Original post 18 February 2020
Photos 3 December 2019
I pass this nearly every day on the way to the shops or the tram – and now I finally know that yes it was built as a bank like I thought. Designed by #ReedHendersonAndSmart and built 1890 (the year #JosephReedArchitect died of ‘inanition’) it was built for the #BankOfAustralasia (not to be confused with the National Bank of Australasia) and it’s one of the few 19th banks not to be restrained Renaissance Revival, though it is a restrained version of #QueenAnne- those red bricks and top knobs. Also just realised why it’s at the far end of all the shops and even round the corner from #FitzroyStreetStKilda – there weren’t any shops or banks or anything on Fitzroy Street itself until the 1920s, so the few shops (and two big hotels) were all cluster red up here, near the #StKildaRailwayStation.
The bank I posted yesterday- so the paint covers ochre coloured render and #creambrick (why did they do that ??). Nice distressed look now but imagine all cleaned up as three colours/ textures. And maybe the base is bone bricks. And that door ! Belongs to a #bank for sure. Though it would have been to the manager’s residence upstairs.
Storey of Melbourne 