This grand edifice in #ChapelStreetPrahran was built as the #ColosseumDepartmentStore in 1914, after a fire destroyed their older smaller shop built just 6 years previously. Designed by #TompkinsandTompkins it’s pretty much a copy of London’s #Selfridges, completed only 5 years before (complete with flags!), designed by US architect #DanielBurnham. This was the earliest large scale example of American #BeauxArts #Neoclassical, a style which would go on to dominate the 1920s. The end that now has the @revolverupstairs nightclub must be on a different title, being a bit scruffier – the larger part is now apartments. Along with all the other ex-department stores here, this is one of the largest preWW2 commercial buildings outside the CBD, the other concentration being Smith Street, both retail hubs in the early 20thC.
