from the same period, notably the co-educational Homerton College in London. The 1888 Building was constructed in three phases between 1889 and 1892 to Public Works Department designs. The plans were prepared by architect GBH Austin under the supervision of JH Marsden. The main facade of the tuck-pointed red brick structure is a clear expression of the English Queen Anne style, although flanking wings are more restrained and Elizabethan in character. The building comprises a central block with main entrance, lecture halls and library, and is flanked by dormitory wings to the east and west to form an E-shaped plan. Male students were located in the west wing and female students in the east wing. Lecture rooms were also segregated.
The City of Melbourne building, 112-118 Elizabeth Street and 323-331 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, Vic.
Erected for the short-lived City of Melbourne Building Society in 1888, it epitomises the building boom of the 1880s in Melbourne. Melbourne architects Ellerker and Kilburn designed this eclectic, Classically styled brick structure of four storeys with cement rendered facade decoration and elaborate roof form of Mansard towers, corner turret and iron rail crestings. The ground floor level facade has been radically altered. The facade above street awning level is intact although heavily encrusted with city grime.
1858-97 - St Patricks Cathedral, Cathedral Place, Albert and Gisborne Street, East Melbourne, Vic.
This is one of the grandest Perpendicular Gothic Revival Churches in the world and is architect William Wardell's masterpiece and largest commission. Its outstanding feature is its superb form with graceful spires that are a prominent landmark. The spacious interior lacks the intended wall mosaics and paintings. It has many fine works of art, some designed by Wardell and culminating in the high altar and timber ceiling. Construction commenced in 1858. The nave and aisles were opened in 1869. The remainder of the Church itself and the Sacristy were completed in 1897. St. Patrick's was destined to start its life without spires, however they and the Confessional were added and the west door rebuilt in 1936-40. The central spire is higher than Wardell originally intended.
1866 - Victorian College for the Deaf, 597 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Vic
Built in the Victorian period in the Neo-Gothic style, the building is an early example of neo-gothic with central tower and tourelle. It features stunning bluestone and polychrome brickwork combination, with notably picturesque gables. Prominent exposed butresses are notable, as are the cathedral-like floral tracery. Architect: Crouch & Wilson
1869 - former Christian Brothers College, 256-278 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne, Vic
This is the oldest Christian Brothers School in Australia and the last survivor of a group of five schools that once operated from East Melbourne. Architecturally it is one of the finest bluestone schools in the State and an important example of architect William Wardell's work. The top floor chapel of the monastery wing and the deep buttresses of the classroom wing are features which enhance the fine composition. The intact iron fence palisading is also notable. The buildingis a notable bluestone gothic composition with gables and high pitched roof. Horizontal rendered string courses are noteable. The architect was William Wardell in conjunction with L Terry (contractor: W Ireland). Extensions including the verandah were made in 1902. The building serves as a monastery and as a school.
1874 - Hawksburn Primary School, 369 Malvern Road, Hawksburn, Vic
Primary School No. 1467 is one of a group of schools designed by leading Melbourne architects as a result of a competition held by the newly formed Education Department in 1873, and erected in the period 1874-81. The competition drew a number of important Victorian architects, including Reed and Barnes, Terry and Oakden, Charles Webb, W.H. Ellerker and Crouch and Wilson, the architects of this particular design. The Gothic style and religious flavour of the bell tower emphasise the seriousness accorded to attending school after the introduction of compulsory education in 1873. Architect: Crouch & Wilson
1876-77 - former Faraday Street Primary School, 249 Faraday Street, Carlton, Vic
The Kathleen Syme Education Centre is a two storey polychromatic brick structure with a slate roof and shallow eaves. A central gable and tower with a bellcast roof form the central element of the asymmetrical facade to Faraday Street. The end pavilions have pyramidal roofs. The window openings to both storeys are variously square-headed, arch, segmental arch or depressed pointed arch. Most of the windows were enlarged in 1908 to from single openings from pairs of pointed arch windows. There are Gothic-style buttresses to the ground floor. The string courses are emphasised by use of cream colour bricks. Rear wings constructed of brick were added in 1927. Architect: Reed & Barnes
1877-1931 - St Paul's Cathedral, 22-40 Swanson, corner Flinders Street, Melbourne, Vic.
St Paul's Cathedral is of major architectural significance as a masterpiece of Perpendicular Gothic Revival design. Although later changes have diminished Butterfield's original design, St Paul's remains one of his largest and most important works. The interior is a particularly fine example of Gothic Revival design with splendid proportions and colouring, superb banded stonework and a fine reredos. In 1877 it was decided to replace St Paul's Church with a new Cathedral designed by William Butterfield, a great Gothic Revival architect. He had difficulty supervising construction and in 1883 he resigned. J. Reed completed the building, except for the spires, in 1891 to Butterfield's design. Spires were added in 1926-31 to the design of John Barr, an architect of Sydney. The Lewis organ was installed in 1891 and is a superb example of an English romantic organ. The massive organ case, in Tasmanian blackwood, is thought to have been designed by Joseph Reed.
1854-1970 - Law School Building, University of Melbourne, 156-292 Grattan Street, Parkville, Vic
The Law School Building and Old Quadrangle is architecturally significant as a stylistic demonstration of the University's close links with British universities in the mid-nineteenth century. The use of the Gothic revival style was a clear demonstration of this association and was expressed through such elements as the quadrangle form, castellated parapets, cloisters, bayed windows, and pinnacled and gabled parapet ends. Architect: FM White
1856 - Melbourne Grammar School Main Quadrangle, 345 St Kilda Road, South Yarra, Vic
Melbourne Grammar School is situated on a large block of 15 acres bounded by St Kilda Road, Domain Road, Domain Street and Bromby Street. The earliest buildings on this site were erected between 1856 and 1858 in bluestone with freestone dressings, and comprise the gate lodge and west wing of the quadrangle. The Witherby tower was completed in 1876 and between 1861 and 1891 the quadrangle building was completed based on Webb and Taylors Tudor-Gothic style designs. After 1876 no attempt was made to conform to Charles Webbs original plan but buildings were designed to harmonise with the earlier quadrangle buildings. The Gothic style chapel was constructed in 1892 to the design of architect A E Johnson. In 1905 the appointment of the partnership of Godfrey & Spowers began a tradition of appointing old boys as school architects. In 1908 they completed the Cuming Wing begun by Inskip and Butler in 1898. In 1910 the Ross Memorial Gates were opened and the Chapel Square was formed. In 1913 the Jubilee Wing, also designed by Godfrey and Spowers, was built adjacent to the quadrangle. In 1928 the War Memorial Hall was opened, designed by Hugh L Peck and built as a memorial to old boys who were killed in the First World War. Architect: Webb & Taylor
1858 - Wesley Church, 124-144 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, Vic
Originally a built for a Methodist Church of Australasia congregation, it is named after John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. A statue of Wesley stands in front of the church. The Church, in Lonsdale Street was built in 1858, replacing an earlier Methodist chapel built in Collins St in 1835, the year Melbourne was founded. Wesley Church was designed by Joseph Reed, who also designed the Melbourne Town Hall, the Scots' Church and St. Michael s Uniting Church in Collins St. The church is in the English Gothic style and takes the shape of a cross. In 1893, during the acute depression which followed the bank crash of 1891, Wesley became the base for the Central Methodist Mission, now called Wesley Mission Melbourne. The church is 50 metres long from north to south and 23.5 metres at the transepts. It has an octagonal spire rising 53.3 meters (above ground level, which was for many years the tallest point on the Melbourne skyline. Inside the church are two paintings by the noted 19th century Australian painter Rupert Bunny: "The Prodigal Son" (Luke 15:11-32) and "Abraham's Sacrifice" (Genesis 22:1-14), which were given to Wesley Church in 1934. Wesley's organ was the first pipe organ in Melbourne. It was built in England, and arrived in Melbourne in 1842, being moved to the present church in 1858. It was largely rebuilt in 1957.
1863 - Church of Christ, 327-333 Swanston Street, cnr Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, Vic
A Church has occupied this site since 1847. The present building has associations with the early history of the Presbyterian Church in Victoria, particularly with the Rev James Forbes. Its architect, Charles Webb, was very important in nineteenth century Melbourne. Form and composition are typical of the Gothic Revival in Victoria. Arcading and mouldings around the front door and the tracery to the west window are interesting features.
1886 - Armadale Primary School, 9-23 Densham Road, Armadale, Vic
Built in the Victorian period in the Neo-Gothic style, Primary School No. 2634 is of architectural significance for the distinctive designs of its two buildings, which are excellent examples of the work of Samuel Bindley. Gothic elements include pointed arch openings, buttresses, steep gable roofs and tall chimneys. There is a slender square tower with spire over the main entrance.
1873 - Manresa People's Centre, 343 Burwood Road, Hawthorn, Vic
An ecclesiastic Victorian Gothic style building constructed in Hawthorn bricks with gable slate roofs, and with dressings of Waurn Ponds limestone on a bluestone foundation. The two-storey building is one of ten remaining E.S. & A. Bank buildings erected in the Gothic style between 1873 and 1885. The Williamstown Branch is the oldest, being built in 1873. The building was intended to house the banking chamber and offices on the ground floor and accommodation for the manager at the rear and on the first floor. It retains a grand staircase hall with Minton-tiled flooring and Gothic timber stairs. The first floor drawing room also retains a stencilled ceiling and cornice decorations. It was constructed in 1873 by contractors Overend, Robb & Co. at a cost of ?13,689. Architect: Leonard Terry
Former Safe Deposit Building, 88-92 Queen Street, Melbourne, Vic
An elaborately and finely decorated Victorian era Gothic Revival office building. Designed by William Pitt, this seven storey building was completed in 1890 for the Stock Exchange of Melbourne Company. Its decorative mouldings contrast with the dark structural brickwork. Originally occupying 88-90 Queen Street, the building was extended by one bay in 1925.
1932 - Manchester Unity Building, 291 Swanston Street, Melbourne, Vic.
Similar to Sydney's Grace Building, The Manchester Unity building was erected in a remarkably short period of eleven months at the height of the Depression and was, when completed in December 1932, the tallest office building in Melbourne. The buttressed tower, reflecting the influence of the Chicago Tribune (1922) competition in the USA, soars twenty-four metres above the height limit of forty metres to establish the structure as a Melbourne landmark. The Building, with notable Revivalist exterior and contemporary Art Deco interiors, is a significant work of Marcus Barlow, architect. It is a twelve storey concrete encased steel structure clad with moulded terracotta faience in a modern Gothic Revival style. The structure is crowned with a corner tower of soaring, diminishing buttresses. Escalators were installed at ground Level.
1886 - Prahran Court House, 170 Greville Street, Prahran, Vic
An outstanding example of Gothic Revival public architecture and an important work of the prominent Public Works Department architect, Charles Gilchrist. The Gothic Revival style, with its connotations of religious virtue, was considered well suited to buildings that represented the institutions of law and order, and was a popular style in such public buildings of late-19th century Melbourne. A finely detailed and well-proportioned building.
1803-1903 - former NMLA building, 59 Queen Street, Melbourne, Vic
is constructed in the Federation Gothic style with a heavily moulded facade of beige freestone on a brick and concrete structure. The entry foyer has been fitted out with marble details and the main foyer ceiling is an undecorated rib and panel vault. Inside the main chamber, the ceiling is fully ornamented and consists of a plaster beam and panel system on large freestanding Corinthian columns. The office spaces of the 1893 section retain their plaster decoration and timber moulding around openings. The exterior facade contains many features distinctive to the style such as exuberant modelling, a turret, parapeted gables and masonry mullions. It has interiors to match, with features such as exotic dados of grey marble, red marble pilasters and columns, and white marble stairs in the foyer. The interior also features an elaborate banking chamber with a fully ornamented ceiling. The building is of historical importance for its representation of the boom period in Melbourne. It was constructed at the peak of the land boom and opened just before the financial crash of 1893. Architect: Wright, Reed & Beaver.
1901-02 - former Gollin and Company Building, 561-563 Bourke Street, Melbourne, Vic.
This building a now-rare example of a Queen Anne-style commercial building in Melbourne which possesses a number of distinctive features. It is a rather late example of the Queen Anne style, this particular form of architectural expression flourishing only briefly from the late-1880s. But perhaps because of this belatedness, the Gollin building displays the full development of the style. The use of the corner tourelle as the principal facade feature appeared in England in the 1890s, but the premature demise of the Queen Anne styles popularity amidst the collapse of the property market in the 1890s depression in Melbourne meant that it was an uncommon architectural feature here. The Gollin Building's tourelle is one of the very few, and perhaps most intact, surviving in Melbourne. The diverse range of stylistic elements upon which the Queen Anne style drew is illustrated in this building particularly in the windows. The ground floor windows in particular are uncommon, while the first floor openings have a classical flavour and those on the second floor exhibit eclectic French Renaissance Revival traits. The upper two floors are more restrained. The Gollin building is, in sum, a skilled composition making great use of its corner site. Architect: Charles Debro.
Royal Exhibition Building, Nicholson Street, Carlton, Vic.
In 1888 the Melbourne Centennial Exhibition was held to promote the centenary of European settlement in Australia. This exhibition was officially opened for six months and the attendance was just over two million, nearly double the population of Melbourne at the time. It still qualifies as the biggest event ever held in Melbourne, surpassing the 1956 Olympic Games.
Since then the building has hosted a wide variety of local, national and international events, including trade exhibitions, conventions, concerts and performances, sporting fixtures, lectures, demonstrations and a range of important civic events. The most important of these was the opening of the first Commonwealth Parliament of Australia on 9th May 1901, by the Duke of Cornwall and York, the heir to the throne. In 1879-80 the main exhibition hall stood with two brick annexes to its east and west. There was also a series of temporary halls of timber and corrugated iron. These were dismantled at the end of the exhibitions and reused for a variety of purposes. The brick annexes were used at the 1888-1889 Centennial International Exhibition as machinery halls. In 1901, the western annexe was converted to accommodate the Parliament of Victoria while the new Federal Parliament met in the State Parliament Building. The western annexe was demolished during the 1960s. The eastern annexe was partly demolished in the 1950s, and the remainder replaced in 1979 by a mirror-fronted Convention Centre.
1908-1910 - Town Hall administration building, cnr Swanston & Little Collins Street,�Melbourne. Vic.
A distinctly Second empire design featuring mannerist, baroque and classical elements in solid rusticated stone designed to be sympathetic to the neighbouring Town Hall. Cast iron crested square domes and dormer windows feature on the roofline, as well as emphatic semi-circular pediments on the main corners fronting Swanston Street giving the building a distincly Edwardian character. Classical giant order pillasters and aedicule give the building grand classical statements. The east wing of the building takes on an almost separate character similar to the Australia club on Queen Street and gives the facade greater emphasis. One of the last grand statements of a city aspiring the be a world city. Architect: J.J & E.J Clark
1883-88 - Windsor Hotel, 103-137 Spring Street, corners with Bourke and Little Collins Streets, Melbourne, Vic.
This is recognised as the grandest of Australia's great 19th century hotels. Its bygone features including the facade, restaurant, staircase, lifts and wide corridors give a charm and quality that make the Windsor unique amongst Melbourne's hotels. Having accommodated many notable guests during its long history, it remains Charles Webb's largest work and epitomises his boom classical style. The long Spring Street facade is a focal point of the State Offices and Parliament precinct.
The significant portion of the building consists of the main wing erected in two stages in the 1880s. The earlier section from Little Collins Street to approximately the main entrance was constructed by Thomas Cockram for George Nipper in 1883-84 (Architect: Charles Webb). The later section, which includes the domes and towers, is from 1887-88.
1886 - Princess Theatre, 163-181 Spring Street, corner Little Bourke Street, Melbourne, Vic.
This is Melbourne's oldest theatre and occupies a site associated with theatre since 1854. The boom Classical facade is unique and among architect William Pitt's masterpieces. It is superbly composed and has elaborate and unique features. Most of the interior dates from 1922. The sliding roof opening to the sky is a highly distinctive feature of the auditorium. Many notable artists have performed here. The present three storey wing and auditorium replaced a corrugated iron structure erected in 1854 and known as Astleys Amphitheatre. This was remodelled in 1857 and renamed the Princess Theatre. The first floor balcony was enclosed c1900 and the theatre was extensively renovated in 1922.
1988 - Rod Laver Arena, Batman Avenue, Melbourne, Vic
This venue was completed in 1988 as part of the original Tennis Centre complex of Melbourne Park. This multi-use venue is able to host a wide range of sporting and entertainment events, from Grand Slam tennis matches and motorbike super-cross action to rock concerts, conferences and classical ballets. It has a 15,000 seat capacity. The stadium complex has matured through a couple of name changes to embrace the name of Rod Laver Arena at Melbourne Park. The honour was bestowed upon Rod Laver in January 2000 for his unsurpassed achievements in tennis.
80 Cornwall Road, Sunshine, Vic
An early 1920s Californian Bungalow residence of weatherboard construction, featuring a low pitch roof, broad spreading eaves and a bay window in the separate lounge room. The style's origins in the Arts & Craft movement is in evidence here in the shingled gable, a common feature in Arts & Crafts architectural design.
7 Bethell Street, Ormond, Vic
Another example of the crossover between Arts & Crafts and Californian Bungalow, featuring the former's shingled gable and bay window, but the latter's low pitched roof and plain, double wooden verandah posts above a brick wall.
1955 - The McCraith House, 1 Atuinga Terrace, Dromana, Vic
Positioned precariously on a stone walled plinth, high above Dromana overlooking Port Phillip Bay, the McCraith house is distinguished by its unusual form creating a dramatic architectural statement. The house was constructed for Ellen and Gerald McCraith, was designed in the office of Mornington Peninsula architects Chancellor and Patrick. The defining structural feature is the triangulated tubular steel framing system. The building is constructed using two triangulated truss frames fixed at four points to the massive concrete footings on their inverted apex with 'C' section steel beams and steel cross bracing tying the main frame together. The two main steel floor beams break the truss at half height and these in turn support the deep timber floor joists which are cantilevered at either end. The butterfly roof is formed with timber joists in a similar configuration. The first floor extends beyond the small rectangular ground level, allowing for the parking of cars under the overhanging wings. Contained within the splayed walls of the ground floor are a bedroom and laundry area. The first floor contains a second bedroom, living area and amenities. The dominance of the structural form forces the use of triangular awning windows at ground level with horizontal timber infill panelling between and timber framed triangular sliding doors to the balcony. The original horizontal board siding to the first floor angled walls has been replaced with sheet roof decking.
The McCraith house was used as an example of the 'structural functional' idiom in the architectural journals of the time. The use of a prefabricated structural steel frame of this scale was unusual in domestic construction of the period. The design of the McCraith house displays a creative architectural response in a period when conventional building materials were in limited supply post World War II.
1861 - 157 Hotham Street, East Melbourne, Vic
A symmetrical composition beneath a steeply pitched gable roof with parapeted gable ends. These gable ends, each with light coloured brick copings and topped by a tall chimney, sweep steeply down to the eaves. The steep pitch of the slate roof is punctured by two small dormer windows near the ridge line. Two ornate gablets, decorated with bargeboards and pendant and finial posts, rise above verandah eaves line to dominate the main facade. The verandah balustrade has quatrefoils cut from the timberwork. The first floor windows and the front door each have a quatrefoil fanlight. Architect: Joseph Reed
1920 - The Pebbles, 57a Droop Street, Footscray, Vic
This Californian bungalow of red brick with rough cast and cedar shingles to the gable ends, was designed by architects Schreiber and Jorgenson and commissioned by Francis George Whitehill, who occupied the dwelling from the time of construction in 1920 until about 1930. The Pebbles is one of Victoria's best and most distinctive suburban Californian bungalows. It displays a wide variety of typical bungalow elements including low pitched gabled roof and distinctive roof forms with widely overhanging eaves, squat piers decorated with pebbles supporting the verandah roofs, and use of shingling and roughcast. The extensive use of timber and unusual internal and external joinery details highlight the Japanese influence on bungalow design.
1904 - Oceanic Whitehall Guesthouse, 231-235 Ocean Beach Road, Sorrento, Vic
One of only three extant examples of a large successful guest house operating in this area, one of Victoria's most popular and important tourist and resort centres. It was built and functioned as a guest house for most of this century with only a brief respite when it was used as accommodation for Service Personnel by the Commonwealth Government.
Although altered internally and by rear additions, the street frontage of Whitehall remains intact, including the circular return drive. Whitehall is a substantial double storey limestone building with a hipped roof and projecting gable to the central entry. It is a sophisticated design using the regional motif of limestone construction with red brick quoins to corners and openings. The facade of the building is distinguished by an elegantly proportioned, double storey timber verandah which retains fine detailing. This building had been designed by J. Gibbins, an architect, in c1890 but work did not commence on its construction until 1903.
1892-94 - Victorian Arts Society, 430 Albert Street, East Melbourne, Vic
This building is an interesting eclectic Arts and Crafts composition in the Art Noveau style featuring local bluestone, romanesque styled arches, a Renaissaince inspired second level arcade and a concentric shafted jamb arched entry way supported by squashed columns. It was purpose built as a hall. Architect: Richard Speight, Harry Tompkins.
2006 - K2 sustainable apartments, Raleight Street, Windsor, Vic.
Built by by Hansen Yuncken, this apartment building features passive solar design, recycled and sustainable materials, photovoltaic cells, wastewater treatment, rainwater collection and solar hot water. The building was designed by Melbourne architecture firm DesignInc after an Australia-wide competition supported by the Royal Australian Institute of Architects. The design reduces energy consumption through the use of photovoltaic cells and solar hot water panels. In addition living areas in all apartments face north, which maximises winter and minimises summer sun.
The development, at a former Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind site, consists of 96 modern apartments in four medium-rise buildings of four, five and eight storeys, linked by a unique green spine. The building has extensive water recycling features. Rainwater is collected from roof surfaces, stored, treated and pumped to two domestic hot water plants to supplement the building's hot water supply. Recycled water is used for toilet flushing and irrigation of the building's gardens. Wherever possible, environmentally friendly materials, such as timber from sustainable sources, were used in the construction.
Cost: $31.2 million
1914 - Basilica of our Lady of Victories, Burke Road, Camberwell, Vic
Featuring a prominent octagonal dome with gilded cupola, this large stoneface romanesque church contains much of interest by way of stained glass, a powerful pipe organ originating from Ireland in the early 20th century, and a memorial plaque to Amy Castles - a singer of the calibre of Nellie Melba and considered the opposition to Melba. It is one of five churches in Australia with minor basilica status. In a city where most churches of the era are built in the Gothic Revival style, it has a distinctive copper clad dome completed with a golden statue of the Virgin Mary. Architect: Augustus Andrew Fritsch (1866 1933)
1891 - Residence, Parliament Place, Melbourne, Vic.
A fine example of the Neo-Gothic style adapted to a Australian terrace. The building features gothic tracery on the iron lace balustrades, in the windows as well as stonework. Notable is the use of iron gothic arches in the iron lace verandah supports and also in the windows. The building also features a gable in the Tudor gothic style, with sashes over the windows, and also a floral course line.
2006 - Council House 2, Little Collins Street, Melbourne, Vic.
The world's first 6-star green rating building, it features louvered facade, natural and recycled materials, solar panels and thermal mass cooling. The has sustainable technologies incorporated into every conceivable part of its 10 storeys. A water-mining plant in the basement, phase-change materials for cooling, automatic night-purge windows, wavy concrete ceilings, a facade of louvres (powered by photovoltaic cells) that track the sun even the pot plant holders have involved a whole new way of thinking.
Although most of the principles adopted in the building are not new using thermal mass for cooling, using plants to filter the light never before in Australia have they been used in such a comprehensive, interrelated fashion in an office building. Cost of Little Collins Street precinct development (including CH2 building), roadwork, upgrades to other buildings, professional fees, relocation costs, fit-out, art costs, footpaths, landscaping etc.: $51.045 million.
1923 - Glendalough, 199 Cashmere St, Travancore, Ascot Vale, Vic
An inter-war bungalow that illustrates the material culture of a middle class home of its period and the principal characteristics of early 1920s bungalow design. Glendalough is in the Travancore Estate, which straddles the suburbs of Flemington and Ascot Vale. Most of the estate was settled during this inter-war period, resulting in a compact and distinctive architectural entity of Bungaloid, Tudor Revival and Moderne designs, surrounded by older Victorian and Edwardian style suburban development. Glendalough is a red brick bungalow with Japanese stylistic influences. The house has a gabled roof of Marseille pattern unglazed terracotta tiles and the roof space houses a second floor. The walls are predominantly red brick, with black tuckpointing to the front facade and unpainted roughcast to the gable ends on the sides of the house. The front projecting gable over the entry porch is clad with timber shingles. There would be many comparable houses in Victoria of this period, although those with Japanese character are less common.
501 Swanston Street, Melbourne, Vic.
An example of Structuralist architecture but on a small scale appropriate to a motor vehicle showroom.
1913-17 - Former Mail Exchange, 670-696 Bourke Street, Melbourne, Vic
A seven storey building erected in the Interwar period. The Former Mail Exchange is a major example of the early work of the Commonwealth Department of Works and its first chief architect, J.S. Murdoch. He considered the Beaux Arts style appropriate for Commonwealth buildings and classicism became the style of choice for Commonwealth buildings during Murdoch's time. Its dignified conservatism was thought appropriate for major public buildings, and is particularly evident in the public buildings of Canberra, such as the Old Parliament House (1927), also designed by Murdoch. Murdoch was a major figure in the development of Canberra, being a judge of the competition to design the city and responsible for many of the capitals buildings himself. He was also responsible for a number of other significant public buildings throughout Australia. The design has a distinctive Greek flavour that was ten years ahead of Melbournes mainstream Modern Greek revival.
1921-28, Herald Sun Building, 46-74 Flinders Street, Melbourne, Vic
Purpose built as the offices for the Herald and Weekly Times newspapers, the building is architecturally significant for its monumentality and neo classical styling, which, combined with the roof-top neon signs and the twin radio towers conveys an image of the power and dominance of the print media in the first half of the twentieth century. Building design by H.W & F.B Tompkins.
1970 - Plumbing Trades Employees Union of Australia Building, 52 Victoria Street, Carlton, Vic.
A Brutalist front is the dominant feature of this relatively small commercial property in Melbourne CBD's north. Architect: Graeme Gunn
1967 - Harold Holt Swimming Centre, High St., Glen Iris, Vic
Naming a swimming pool after a drowned man is somewhat ironic, but more ironic is that it has been added to the Victorian Heritage Register in what architects have described as "a celebration of concrete". Designed by Daryl Jackson and Kevin Borland in 1967, the complex was one of Melbourne s first to be built in the Brutalist style and is arguably one of the state s most significant examples. The National Trust nominated the building for Heritage listing when it became concerned over council plans to renovate the centre, which includes indoor and outdoor pools. In its report, Heritage Victoria describes the pool as being among the "most notable, expressive, earliest and intact examples of the concrete Brutalist movement". The building was praised for its concrete blocks, windows, circular pedestrian ramps, skylights, service ducts and mezzanine observation deck.
2007 - Automotive Centre of Excellence Stage One, Kangan Batman TAFE, Docklands, Vic
The Automotive Centre of Excellence (ACE) represents the first stage of a dedicated training and showcase facility for Victorian automotive trades and manufacturing. Stage One ACE consists of approximately 2,500sqm of high-bay workshop space and 2,500sqm for specialist workrooms, classrooms and office accommodation. The shed facade system incorporates are a series of automated louvres enabling the workshop spaces to be naturally ventilated. Offices and classroom spaces face north and are also naturally ventilated via a permeable deep black facade. These spaces are also cooled by a unique BATISO active thermal mass system. In concert with other environmental sustainable design features including radiant night cooling and water harvesting, Stage One ACE has achieve a 5-Star Green Star rating for design. Conceived of as a small civic space, the main foyer with its monumental staircase, acts as the key circulation pathway through the building whilst also acting as a thermal chimney for the administration and teaching areas. Visually the side-arms which hold up the the structure are similar in design to those of the Sir Kenneth Luke Stand (below)/ Architect: Lyons
1970 - Sir Kenneth Luke Stand, former Waverley Park, Melbourne, Vic
Situated in Melbourne s outer Eastern suburbs, Waverley Park (formally VFL Park) underwent a massive transformation in 2002 from a 72,000-seat sports stadium to one of Australia s largest housing estates. The ground itself and the heritage listed 2,000-seat Sir Kenneth Luke Stand were retained as the centre of the new development and are now the training and administrative base of the Hawthorn Football Club. Waverley Park was built by the Victorian Football League (now the AFL) in 1970 at a cost of $3 million. The ground was intended to be the new main ground of the sport, however this never fully eventuated with the annual Grand Final remaining at the MCG.
According to the Sir Kenneth Luke Stand's National Trust heritage-listing, it is "a pioneering example of reinforced concrete structure, employing the unique device of a concrete scissors frame as support for the large-span cantilevers". The structure of the stand was deemed so innovative that, in 1978, the Association of Consulting Engineers (Australia) awarded its national merit award to Melbourne engineering firm John Connell and Associates, which had carried out the instructions of architect Reginald Padey. Padey, whose interests also included church architecture, designed Waverley Park in 1963 as an all-seater venue for more than 150,000 spectators. Lack of money meant it was to be built in stages - only the first stage was built. The Sir Kenneth Luke Stand was one of the stadium's few features to come close to fulfilling its design. It was built on top of an outer stand.
1907-08 - Scottish House, 96-98 William Street, Melboune, Vic
Scottish House was designed as an office block for the prominent shipping agents McIlwraith McEacharn Ltd in 1907 by architect Charles D'Ebro. The six storey building has a light well in the centre and the construction is a steel frame with masonry walls and composite reinforced concrete and timber floors. The front facade, in a restrained English Renaissance style is faced with sandstone and has a rusticated base with plain arched openings. The slightly projecting central bay is crowned with a pediment. The architraves are minimal. The interior was considerably altered in the 1950s, entailing major alterations to walls, toilets and lifts, and original finishes and details were lost. The columned main chamber and the stair forming a ring around the central light court form notable spaces.
1912-13 - Commercial Travellers Association building, 318-324 Flinders Street, Melbourne, Vic
The ground floor of this office building is faced with granite to a height of approximately 2.5 metres. The facade above is partially rendered and partially faced with cream glazed bricks. The rendered areas are treated in an ornate fashion, with exaggerated classical detailing including foliated swags, medallions and cartouches. Of particular note are the rustication of the ground and first floors and the colonnade of the second or piano nobile, which is supported on massive, oversized consoles. Consoles also support the cornice surmounting the facade. Oriel windows rise through the second and third floors and are topped with balconettes. The building's grand classical non-domestic style, featuring a combination of Beaux Arts classicism with a revival of English Baroque sources, was adopted as the style of choice for department stores and large commercial establishments in Melbourne in the first two decades of the 20th century. Architect: Harry Tompkins
1901 - Salvation Army Printing Works building, 502 Albert Street, Melbourne, Vic.
The symmetrically designed former printing works reflects well major characteristics of Federation Free Style architecture in its use of contrasting brick and render, massive Diocletian-arched windows at ground level, and pedimented skyline feature. The ground floor level presents an articulation of three arches accentuated by the alternating use of brick and plaster, resting on the exposed bluestone foundations. The use of unpainted red brickwork and painted cement dressing patterns and strongly defined arches is comparable with the Victoria Brewery building at the corner of Powlett and Victoria Streets and with the Salvation Army College to the rear in Victoria Street.
The building is part of Governor La Trobe's plan to reserve Eastern Hill for institutional and religious bodies in Melbourne. It formed part of the Salvation Army's Training College complex. It is the second building erected for the Salvation Army in the area and was designed at the same time by the same architect, Brigadier Saunders.
1910 - The Church of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Rathdowne Street, Carlton, Vic
Although never completed, this church is of architectural significance as one of the first and finest full blown red brick Baroque church designs in Victoria, and the second classically styled Catholic church built in Victoria. The new church was designed by Tappin Gilbert and Dennehy and constructed in 1897-99 of red brick with unpainted cement render dressings in the Baroque style. A chapel and large dome were proposed in the original design but never constructed. The remarkable interior decoration is by A F D Cavallaro who arrived in Australia from Italy in 1899. The altar in the new church was relocated from St Patricks Cathedral where it had been originally installed in 1868. The interior is of aesthetic significance for exhibiting a richness of decoration particularly the paintings by A F D Cavallaro, executed on canvas and then fixed to the elliptical barrel vaulted ceiling. The encaustic tiled floor by the Australian Tessellated Tile Company, stained glass by Hardman of Birmingham, and Brooks Robinson of Melbourne, Stations of the Cross by J Hennessey, and altar decorated by Ferguson, Urie and Lyon are also important elements. Architects: Reed, Smart & Tappin.
1839-47 - St James Old Cathedral, King Street, Melbourne, Vic
An Anglican church, it is the oldest church in Melbourne, Australia, and one of only three buildings in the central city which predate the Gold Rush of 1851. The church's foundation stone was laid on 9th November 1839 by Charles La Trobe, the Superintendent of the Port Phillip District (now Victoria), in what was then still part of New South Wales. Melbourne was then only four years old, and the church was one of the first substantial brick buildings to be built in the town. The church was designed by the town surveyor Robert Russell (after whom Russell St is named) and built by George Beaver. One of the founders of Melbourne, John Batman, was among the subscribers who paid for the church's construction. St James originally stood near the corner of Collins St and William St in the centre of the town (where there is still a small street called St James Lane). In 1913-14 it was moved to a new site on the corner of King St and Batman St, opposite the Flagstaff.
1903-04 - City Baths, 420-438 Swanston Street, corner Franklin and Victoria Streets, Melbourne, Vic.
The City Baths are an important and late example of the noted Victorian architect J.J. Clark, whose works include the Treasury and the former Melbourne Hospital, a directly comparable and contemporary work. The building sits prominently on the awkward triangular site. The Bathhouse, consisting of separate segregated male and female pools, slipper baths, spray baths, Jewish mikva baths and Turkish baths, was constructed of red brick with cement render mouldings in a late Classically derived style which featured a prominent entrance staircase and Arts and Crafts domed corner pavilions.
Municipal baths were a common and necessary feature of daily life in early Melbourne and the present City Baths standing on a site reserved for public bath houses since 1850 is a remainder of the important social function of bathing establishments in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
1878; 1887 - Tasma Terrace, 2 Parliament Place, East Melbourne, Vic
Tasma Terrace, once comprising seven three storey buildings (six remain), was constructed in two stages. The first three buildings were erected in 1878 for George Nipper, grain merchant and shipowner. The remaining four buildings were constructed in 1886-87 by Dunton & Hearnden for for Joseph Thompson, bookmaker. This is one of the finest terraces in Melbourne and an outstanding feature of the Eastern Hill precinct, a superb example of boom style terrace architecture from architect Charles Webb. His other works include Wesley College (1864), Alfred hospital (1869), Royal Arcade (1869) and the Grand hotel, later the Windsor (1884). Tasma Terrace, the subject of a major preservation battle from 1970-72 holds an important place in the history of building conservation in the state of Victoria. The preservation campaign resulted in the government enacting legislation in 1972 which established the government buildings advisory council, Australia's first legislation for the preservation of government owned historic buildings. The building is now the Victorian Headquarters of the National Trust of Australia.
111 A'Beckett Street, Melbourne, Vic
A more elaborate example of a Functionalist style factory/warehouse building, which features decorative embellishments borrowed from the similar Art Deco style.
1938 - Michael Tuck Stand, Glenferrie Oval, Hawthorn, Vic
Located right in the heart of Hawthorn, just a few kilometres east of the Melbourne CBD, Glenferrie Oval was the home ground of the Hawthorn Football Club from the time they entered the VFL in 1925. The major grandstand was built in 1938 and is now called the Michael Tuck Stand. The other main stand, the Ferguson Stand, was built in the mid 1960s. The Michael Tuck Stand is a rare example of the Functionalist architectural style being successfully used in a sports stadium. It is a visual delight, with its unique terraces, circular end towers and curved roofline - all typrical features of Functionalist or Moderne architecture. Architect: S. P. Calder in association with Marsh & Michaelson.
1937 - Mitchell House, Cnr Elizabeth & Lonsdale Streets, Melbourne, Vic.
A copybook 'Moderne' design office building, it features rounded profiles and its name is written in Gill Sans, a typeface that is synonymous with the Moderne or Functionalist style. Architect: Harry Norris.
1937 - RMIT Building 9, 9 Franklin Street, corner Bowen Street, Melbourne, Vic.
The first of a number of similarly styled buildings erected during the mid 20th century for the Technical College. Building 6, further along Bowen Street, is near identical, however it was built in 1959.
1871 - Hotel Sorrento, Point Nepean Rd, Sorrento, Vic.
Built in 1871 by a Mr J. Martin at a time when there were only 22 dwellings in the Sorrento and Portsea area. The Georgian Revival building was hewn from locally quarried limestone. Internally, it retains the grace and charm of the Victorian Age with its elegant staircases, gleaming woodwork and majestic mirrors.
1859-74 - State Government Buildings, 2 Treasury Place, East Melbourne, Vic.
These offices are one of Melbourne's exceptional 19th century buildings. They are the centrepiece of the city's finest streetscapes and form an ideal backdrop to the Treasury Gardens. The grandeur of the main entrance, with its Doric loggia surmounted by the Royal Arms, is of special merit. The building's foundations were built in 1859 to designs by the Public Works Department. The project lapsed until 1873 when Michael Egan won a competition for the superstructure. Egan's proposals were criticised for their plainness and he prepared new drawings with more elaborate decoration; these were completed in 1874. An additional floor was later added to the side wings.
1879-80 - Metropolitan Meat Market, Courtney St, North Melbourne, Vic
The Metropolitan Meat Market, North Melbourne, was erected in by Mr Greenlaw. The complex comprises a market hall with 16m span timber arches and a perimeter structure with offices, shops, bank, hotel and cooling chambers (added 1889-90). Other major additions were made in 1906-8 and 1918-22 (arches: Gibbs and Finlay). The largest private market complex in Melbourne, its monumental facade with its two grand entrances is a notable example of conservative Classicism. The two storey rendered brick facades are decorated with the giant Corinthian order. The arches of the main hall give a barrel vault effect which is enhanced by fine detailing and interesting lighting. Architect: G R Johnson.
1890-91 - Stalbridge Chambers, 435-443 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, Vic
Stalbridge Chambers was built in 1890-1891 for R C Brown, the president of the Buildings and Contractors' Association, and his company were responsible for the construction of the building. The new nine storey building, including a basement, replaced the Waterloo Hotel. It was speculatively built to attract tenancies. It incorporated a hotel bar and shops on the ground floor with office space above. The construction is brick with facing Harcourt granite to the ground floor and render above. Stylistically the building is an example of Mannerist design, incorporating a free use of elements of Renaissance architecture, such as pilasters, pediments, Doric and Corinthian orders, round arch windows and bold rustication at the ground floor level. The exaggerated cornice at attic storey level is supported by masculine, fluted brackets. Alterations ot the shop fronts were carried out in 1929 and 1954.
1859; 1863 - Baptist Church House, 486 Albert Street, East Melbourne, Vic
Built in the Victorian period, the first stage comprised the bluestone hall with raked floor and seating arranged in a semi-circle around the Ministers desk. The facade was added in 1863. The two towers were never carried out to their full height and the portico space was filled in at a later date. The beautifully proportioned facade is modelled on a Greek or Roman temple, perhaps the Maison Carre at Nimes and, together with the Collins Street Church, reflects the non-Gothic principles of the early church leaders. Architect: Thomas Watts
1891 - Mutual Store, 256 Flinders Street, Melbourne, Vic
This six storey building of the Victorian period features a Mannerist folding facade in the vein of the Block arcade. The building features two large broken pediments on either side of a central faceted bay crowned by a single baroque round opening over which a seated statue presides. Architects: Reed, Smart and Tappin
1871-76 - Government House, Government House Drive, Melbourne, Vic
Thhe grandest and largest residence in Australia and one of the finest examples of nineteenth century residential architecture in the world. Designed in the conservative Classical style, the superb Italianate composition reflects Queen Victoria's Osborne House. The great variety of fine mouldings and motifs culminate in the Belvedere where the concentration of ornament gives an outstanding overall effect. The interiors are among the grandest in Melbourne. Government House was erected by Martin and Peacock for the Public Works Department. The extensive rendered brick structure was designed and documented by W W Wardell, J J Clark and P Kerr. Since 1876 it has served as Victoria's and for a brief period, Australia's, viceregal residence.
1882 - Mosspennoch - 36 Clarendon Street, corner George Street, East Melbourne, Vic
Mosspennoch is a thirty-four room Italianate mansion of render on brick construction. The main front to the street is essentially a two storeyed double fronted facade with a solid arcaded verandah and balcony made up of a central entrance pavilion flanked by two segmental bows. The basic structure of arcades on square piers has superimposed over it Ionic shafts on the ground floor and a fine dentillated entablature with a central segmental pediment and Corinthian shafts on the upper floor with the same entablature developed further with a cornice on modillions. There is a balustrade at balcony level and a balustraded parapet. Further back from the street front is a wing extending to the south, now totally defaced by having a porch infill built over it. Architect: Charles Webb
1868 - former Collingwood Post Office, 174-180 Smith Street, Collingwood, Vic
The 2.5 metre deep facade designed by John Marsden of the public works department, was added to the building in 1892. The former post office 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. It is during the late nineteenth centrury. 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.
1849 Bishopscourt, 120 Clarendon St, East Melbourne, Vic
This is the oldest house in East Melbourne and has been the residence of the Anglican Bishop and later Archbishop of Melbourne since 1853. Its Italianate asymmetrical form with tower and arcades is the precursor of many grand Melbourne mansions. It features a mixture of Romanesque and Regency detailing and featuring a tower and loggia. The rubbled bluestone, simple mouldings and French windows reflect early building techniques. The red brick wing is notable. Architects: Newson & Blackburn.
1890 - Labassa, 2-2A Manor Gr, Caulfield North, Vic
Labassa is an extraodinarily lavish High Victorian masterpiece with Second Empire and Italianate Influences. A rare example of the grand mansion house of the late nineteenth century in Victoria, it is the finest residence design by German born architect J.A.B. Koch. The ground floor and elaborate stencilling is rivalled only by Mandeville Hall, Toorak and Mintaro, Monegeeta, for opulence and chromatic effect. The mansion house Labassa was erected in 1890 for coachline owner, pastoralist and investor William Alexander Robertson, and was originally called Ontario. The mansion is an asymmetrically planned residence with impressive arcuated loggias, decorated sculptural ornamentation and splendid interior in the tradition of the European Baroque.
21 Northumberland Street, Collingwood, Vic
Converted from historic grain silos, this block of two level apartments is a unique boutique apartment building. The apartments feature separate dining and living area with timber flooring, two balconies and two undercover car spaces.
1900-10 - Flinders Street Station, 207 Flinders Street, corner St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Vic.
One of Melbourne's most recognisable buildings, this station has been the focal point of the City's rail system since 1854 and the circulation patterns and forms that evolved from that date are reflected in the present building.
Flinders Street Station comprises a vast complex of station facilities, offices, platforms and landscaped areas. Its design was the result of a competition held in 1899 and won by Fawcett and Ashworth of the Railways Department. The scheme provided for a giant roof over the platforms. Work commenced in 1900 by P. Rodger but was later taken over by the Railways. The main structure, featuring a giant arched entranceway that typifies buildings of the Federation era, was completed in 1909, the verandahs and booking office in 1910. Its design is an intriguingly unique eclectic mix of early Art Nouveau and Queen Anne, with classical references and a striking ensemble of domes and arches. Featuring Diocletian windows and Arts and Crafts themes. The domes and clock tower give the building a dominant civic presence.
Paton Building, 119 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, Vic.
Built in 1905, the Paton Building was one of the earliest, and remains one of the most intact, examples of Romanesque style combined with the light framed oriel window in Australia. Although short-lived, this style was an important departure from late Victorian architecture. The capital mouldings, decoration and name plate represent one of the most fluent applications of Art Nouveau styling in Melbourne.
1912-13 - Queensland Building, 84-88 William Street, Melbourne, Vic
The Queensland Building was constructed as the State Headquarters of the Queensland Insurance Company. It is a symmetrical six storey office building on a steeply sloping frontage and is constructed of brick with a sandstone veneer facade. The architectural style combines elements of classicism with the traditions of the Arts and Crafts movement. The form of the building is an exaggerated Renaissance palazzo, of a rusticated base, extended piano nobile and attic storey with a deep cornice. The two flanking oriel bays rising through three storeys of the building terminate with Ionic column loggias. The rusticated base has a giant order entrance arch and recessed entrance, creating an outdoor lobby. The stone jambs to the arch and the window openings on the ground floor are carved with flora and fauna, including depictions of roses, figs and pomegranates. The building is an expression of the changing Edwardian approach to the classical rules of architecture. The building is comparable, within the city, to the Commercial Travellers' Association Building in Flinders Street (designed by the Tompkins brothers) as an example of the Edwardian Baroque and as a revised form of the palazzo model. Architects: Walter Butler and Richard Norman Bradshaw.
1905-35, Conservatory of Music and Melba Hall, 156-292 Grattan Street, Parkville, Vic
One of the finest and unusual examples of Edwardian design in the Art Noveau style in Victoria. The Conservatorium of Music is an important early twentieth century building in Victoria, illustrating a fusion of Art Nouveau detailing with an otherwise traditional classically derived building form. The building is also an interesting example of the influence in Australia of English architecture of the 1890s and 1900s. Although details of the facade are an Art Nouveau reflection, the building is an original design expression which may be seen as part of the recurrent search for an indigenous architecture style. Architect: Bates, Peebles & Smart.
1857-1862 - Old Treasury Building, Spring Street, East Melbourne, Vic.
Despite alterations to its design, the Treasury remains the finest conservative Classical style building in Australia and a masterpiece of the architect John James Clark and the Public Works Department (PWD) who built it. The recessed arcade is the principal feature of the building and the motifs used are derived from the Italian Renaissance and Mannerist periods. The freestone facades which have mellowed beautifully with age are finely executed. The building consists of three floors with basement and is faced with Bacchus Marsh freestone. The building as we know it is not identical to that designed by J.J. Clark in 1857. Austerity measures in the PWD initiated by Wardell in 1859 resulted in the removal of the attic floor and roof balustrade. The terraces and approaches were constructed in 1867.
1928 - The State Theatre, 150-162 Flinders Street, corner Russell Street, Melbourne, Vic.
Like its Sydney equivalent (see above), it is a unique example of inter war Spanish Revival erected as a picture theatre in the 1920s /1930s boom period of Picture palace buildings. American theatre design specialist John Eberson designed the theatre in Melbourne following a visit from the manager of Union Theatres Ltd to the United States in 1928.
The State Theatre, now the Forum and Rapallo Cinemas, was erected in direct competition to the Regent Theatre in the late 1920s and epitomises the opulent era of picture palace architecture. It is Melbourne's finest example of this style and most notable for the exotic exterior decoration and the auditorium interior creating the illusion of a walled Florentine garden with appropriate statuary and an artificial sky, complete with twinkling stars and drifting clouds.
1928-29 - Majorca Building, 258-260 Flinders Lane, corner Centre Place, Melbourne, Vic
The Majorca House building is among architect Harry Norris's best works in terracotta and, with Alkira House, one of the most inventive and highly developed uses of the material in Melbourne. It is a rare example of the use of the Romanesque Revival style for reinterpretation in the revivalistic 1930s. The building comprises a basement, ground, mezzanine and six upper floors. The most significant aspect of the building is its exterior and in particular its Flinders Lane facade. Its brilliant blue terracotta terminates the vista along Degraves Street from Flinders Street.
The elaborately detailed treatment of this building has an affinity with the old Kellow-Falkiner showrooms (now Badenach House) in St Kilda Road, a Spanish Mission style building designed by Norris at this time. The Moorish architectural influence and the name suggest that the island of Majorca was architect Harry Norris' inspiration for the rare character of this building. Electric lifts were a feature of the development. These remain intact.
1919 - Mission to Seamen Building, 717 Flinders Street, cnt Siddeley Street, Melbourne, Vic
Built in the Edwardian period, the building's complex mixture of styles includin Arts & Crafts and Spanish Mission Revival; the latter is executed in rendered brickwork and tiled roof. The variation in the roof forms includes the towers and chimneys, bays and domes. The wall treatment is a feature of the design. The substantially intact interiors form an integral part of the overall design and feature extensive use of wall panelling. Architect: Walter Butler.
1924 - Argus Building, Cnr Lonsdale and Elizabeth Streets, Melbourne, Vic.
Built in the inter war period, this eight storey office building combines many of the inter war styles, a Stripped Classical composition with Beaux-Arts, Chicagoesque and Moderne influences. A classical cooling tower is a prominent feature of the Argus building which was the former headquarters of Melbournes Argus newspaper, one of the citys most popular until the 1960s.
1910 - 277 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, Vic
Built in the Edwardian period in the Chicagoesque style, it features a central faceted bay and colourful polychrome brickwork. Built as an inner city warehouse, it is distinctive in its unusual use of American Romanesque.
1915 - Manchester House, Flinders Lane, Melbourne, Vic
Built in the Edwardian period in the Chicagoesque style, this office building features a prominent central faceted bay, some art noveau (curved balconettes and decorations) and federation motifs, red brick and render.
1858-68 - St Mary's Cathedral, 163 Howard Street, cnr Queensberry Street, North Melbourne, Vic
The present structure is one of North Melbournes oldest buildings and Melbourne architect Lloyd Taylors earliest work. The Church is surrounded by attractive gardens and presents a notable composition of bluestone gables. The austere and expansive interior is well planned and culminates in a distinctive vaulted crossing. The timber ceilings in the nave, trancepts and chancel are also notable.The uncarved label blocks are an interesting external feature. Only the base of the proposed tower and spire was executed.
Myer Emorium building, 275-321 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, Vic
The Lonsdale Street section of Myer represents half of this huge retail complex, forming a monument to the scale and importance of Australia s retail giant. The Myer Lonsdale Street facade is one of the greatest examples of 1920s Stripped Classical in Melbourne.
1931 - Myer Store, 314-336 Bourke Street, Melbourne, Vic.
An imposing purpose built department store featuring vertical piers between window bays. The building has a cement rendered finish in Snowcrete. It features numerous motifs along its facade. Sidney Myer replaced his 1913 store with this one in 1931, during the Depression, a brave move achieved only through 24-hour shifts that enabled the store to open for Christmas in 1933. Architects: H.W. & F.B. Tompkins.
The Myer Emprium complex incorporates a number of heritage buildings built between the 1880s and the 1930s, and the laneways between them, representing a fully preserved section of the pre-WWII city. It includes ten buildings acquired or constructed by Melbourne businessman and philanthropist Sidney Myer between 1911 and 1934. The first building constructed by Myer was the 1914 Bourke Street building. The new parts of the complex were constructed in stages to the designs of leading Melbourne commercial architects HW and FB Tompkins. The former Robertson & Moffat Buildings, South (1881-84), the western section designed by Crouch & Wilson and the eastern section by William Salway (297-311 Little Bourke Street) and North (1890) designed by William Salway, 290-292 Little Bourke Street), the Former Slatter's Building (1892) designed by Nahum Barnet (283 Lonsdale Street) and the Former Clarke's building (1892-93) designed by Nahum Barnet (275-281 Lonsdale Street) were purchased by Myer at different times. Myer was by far the most important retailer in Victoria from the 1920s, and later dominated retailing across Australia. Myer came to represent Melbourne, with generations having experienced the city store at some time in their lives.
1938 - Century Building, 125-133 Swanston Street, corner Little Collins Street, Melbourne, Vic.
A meticulously executed Art Deco style skyscraper from the 1930s. This fourteen storey building was constructed in 1939 to the design of Marcus Barlow, renowned for his earlier, more pronounced Art Deco Manchester Unity Building. It is among the most distinctive of the pre-World War Two office buildings in Victoria; with a strong, vertical design where the vertical ribs and the massing of the corner turret provide a restrained Gothic expression associated with the Manhattan skyscrapers of the same decade. The detailing and use of building materials provides a link between the Art Deco and Moderne style, especially the numerous curved planes and fluted surfaces; externally this is exemplified by the use of terracotta facing, stainless steel windows and accessories, tinted glass, butt-jointed glazing; internally by the use of flush jointed blonde plywood panelling, matching joinery, cushioned rubber sheet flooring, terrazzo and stainless steel; these combine to provide a sense of style and luxury influenced by passenger liners. The building is a testament to the ceramic facing which was manufactured by Wunderlich Pty Ltd, which claimed in 1941 that it gives a permanent freshness and sparkle to this fine building.
Former Police Headquarters, 336 Russell Street, corner Latrobe Street, Melbourne, Vic.
A rare, surviving example of an early, Art Deco skyscraper, with brick-facing, in Melbourne, in which the combination of radio mast and building form epitomises architectural design of the 1930s. It was constructed in 1940-43 to the designs of the Public Works Department of Victoria by builders Dawson and Smith at a cost of £125,000. Built in three stages: central portion, south wing and east wing, it comprises a thirteen storey tower crowned by a metal radio mast and a four storey podium building, originally of three storeys. Of reinforced concrete construction, the building is clad with face brick curtain walls using cream and brown bricks in panels. The windows are metal framed. The main facade is symmetrical, with central vehicle and side pedestrian entrances. It was made famous Australia- wide when it was used in the opening sequence of the Australian TV show, Homicide.
1916-18, Newman College, University of Melbourne, Swanson Street, Parkville, Vic
One of Melbourne's and Australia's most unique and eccentric buildings, this unusual architectural gems is a Neogothic style Art Deco rotunda. Newman College is associated with the works of husband and wife team, Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mohony, whose reputations in Australia have increased markedly since the 1960s. The college building was been constructed in stages the wing on the north side of the chapel, designed by the Griffins and constructed from 1916-1918, enclosed the garden square on the east and north sides, and partially enclosed the garden square s south and west sides. The northern rotunda and flanking offices, kitchen, staff quarters and dormitory wings ending in a swimming pool (natatorium) and classrooms were completed by 1917. The chapel, constructed from 1938-42 and the 1960s west wing were designed by other architects.
1936 - ACA Building, 118 - 126 Queen Street, Melbourne, Vic
Built in the Interwar period in the Art-Deco style, it features typical Art-Deco vertical fins terminating in stepped forms, horizontal spandrels counterbalance the extreme upward emphasis. A central tower with faience terracotta provides the ACA building with moderne ornament. The ACA features striated pilasters rising through three floors to chevron capitals and finned buttresses that curve to a slight setback. Additional fins leap over and lock onto the parapet of the late thirties skyscraper.
Architect: Hennessey & Hennessy. 1935 - Shell Corner, William Street, Melbourne, Vic
A ten storey office tower with architectural features which combine palazzo, stipped classical and art deco. The building is tiled in terracotta with vertical emphasis. Although its design is credited to Kingsley Henderson, it has similarities in its facade composition to the Shell Building in San Francisco, designed by George Kelham three years earlier.
1929 - former Coles Store, 299-307 Bourke Street, Melbourne, Vic
Built in the Interwar period in the Art-Deco style with Commerical Gothic Moderne influences, it features Aztec patterns in the upper spandrels, Aztec being one of the many exotic influences of Art Deco. The building that stands today is actually a mirror half of the complete building on Bourke, which had an arcade between the twin towers. The eastern wing was demolished, resulting in the uneven and unbalanced visual effect we see today. Architect: Harry Norris.
1932 - Yule House, 309 311 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, Vic
Possibly the first Australian example of a moderne-style commercial building. It features strong, horizontal spandrels faced with cream faience terracotta. Oakley and Parkes designed a number of important modernist buildings in Melbourne, including this one. On their staff was Kenneth Oliphant (1896 1975) who is recognised as an important architect in the development of private residential architecture in Canberra.
General Post Office, 338-352 Bourke Street, corner Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, Vic.
A significant example of the Victorian Free Classical architectural style, the General Post Office is one of Victoria's most important public buildings. The changing fortunes of the State are reflected in the piecemeal growth of the building. The site itself has been the focus of postal activities in Victoria from 1841 until the present. Several architects of note, including Arthur Ebden Johnson, Walter Burley Griffin and John Smith Murdoch, all contributed ideas to the total design. It was constructed after a competition to choose the design and was erected in three stages. The first stage (1859-67) was to a design based on one by A.E. Johnson, employed by the Public Works Department. This design was for a two storey structure with a low tower.
The building was increased to its present height in the second stage (1885-90) because of the enormous increase in business which the Post Office had to deal with. Johnson, now in private practice, drew up plans for the second stage, during which the clock tower was raised along with the extra storeys.
The third stage in the building's development was from 1906-7 when additions were made to the Elizabeth Street facade, the two storey design of Johnson being extended. The Open Postal Hall was converted from mail room to public space following two plans by two prominent architects - Walter Burley Griffin and J.S. Murdoch. The work was completed in 1919. The north facade onto Little Bourke Street and the Elizabeth Street facade have remained unfinished.
1998-2001 - Federation Square Complex, Flinders Street, Melbourne, Vic.
At the cultural 'heart' of the city, on the intersection of Flinders Street and Swanston Street, Federation Square sits opposite Flinders Street Station and St Paul's Cathedral on the site of the former Princess Street Station. This complex series of structures, most of which look as though they have been frozen midway through their collapse, consists of a series of triangularly composed complex facades, a giant cobbled sandstone plaza and a massive complex glass atrium. A series of small laneways provide vistas framing previously hidden parts of the city. Federation Square was constructed on decking over the Flinders Street railway yards that is understood to be the largest expanse of decking over a railway in Australia.
Federation Square Atrium: This decking is supported by over 3,000 tonnes of steel beams, 1.4 km of concrete 'crash walls' and over 4,000 vibration-absorbing spring coils and rubber pads. Federation Square is the first major city project to break Melbourne's traditional rectangular grid pattern, joining the CBD to the Yarra river.
As a work of art, it is clever; as part of the streetscape, it looks oddly out of place, having a face that many none-Melburnians find hard to love. Many locals can't understand why the majority of out-of-towners don't like it, given that it is Victoria's most visited tourist site. The reason for the latter is because it is home to the state's tourist information centre. Visitors have to go there whether they want to or not! Like it or dislike it, one must remember that Fed Square was built for the purpose of being a landmark for Melbourne - and in that regard it is an overwhelming success.
2005 - Cardinia Cultural Centre, Pakenham, Vic
One of the more pleasing to-the-eye expressions of this otherwise in-your-face architectural style. Cardinia Cultural Centre is the most recent and significant addition to the growing palette of Civic Facilities with in the Cardinia Municipality. The facility is located with a new Mixed Use/Residential development and located on the edge of a massive man-made lake. It comprises a 350 seat Performance Auditorium (category B2), 400 seat Function Centre over looking the lake, Multi-use Gallery space, Visual Arts Incubator Centre, Fine Dining room, full Commercial preparation kitchen and all associated back of house facilities. Architects: Prior & Cheney Pty Ltd.
2002 - The Age Print Centre, 31-69 Western Avenue, Tullamarine, Vic
This building is essentially a large factory. According to the architect, its vast scale has been turned not only to the interior functions and processes, but also to suggesting a series of potential movements or dynamics that can be read on the exterior. Tectonic elements are composed to suggest a series of speedlines or blurs as the viewing opportunity of the building occurs at 100 kmh and lasts for approximately 30 seconds. The clever placement of what appears to be a giant rolled up newspaper at the building's entrance is a novel, effective touch that leaves no doubt as to the purpose of the building. Architect: Architetto Ken Sowerby, Trevi, Italy and Hassell Pty Ltd.
1994 - Storey Hall, RMIT. Swanston Street, Melbourne, Vic
One of the earliest examples of Deconstructivist design in Australia, that envelopes the adjacent buildings with it's biogeometrical organisms. After major refurbishment in 1994 and this new extension to the adjoining site, the Royal Australian Institute of Architects judged RMIT Storey Hall 'of architectural significance'.
2007 - Bannockburn Family Services Centre, Bannockburn, Vic
The initial challenge of the project was the meshing of several disparate Council services in a single freestanding building and enabling their operation to remain independent of each other. The community's collective need for after hours access to facilities without the entire centre being operational was the major influence on the final outcome. The building appearance is departure from the institutional form of the existing Bannockburn Customer Service Centre building and is intended to be memorable for its purpose across the range community users who include young children. High level windows are placed to allow controlled penetration of natural light and verandah overhangs provide both sun control internally and shelter outside. Prefinished corrugated sheet wall cladding to the northern side of the building is used for its economy, longevity and vast range of colours. The angled window frames and oddly sloping walls are intended to contribute to the feeling of anticipation of what experiences and activities may be found inside, rather than giving the feeling of having had one too many drinks. Architect: Kevin Hayes Architects Pty Ltd.
YVE Apartments, 576 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Vic
An iconic residential tower set between St Kilda Road and Albert Park Lake, it contains 120 luxury apartments some of which are looking towards Melbourne's CBD and overlooking Port Phillip Bay. The complex was designed to be three-dimensional, giving equal distribution of space to residences and creating a sense that the aesthetics of the tower were the same whether viewed from front, back or side. Its unusual shape shape itself is a practical contribution to the building where, because it's a clover leaf shape, it means that from your balcony, one only ever looks out, one doesn't look back across other apartments, so it gives residents a great sense of privacy. The building has been awarded Victoria's highest award, the Victorian Architecture Medal by the Royal Institute of Architects awards for its innovative use of space and form. Photos. Architects: Wood Marsh Architecture
1859-63 - Former Baptist Church House, 486 Albert Street, Melbourne, Vic.
One of Victoria's oldest and best preserved Baptist Churches and is a significant example of architect Thomas Watt's work. The beautifully proportioned facade is modelled on a Roman temple, perhaps the Maison Carre at Nimes and, together with the Collins Street Church, reflects the non-Gothic principles of the early church leaders.
It was erected in two stages and replaced a Chapel erected on the site in 1853. The architect was Thomas Watts. The first stage comprised the bluestone hall with raked floor and seating arranged in a semi-circle around the Minister's desk. This stage was constructed in 1859. The facade was added in 1863. The two towers were never carried out to their full height and the portico space was filled in at a later date.
1856-90 - Parliament House, Spring Street, East Melbourne, Vic.
The original design of the building has never been completed but, even in this incomplete state, it is one of Australia's grandest buildings. The Greek Revival style evokes considerable splendour and embodies the highest ideals of 19th century civic architecture. The Doric facade which culminates in a monumental colonnade is a most complex architectural composition and uses decorative features that are very rare in Australia. The principal monumental spaces comprise some of the finest interiors in Australia. The architecture of the Building is enhanced by its setting high on Eastern Hill with its grounds and gardens, and terminating in the Bourke Street vista. The Parliament Building reflects the gold wealth of 19th century Victoria and it was possibly the most expensive and elaborate public building in Australia before Federation.
Parliament House was erected in stages as follows: two houses, 1856-7; Library, 1858-60; Queen's Hall and vestibule, 1878-9; west front, 1885-90; refreshment rooms, 1930. The side and rear facades and the Dome have not yet been realised. The main rooms and existing facade were probably designed solely by Peter Kerr and J.G. Knight; the Public Works Department supervised the works. The west front is constructed of Stawell stone on a bluestone plinth.
1856-57 - Clardendon Terrace, 208-212 Clarendon Street, East Melbourne, Vic
A terrace of three two-storey houses, it is of bluestone and rubble wall construction with a cement rendered facade is its central giant order portico with Corinthian columns. The building also has elaborate fenestration and stucco detailing. Its Victorian Free Classical style composition with the giant order Corinthian portico is rare in Victoria. There are very few giant order residences in Australia and it is therefore of outstanding architectural importance. Construction commenced in 1857, thus pre-dating the large bulk of terrace housing in the inner suburbs of Melbourne. Architect: Osgood Pritchard
1876-78, Mandeville Hall, 10 Mandeville Cresenct, Toorak, Vic
Mandeville Hall is a splendid example of the fine villas built in fashionable Toorak during the late 1870s and early 1880s for Victoria s wealthy pastoralists, business and professional men and their families. It is among the most lavishly decorated of these nineteenth century Toorak mansions. Its ornate fa?ade and front portion with grand entrance hall and conservatory, Oak parlour, Indian Room and exotic bathroom were added in 1877 for Joseph Clarke, millionaire landowner, from the designs of the notable architect Charles Webb. Mandeville Hall is of particular significance for its remarkably intact nineteenth century interior. This building came about as a result of Charles Web converting an 1860s house into a grand Italianate mansion in the Renaissance Revival style mansion.
2 Drummond Street, North Melbourne, Vic.
Federation Italianate style double storey residence featuring delicate filigree ironwork.
1876 - Royal Hotel, 770-773 Esplanade, Mornington, Vic.
A two storey Italianate style stuccoed hotel which has a reconstructed two-level iron-ornamented verandah, and is thought to include some of the old Schnapper Point Hotel. There are wings at the back and side which appear to be from different dates in the 19th century. The architect A.L. Smith called tenders for additions to the Schnapper Point Hotel in 1859. The hotel was listed in the 1863 rate books as a hotel of 22 rooms. Rebuilt c1876, it was extended in 1892 when the verandah and parapet were probably revised. Its cellar reputedly still has the saltwater baths which were supplied with water by a windmill on Royal Beach. The hotel and the surviving Norfolk Island pine have been photographed on many occasions through its history and appears to be almost synonymous with the history of Mornington itself. One of its major owners, Rennison, was prominent in the town's affairs and helped promote the port as a tourist destination.
1848-51 - Toorak House, 21 St Georges Road, Toorak, Vic
Toorak House was designed by architect Samuel Jackson for the wealthy Melbourne merchant James Jackson. The house is an asymmetric, rectangular plan two storey brick and stucco Italianate style mansion, complete with dominant tower and ground floor Doric colonnade. The corners of the house feature strong quoining and the windows are crested by pediments embellished with classical motifs. The eaves are treated as a cornice with modillion brackets. Since 1956 the house has served as a Swedish Church. It is one of the oldest surviving mansion houses in Victoria. Toorak House, like other mansions in the area, such as Como House, was part of a large estate stretching down to the river. In subsequent years these estates were subdivided so that none now maintain their former grounds and few mansion houses themselves remain. Although it has been altered over the years, Toorak House is an important connection with this period of Melbourne's history. It was the first substantial Government House in Victoria, replacing the temporary accommodation that had been used since Victoria's separation from NSW in 1851. It served as the centre of vice-regal administration until 1874.
1955-58 - ICI House, 4 Nicholson Street, Melbourne, Vic
The twenty storey ICI House was a major architectural achievement which established Melbourne's position as a world leader in building in the 1950s. Considerable advancement in local construction techniques was made necessary by the pursuit of international design philosophy. The proportioning of the sheer glazed curtain walls and innovative use of concrete, including precast reinforced units in structural members and flooring are evident, and the division of the glazed office space from the solidly clad service tower predates similar developments overseas. From its completion in November 1958 until 1961, ICI House was the tallest building in Australia. Its height, combined with its position on the eastern hill of the central business district, terminating the axis of Lonsdale street, made the building a landmark. The building was more than double the previous height restriction enforced in Victoria and the design was permitted under the uniform building regulations because the site coverage was examined as a percentage of the total site area. This led to plot ratio determinations for city sites and the eventual redefinition of the central Melbourne skyline. Architect: Bates, Smart & McCutcheon
1955-57 - Hume House, 177-185 William Street. cnr William St. & Little Bourke St., Melbourne, Vic
11 storey Hume House was the first curtain walled building lit from all four faces to be erected in Melbourne. Its "curtain wall", comprised of a horizontal strip of windows above a horizontal strip of panelling, became a template for high rise buildings in all Australian capital cities over the next decade. Architect: Bates, Smart & McCutcheon
1962 - Treasury Building, Spring Street, East Melbourne, Vic.
Designed by Barry Patten, under the guidence of Yuncken Freeman. The neighbouring Treasury offices, seen on the far right in the photograph, were built at the same time and are similar in scale, proportion and height to the neighbouring Victorian buildings so as to blend in to the Treasury Precinct. It was the award winning entry of an architecture competition. Architect: Barry Patten.
1983 - WTC Northbank Wharf, Cnr Spencer & Siddeley Streets, Melbourne, Vic.
A large complex comprising five inter-linked office buildings, the complex was opened as the World Trade Centre in 1983. Melbourne's temporary casino was constructed here in 1992. WTC Northbank Wharf is a progressive redevelopment and refurbishment of the complex. It is one of Melbourne's largest integrated waterfront office complexes, strategically located on the banks of the Yarra River. Linked to Melbourne's World Congress Centre and Crowne Plaza, the complex occupies an expansive waterfront site.
200 Queen Street, Melbourne, Vic.
This building was constructed during the early 1980's by Grocon Construction of glass curtain wall construction. It comprises a twenty-four level office tower with a ten level, 450 bay parking building constructed adjacent to and under the main office tower. The building utilises the fall in the site to accommodate a small lunch bar and building loading dock on grade with Little Bourke Street but at a level below the main entry foyer and Queen Street tenancies.
The building structure construction comprises a reinforced concrete core, columns and poured in-situ floors. The exterior of the parking building comprises precast concrete panels while the office tower is sheathed in a blue tinted, glass curtain wall facade incorporating hermetically sealed, doubled glazed window units and glass spandrel panels. The tower facade incorporates feature granite around the main entry. The roof area to level 10 has a waterproof membrane covered in astro-turf while levels 32 & 33 incorporate a bituminous membrane. The roof over the top of the plant and areas is of framed metal deck construction.
1978 - National Australian Bank Headquarters, Bourke Street, Melbourne, Vic
A 40-storey Moderne style curtain wall building, being one of the first in Australia to be braced by an externally expressed concrete support structure. The concrete structure forms giant columns on the outside of the building which emphasize the column free open plan inside. Height: 161 metres.
1970 - Cadbury-Schweppes House, 636 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Vic
A 20-storey 1970s Post-Modern style building that has become a landmark on St Kilda Road. It was the first building in Australia to use poly-carbonated lights, an important feature in relation to architectural history/merit. The building was given a major makeover in 1987. Building design by MacIntyre & MacIntyre
1988 - Shell House, 1 Spring Street, Melbourne, Vic
This 34-storey building is Sydney architect Harry Siedler's only building in Melbourne. It looks remarkably like his Grosvenor Square near Sydney's Circular Quay, the pair were built simultaneously. The design was awarded the 1991 RAIA Award, Commercial category. The building's shape avoids the railway tunnels cutting across below the site's corner. The building's end walls are extended to the boundaries of the site at plaza level and step back as the tower rises at levels corresponding to the heights of adjacent buildings. It is a little-known fact that in the 1950s, Shell had intended to set up their head office in Ballarat. They commissioned a building, but when the executives arrived to inspect Shell House it wasn t exactly what they had in mind. Thousands of shells set in concrete together with pieces of broken bottles and china and other sparkly bits and pieces formed into the decorative and artistic shapes. The executives thanked the builder very much but said that they had decided to move to Melbourne. And that is how Harry Siedler was commissioned to design the new Shell House in Melbourne. Height: 136 metres.
1990-91, Bourke Place, 600 Bourke Street, Melbourne, Vic
This 48 storey building serves as the global headquarters for BHP-Billiton, and their logo, which sits near the top of the tower, is the highest sign in Australia. Constructed during the office boom of the late eighties, the tower has a distinctive sloped roof, which distinguishes it on the skyline. When the Melbourne architectural firm of Godfrey & Spowers set out to design the structure, they wanted to achieve a "crisp, clean and pure building envelope", according to Peter Langford, a partner with the firm. Bourke Place incorporates about 170,000m2 of reflective laminated glass. Height (to roof): 223 metres, (to pinnacle) 254 metres. Architects: Godfrey & Spowers
1988-91 - Melbourne Central, cnr Swanston & Lonsdale Streets, Melbourne, Vic
An iconic 54 storey office tower that follows the concept of skyscraper design as a "Crystal Cut" volume. Within the smooth shape, the facades are a composition of heterogeneous materials, such as stone, aluminum panel, reflective glass and tinted glass. At the top of the tower, high-technology communication equipment is visible. The lower part of the building is more traditional in design and includes a large shopping centre. Enclosed within the complex is an historic hot tower that is enclosed in the conic glass atrium. Height (to roof): 211 metres, (to pinnacle) : 246 metres. Architects: Kisho Kurokawa, Bates, Smart & McCutcheon, Hassel Pty. Ltd
2000 - Flinders Street Carpark, Flinders Street, Melbourne, Vic
The Flinders Street Carpark examines the notion of the multistorey carpark as a building type and its potential to contribute to the fabric and experience of the city. The absence of the constraints of an uninhabited building; that it be weatherproof and airtight and that it provide clear views out, was exploited. The resulting skin presents a loose fit gridwork of subtly textured aluminium panels, parted to reveal the supporting subframe and building structure behind. Two vertical concrete shafts housing the stairwell and service risers provide a defining edge to the building. Architect: Swaney Draper Pty Ltd Architects.
2007 - SiteOne, Cnr Bourke St and Stadium Dr., Docklands, Melbourne, Vic
Built on a highly visible corner site in Docklands, SiteOne is a six level commercial building mixing commercial office tenancies, flexible and fully serviced business facilities, and soho's that provide work/ live opportunities. SiteOne comprises 14 retail tenancies to the ground floor, 24 serviced office suites, 29 strata offices and 73 residences to the upper levels. A network of stainless cables that wrap in and over the building, form a multi-levelled landscape and recreational space. A north-south arcade links into the main lobby to form a network of vertical voids running across the site, collecting the circulation and entries to the commercial suites. Architect Elenberg Fraser Pty Ltd
2007 - McLean Delmo Headquarters, 300 Burwood Road, Hawthorn, Vic
The design for this building has established a landmark architectural solution for the city fringe commercial building. Designed for an accounting practice, the site required an innovative planning approach, due to the nature of the brief and the varying site constraints. In response the architecture, which is curvilinear in form, is not only reminiscent of the Functionist style in its earliest expression in the 1930s, but also in direct opposition to its neighbours' rectilinear massing. The building incorporates three levels of commercial office space above a restaurant and an external deck at first floor level, and undercover carparking at ground level. The levels are served and linked by a four storey glazed atrium with artistic lighting installation that then spills light and access into the internal cores. North and east facades have integrated horizontal solar shades to screen summer and winter sun at the optimum angle for passive solar gains to the building. Architect: Elenberg Fraser Pty Ltd.
1900-01 - Salvation Army Training Garrison, 68-92 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne. Vic
The former Salvation Army Training Garrison is unusual in its use of the Tudor style on such a large scale. By its size and striking facade, it makes a major contribution to the streetscape. Internally the double dogleg and geometric stair is an unusual arrangement. The pressed metal ceilings are early examples in Victoria of a new form of decoration. Architect: Edward Saunders
