April 2026 Happened to go past the 1970s Housing Commission tower on the corner of Highett and Belgium Streets Richmond, which is coming down soon, with renters being relocated now. It’s a standalone tower, though attached to the huge four tower Richmond Estate on Elizabeth Street where the walk-ups are being demolished now. It’s got … Continue reading Richmond tower to go →

April 2026 The roof of the Richmond Baths is pretty amazing, like a zeppelin hanger ! (Pics 1-4 not mine). It was built in 1936, not sure why such an extravagant roof, but it was the first Olympic sized pool in Melbourne with a roof. The frontage is very restrained by comparison, in red brick … Continue reading Richmond Baths →

April 2026 Very stylish factory out west in Tottenham that came up on Facebook as a magazine article from 1940, which got responses that it was still there ! Though somewhat altered. It was designed by Stuart P Calder with Reid & Pearson, best known for Moderne classics McPhersons in Collins Street and the Hawthorn … Continue reading Natty factory →

April 2026 This funny little garage possibly 1930s on Church Street Richmond cnr of Highett takes up only a third of the site. Probably it was a service station originally, but lost the pumps, and since 1962 it’s been CQ Auto Electrics, still going strong, even though there’s only room for like two cars at … Continue reading Old servo, Richmond →

April 2026 I guess the corner of Highett and Gardner Streets in Richmond is as good a place as any for someone with a devil obsession to live. Quite a collection of little monsters, skulls etc sprinkled across a particularly ordinary vaguely Victorian maybe 1980s brick box. Great cactus garden too.

April 2026 I see a lop-sided face. Interesting house in Highett Street Richmond with an almost Vienna Sezession look in concrete or render on an angled plan. I thought it was by Robinson Chen, a practice from the mid 1980s that did a lot of houses in Richmond, drawing from monumental work by Corb, Kahn … Continue reading Concrete Pomo →

April 2026 Howey Place is pretty unusual amongst the city’s lanes, part lane part arcade, with an old glass roof, Pomo details, looking like a dead end, but with many connections. The roof with its Art Nouveau front was created in 1896, when EW Cole extended his Bourke Street Book Arcade through to Collins Street … Continue reading Howey Place →

April 2026 Easthill House, a rather wild stylised Spanish thing nestled up next to St Vincent’s Private I snapped in 2014. I discovered back then it was a new front to a pair of terraces that got transformed, explaining its odd proportions, sort of, but not why there’s so much up top and so little … Continue reading Spanish mish mash →

March 2026 The Port Melbourne foreshore has these rather cute toilets, with quite separate blocks for men and women- the mens is smaller but more decorative, and they both have extra privacy fences added later, as were the multilingual signs. They were built in 1902, at a time when there were bands playing and amusements … Continue reading Port Melbourne foreshore →

March 2026 This is all that’s left of the Centenary Bridge that once formed the entrance to Station Pier - it was a rather huge thing, designed to carry motor traffic along the beach road - over the many rail lines that once ran to and onto the pier (pic 11) - and also down … Continue reading Centenary Bridge →