2 March 2019

This fine #StrippedClassical bank and office building on the corner of Spencer & Collins was designed by #PeckandKemter and built in 1923 for the #StateSavingsBankofVictoria, as the ‘Western Branch’, an example of how there was so much business in the CBD that all the banks had multiple branches.

This one has a fine and very large #bankingchamber that’s sort of intact – there’s a big mezzanine on one side but it still feels huge. The #QueenslandMaple panelling still survives too, though the parquet floor has been replaced with granite. It’s lucky this c2005 #adaptivereuse as the lobby of the #BatmansHillHotel fits so well, because it wasn’t #heritagelisted until 2013, and the interior still isn’t.

11 August 2025

Yet another apartment tower on top of a heritage building – however, they’re only demolishing the back 1/3 or so from the corner, which means they retain the old high ceilinged bank chamber, to be used as a restaurant ! I’m so pleased, I mean keeping only a facade is pretty standard. In this case it’s easier to set the tower back because the site is currently three buildings (and they’ll only keep the facade of the other 1920s hotel, pic 4, but it doesn’t seem to have any interiors left). The chamber currently has a mezzanine, which will be removed, nice, but then they’re sticking two new columns in, oh well.

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