20 July 2024
St Paul’s Chapter House on Flinders Lane is so very urban, built on the street alignment, with a meeting hall perched above an arched walkway and shops, love it. Completed in 1891, and designed by Reed & Barnes in a fairly restrained Gothic Revival style, matching the Cathedral, it accommodates many functions. The hall itself is quite impressive, with stone walls, traceried windows and a timber lined arched ceiling, and very restrained details. It’s annoying that it’s now a shop, though that means you can go in any time. It’s all pretty intact, including the fabbo Gothic shopfronts, except the big and complicated stairs at the rear were removed in the 20s for more office space. Entry to the hall is now via a little door to the east that originally led to a storeroom and the basement I think (not sure because the ground level plan is the only missing); the stairs and lift there all look 60s to me, and the internal walls are scored stone like the exterior, I guess because it was sort of open originally. And I guess that meant some alterations to the hall, entry now under the gallery, accessed from a long walkway inside the hall, so that must be 20s as well. Or 60s. The @library_vic has the original plans and elevations, all in lovely watercolour.
19 July 2024
Hadn’t ever really stopped to notice that St Paul’s Chapter House on Flinders Lane includes this multi-storey Gothic office block, which is very nice indeed. The whole Chapter House and offices were added to the design in 1889 well after the original architect William Butterfield resigned, and the job was taken over by Reed & Barnes, namely Joseph Reed. There’s only a few offices per floor, but there’s four floors and they’ve all got oriel windows with pointed arches, all done in stonework matching the Cathedral. Entry is via a little courtyard, with a nice fence, sign and details.
Original post 16 May 2020
Photos 9 October 2019
If this was anywhere else we’d admire it a lot more, but the #StPaulsCathedralMelbourne #ChapterHouse is a bit dominated by everything around it, and it faces south in a carpark (honestly please give the archbishop a carpark somewhere else, and turn it into a park !).
I was a bit surprised to learn recently though that this part of the Chapter House of St Paul’s Cathedral had been altered since first built in 1889-91. It was originally two floors and only the left two bays (see 1889 plans from the @library_vic) then in 1926-7, a whole floor was added, with the oriel window extended upward, and the right bay was added as well, so the new floor covers the whole area. The architects were Gawler & Drummond, and they exactly matched the stonework, for instance the gable above the oriel is the same as before, but one floor higher. So that explains why this part is symmetrical, whereas the rest of the chapter house is irregular. Pity that at exactly the same time, they were raising funds to build the spires, but not matching the style, or even the stone or the original. The Chapter House was added to the design of the Cathedral in 1889, 10 years after the Cathedral was started (where Butterfield had only planned a couple of small vestries), and it was finished at the same time, in 1891. It was designed by #JosephReedArchitect who had taken over the cathedral project after #WilliamButterfield resigned in 1884 because… he got too annoyed by trying to stay in control by letters from London. Matches perfectly though. Reed died 1890 but he was working up to the last few months, so probably his design.
31 December 2017:
Note the treads worn down by 130 years of feet. The Chapter House itself is currently a shop. Also note the stonework in the undercroft shows more clearly the diagonal scoring of the stone that gives it added texture. Always thought this was a Butterfield idea but it was added by the clerk of works here, and Butterfield didn’t like it, one of the things that annoyed him so much (according to a 2014 book by former Dean, James Grant).
20 July 2024
St Paul’s Chapter House on Flinders Lane is so very urban, built on the street alignment, with a meeting hall perched above an arched walkway and shops, love it. Completed in 1891, and designed by Reed & Barnes in a fairly restrained Gothic Revival style, matching the Cathedral, it accommodates many functions. The hall itself is quite impressive, with stone walls, traceried windows and a timber lined arched ceiling, and very restrained details. It’s annoying that it’s now a shop, though that means you can go in any time. It’s all pretty intact, including the fabbo Gothic shopfronts, except the big and complicated stairs at the rear were removed in the 20s for more office space. Entry to the hall is now via a little door to the east that originally led to a storeroom and the basement I think (not sure because the ground level plan is the only missing); the stairs and lift there all look 60s to me, and the internal walls are scored stone like the exterior, I guess because it was sort of open originally. And I guess that meant some alterations to the hall, entry now under the gallery, accessed from a long walkway inside the hall, so that must be 20s as well. Or 60s.
Storey of Melbourne 