2 February 2025
Photos of what’s now Collingwood Yards in Johnston Street I took in 2014 and 2020, plus two recent ones. Fabulous striking entry, with an arched rising sun motif, and scalloped brickwork above, a fine effort by Public Works chief architect Percy Everett, completed in 1939 as the Collingwood Technical School. It is however set back in a relatively small courtyard, so you only glimpse it in passing- it’s a curious decision, presumably something to do with the fact that it was part of an alteration of the original 1912 red brick tech school, though not sure what it looked like before. My 2014 photo was 9 years after it closed, and somehow it wasn’t turned into apartments, instead eventually becoming a non-profit arts centre, providing affordable spaces for creative industries, opening in 2021. Repair and restoration by @fieldwork_architects. I havnt been to actually see it since ! Last two pics from @collingwood_yards. And yes there’s a Kieth Haring mural on the side.
3 Feb 2020
I guess they havnt quite finished turning the old #CollingwoodTech into the #CollingwoodArtsCentre just yet, I had to take this through a gap in the hoarding. One if the more unusual designs by #PublicWorks Chief Architect #PercyEverett, this interesting arched and vertically finned entry was added in 1938 to an earlier red brick tech school building. I’ve collected loads of other peoples photos of Everett’s work on my Pintrest page if you’re interested, just google his name and mine.
6 February 2025
Fully streamlined in Wellington Street – the Boot School of the ex Collingwood Technical School, yet another work by the great Percy Everett of the Victorian Public Works Department. Built 1945 after the old one burned down; the only major construction allowed for ages after the war was public buildings like colleges and schools, often by Everett. The design here pretty much repeats his RMIT Bowen Street buildings of 1937-41 (last pic), but I’m not complaining. The entry here has a square motif rather than fully Deco. I took the photos in 2014, not long after the #steelframed #windows were nearly lost when the building was converted to become melbs first neighbourhood justice centre, a referb by @lyonsarchitecture, but luckily they got a rare #heritagegrant. They added a new entrance, with their signature angles, but with the simple canopy, it’s not too intrusive.
Storey of Melbourne 