Original post 27 April 2020
Another gem from #RememberingMelbourne, the #RoyalHistoricalSocietyofVictoria’s photographic collection – this is Prell’s Building, named after the developer Wilhelm Prell, who built this in 1889 on the south east corner of Queen Street and Flinders Lane, designed by #FMWhite in a very, um, efficient form of regular matching openings that could have been made any height or width.
But the even more amazing thing is it was one of three almost exactly the same, in the same block. No 2 was across Queen Street (photo 2 in c1970), and No 3 on the corner of Collins Street. That last one was transformed in 1929 with a huge tower into the (2nd) #APAbuilding. That was dem in the late 60s, the 2nd one early 70s, and the original one lasted till 1975. Hard to believe they ever existed.