June 2026 More Howard Lawson delights, a bunch of contiguous blocks on Alexandra Ave at the bottom of Caroline Street, Sth Yarra, mostly in his signature Spanish style built in c1934, in a variety of colours. Dorrington sits right on the pointy corner, mainly 1 beds, with great round bedrooms on the corner flats, but … Continue reading Lawson land →

June 2026 Down an industrial side street near the river in Richmond there’s this splash of mid century neon ! It’s the Royston Hotel, cnr River Street and North Street, and I’ve got the date 1955, but I can’t confirm. Only that there was a pub here in the 1860s called the Curriers, a word … Continue reading Royston Hotel →

June 2026 A bit of long lost Melbourne architecture - ‘Latrobe House’ was built in 1853 at 477-37 William Street, opposite where the Mint was later built. It was in a restrained Georgian mode, but with funny little pediments on the balustrade, and I think it was always a pair of houses. But the most … Continue reading Not Latrobes house →

26 June 2026 Well this is super depressing - Lendlease actually wants to go to nearly twice the MANDATORY 40m height limit for their boring office project around Young & Jacksons, and it’s entirely up to the Minister Sonya Kilkenny to say yes or no, without any public process. I thought the 40m (plus plant … Continue reading City gateway site overshadowed →

June 2026 Tanner Street near to Richmond Station is dominated by a bunch of big old factories that were built for the Australian Knitting Mills. I don’t know exact dates but they look 1920s and 30s, and there are at least three blocks, and there’s a great walkway between two of them, running under some … Continue reading Richmond Station Industrial →

June 2026 There must have been some competition amongst the backs in the late 19th C in the Glenferrie /Burwood Road precinct, maybe it was indeed a wealthy area - the ES&A did their Gothic one in 1873 (pic 9), then in 1890 the Melb Savings Bank did their elaborate one opposite the town hall … Continue reading Glenferrie Road shops →

June 2026 A great bit of 1873 Gothic Revival in Burwood Road Hawthorn - which feels a bit enigmatic, since it’s near but not part of the shopping strip down Glenferrie Road. It was actually built as a bank, for the ES&A, which had decided to go for impressive Gothic instead of the usual sober … Continue reading Glenferrie Gothic →

June 2026 1866 vs 2015. This terrace on the corner of Brunswick & Gertrude has been here since 1856, making it one of the oldest still around. You might have thought terraces were as old as Melb but though the first ones were around 1840 in the cbd, soon also appearing in the closest parts … Continue reading The other Royal Terrace →

June 2026 This development on the site of Leo’s supermarket in Kew Junction was recently approved by the State Govt, and I’m surprised there hasn’t been more hoo-ha, I guess that’s what happens when there’s few details to see and no opportunity to comment. The renders are all just slices, rather than the whole thing. … Continue reading Big blocks in Kew →

June 2026 Glenferrie Station - part of my teenage school years, and not much changed ! Built 1916 as part of regrading the line to Camberwell, it was designed with very generous proportions, in a bold but simple Edwardian style, designed by Victorian Railways architect Edward Ballard, under JW Hardy. I love the huge arches, … Continue reading Glenferrie Station →