6 July 2024

This rather mad thing once stood at 480 Flinders Street; it was a renovation of an old pub in 1915 to create a home for the wharfie’s union, and one of the very few things known to have designed by Robert Haddon (though as a ‘design consultant’ he had a hand in many other places). It was pretty radical yet whimsical, with little ornamentation, other than the pair of Rostra (prows of ancient ships), made of copper, and a wrought iron screen with a nautilus motif. In 1953, the Union modernised, and made it much more boring (pic 3, far right), and committed modernist Robin Boyd somewhat surprisingly wrote a piece condemning its loss, saying it was ‘a vigorous work by a sincere and dedicated architect’ – then woke up one day at his home in Camberwell to find one of the prows in his driveway ! (well that’s the story). The Union was famously left wing, and no wonder, it was a gruelling and insecure job, manhandling sacks, and often only hired for the day. Info from Susan Pate on ‘Melb and Victoria’ Facebook page, I think largely from Harriet Edquist’s Arts & Crafts book, photos from various FB posts, 2nd one Graeme Butler, don’t know original sources but I’m guessing Building Magazine for the facade shots.

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