June 2026 Rather delightful plaster ceiling in a gelati shop in Elizabeth Street near Little Bourke. It looks very Edwardian, maybe c1900, with a little bit of Art Nouveau and a lot of foliage. Its survived various shop uses, but I think lately saved itself by being so nice, since it was not only kept … Continue reading CBD shop interior →

June 2026, repost 2016, new pics : The Postal Hall of the Melbourne GPO is a very grand public space converted to retail, which seems such a waste. The very fine restrained classical architecture is also sort of blanked out by painting everything bright white, and having multiple light sources. It’s now #H&M, and really … Continue reading GPO →

June 2026 If you don’t mind the traffic….the cute little two-flat building right where Punt Road meets the river was sold in April. It was built in 1922, the date of the aerial photo, and probably built by whoever built the four simpler blocks around it. They’re all part of a heritage precinct, but no … Continue reading Punt Road address →

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 →