September 2026 Squeezed in next to the Talma Building in Swanston Street opposite the town hall is one of those skinny buildings that were once much more common around the city. It’s up for sale for about $20mill, and there’s quite a few interesting things about it - not including the architectural style, which is … Continue reading Music, Queer, Krishna, Chinese →

September 2026 I met up with a friend a while ago at a cafe which was inside Bed Bath’n Table in Burwood Road Hawthorn, which thought was a very strange idea but then I walked in ! It was inside the huge steel truss arched roof of a bottling plant built in 1955 for Fowlers … Continue reading Huge arches →

September 2026 Fantastic shot of the #RecordsOffice in Queen Street I havnt seen before, from the RHSV. So many trees impossible to capture the grandeur and exuberance of this major public building. It looks kind of American, or possibly even French, because it’s so very French Second Empire, with projecting wings and multiple mansard roofs. … Continue reading Records Office / Births Deaths and Marriages →

September 2026 Never seen this before! Two Victorian houses at right angles with a kind of shared front yard. They’re in the elbow of an L shaped side street in South Melbourne, Queen Street-Emerald Street, joining Ferrars to Dorcas. There’s a bunch of tiny houses, including three recent ones that fit right in - wonder … Continue reading Back lane cottages, South Melbourne →

September 2026 If you’re a fan of cast iron lace like I am, you’ll be interested to see this c1900 terrace Wellington Parade Sth, Jolimont - the balustrade and frieze above are examples of the Edwardian fashion for lace that looked like wrought iron, flat panels of curly rods, with a hint of Art Nouveau. … Continue reading Queen Anne terrace house →

September 2026 The York Butter Factory in King Street, looking fine in the winter sun shadows. For its first 50 years it was actually two separate bluestone warehouses built around 1854, one wider than the other, which housed a variety of businesses (pic 11 is a high of what it looked like from Old Treasury … Continue reading York Butter Factory →

September 2026 This place in Bridport Street South Melbourne was a row of Victorian terraces, compete with their own L-shaped lane, but at some point in the 1920s or 30s were completely transformed into what looks like flats in the pic from 1970. Quite nice too. But then in the 80s or 90s turned back … Continue reading Cheerily wrong →

September 2026 This is where architecture was headed in the late 30s, towards a Modernism that was all about restraint and free of decorative flourishes - they had to be careful of the proportions, but this one nails it. The Union Bank and offices in the Paris End of Collins Street was built in 1938, … Continue reading Union Bank, restrained →

September 2026 The Olderfleet in Collins Street, built 1889 in fully frilly Gothic by William Pitt with a fantastical spire. The clock itself was stolen in the 70s, then returned when it was clear the building was going to be restored not demolished. 1968

September 2026 The 1887 police station in the west end of Bourke Street is rather dour Gothic, which perhaps what public works architect was SC Brittingham intended, though it would look cheerier if it was cleaned. The bluestone cell blocks behind were built a little earlier and it’s remarkable they’re still there, one of the … Continue reading West Bourke Police Station →