17 March 2025
My all time favourite High Victorian discovery, a series of branches built for the Melbourne Savings Bank, all designed by Wright & Lucas, and all built 1889-1890, at the peak of the boom. All versions of each other, they’re a bit Mannerist, with heavy piers, chunky base levels, pediments open in the base or the peak, and a big cornice. I photographed them between 2014-19. They’re mostly intact, though some parapets are missing. They are : Bridge Road Richmond, Burwood Road, Hawthorn, opposite the town hall, Queens Road, Clifton Hill (photo @harperandcharlie), then not far away also Nicholson Street, North Fitzroy, which curves round the corner, and lastly Church Street Middle Brighton, where only the first floor is intact. I’ve also added the HQ in Collins Street (not my photo), which has a similar feel, but William Salway is usually credited with the design.
7 February 2019
A wonderful #ChunkyVictorian delight in #BridgeRoadRichmond, the #MelbourneSavingsBank #1889, by #WightandLucas. ‘Extravagent and elaborate’ design. Yup. Love it. Just about the only bank designs that strayed from conservative Italianate, Wight & Lucas did a bunch, click on their name to see more. This one the most intact, complete with pediment and ground floor piers. Check out that crazy freestanding arch acting as a balcony support and those rusticated piers topped with garlanded, compressed #ioniccapitals, #Mannerism plus ! I posted almost the same pic in 2014, it was end of lease then.
Storey of Melbourne 