Original post 2 April 2020, updated :
Melville House, Collins Street, next to the Melbourne Club, was built as a pair of grand terraces in 1881, designed by Nathaniel Billing for Dr Ray. The ground levels were converted into shops in 1927, then in 1991 the rear wings were demolished for a tall postmodern office tower by architect Peter McGann, who also rebuilt the ground levels based on the 1920s plans in the Council archives (the project won an RAIA award in 1992). The detailing however is obviously stylised, and the fence not quite right.
I feel like the ground level could be done again more accurately if better plans exist – the best I can find is a blow up of a photo from c1890 which clearly shows more wing walls than now (damn trees hide the rest!), and the MMBW plan shows porches of some kind perhaps wider than those there now.
Some more pics : 
Storey of Melbourne 
I didn’t know the ground floor façade was not part of the original! Thanks for the heads-up. I must admit, the lack of symmetry in the two porticos always bothers me each time I walk past the Melville House, but judging from the old photos, it looks like the eastern-most portico was built over a carriage entrance, which goes some way to explaining the lack of symmetry.
The line of trees in the second photo doesn’t help to clarify the issue, but judging by the photo above it, I would swear that the ‘projecting balustrade’, as you call it, is actually a modern replacement for a narrow stone balcony before the first-storey windows.
LikeLike
They look symmetrical to me ! Also there was no carriageway. And yes the first floor might have had a balustraded balcony over the ground level verandah/porch.
LikeLike
Your article is interesting but inaccurate. The facade is now as originally built as it is based on the existing conditions drawings in the City of Melbourne files from when the shopfronts were being proposed in the 1920’s. It is not as you say entirely invented. I suggest you research the council files and seek the truth.
LikeLike
Thanks for commenting peter – it’s good to know the research was done ! Though what’s there now doesn’t exactly line up with the photo and mmbw plan, so it was more or less like that ? If only those plans were on line !
LikeLike