1 October 2023
When you look at the Rialto close up it has so much amazing detail – a picturesque roof line of gables and a spire (entirely made of zinc), lots of little windows, brick stripes, a variety of gothic details in the cement render, lots of coloured and patterned tiles, and stained glass in the big ground floor window. The overall impression is a richness in effect, which of course the Victorians was the height of good taste, but later generations thought crass. So we’re lucky it’s still here in all its glory. Built 1891, architect William Pitt.
22 September 2023
Out the back ….
The once famous ‘heritage toilets’ at the back of the Rialto in Collins Street. They’re actually just corrugated iron walls that enclosed urinals, possibly an afterthought added to the original 1891 design by William Pitt, since they’re not shirk on the original plans at the State Library – but he gave them Gothic pointed arches to match the rest. After much campaigning in the 1970s, the building was finally retained and restored and became part of a hotel in 1984 – but part owners the Grollo family were unhappy about retaining the toilets and left them with peeling paint for another two years. Now that history is largely forgotten- but the toilets are still there.
The plans – a bit blurry but no enclosures shown :
2 October 2023
A hidden laneway, part of the original Rialto – it was actually built as much as a warehouse as an office building; I think the idea was the rooms off those long balconies could serve as showrooms, since this was the warehouse end of the city after all. So the design had a loop laneway built in, with an arched entrance off Flinders Lane, then down this narrow lane on one side, under the front end, and out to an existing laneway way the other side, separating the Rialto from the Winfield. The narrow lane side also had up-to-date steam winches to get the good up there. All this is rather obscured now; the main lane is under the atrium floor (to be revealed again in the current proposal), the narrow one down this odd gap. The winches are still there, but half above the new roof, and the openings long ago made into windows. Plan from the 1920s with my mark up; old photo of main lane Graeme Butler 1972, also the old winch shot.
27 September 2023
There’s a permit application for a tower popping out above the Rialto ! It would replace the 1984 hotel wing of the Winfield building with a big hotel / office tower that bulges right out over the Rialto building. The images make it look more dominating than it probably really would be from the street, but those cute towers would definitely not have sky behind them any more. The fifth image is the atrium now – the left side is the original Rialto with its open balconies, the other side is the matchy 1984 wing. The original laneway between the buildings was narrower than the current atrium, so they’re building back to that line. I don’t mind the basic idea, but I don’t think the tower should cantilever right over the Rialto. The plans are currently advertised on the Heritage Victoria website so you can lodge an objection.
Storey of Melbourne 