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.
Storey of Melbourne 