Castle Towers, South Yarra

11 July 2019

Worth an exception of leading with old photo because trees – another fabbo confection by noted flat designer #ArthurPlaisted – this time a crazy battlemented 1941 thing called ‘Castle Towers’ in #MarneStreet #SouthYarra, one of the very few ‘elevator flats’ built in Melbourne before WW2. Though at 5 floors not exactly highrise, it was enough to alarm the neighbours and so lower height limits were soon put in place.

Crazy plan, sort of curved inward with lots of ins and outs so every room has lots of windows, and there’s a rooftop garden, and a proper reception /foyer, still with its concierge desk. The stair has lovely curly wrought iron railings too, and the lift front looks original. According to a real estate blurb, it was strata titled in 1984 by the Deague Group, redoing all the kitchens and bathrooms (and probably painting the exterior too).

Famous in archi-circles, cos #RobinBoyd gave it a ‘blot’ in Melb Uni student archi mag Smudges in June 1941, calling it ‘ridiculous from an aesthetic viewpoint’ – and Plaisted reacted by suing the mag for £3000 for bringing him into ‘public odium and contempt’, but he was satisfied with a printed apology that the criticism was solely ‘from an artistic point of view’ and not about utility or soundness. Phew ! (Cant find a single newspaper mention of all this, the info is from Serle’s Boyd bio).

Anyway, I love it, it is a bit risible, but perfectly livable, just need to thin out the trees and get the paint off the two-tone brick. Last pic is dated c1946 by the @library_vic but must be a presentation drawing from c1941.