Telephone Exchange Little Bourke Street/ Lonsdale Street

23 November 2016:

The grand City West Telephone Exchange, #JSMurdoch, designed 1929, but not built until 1935-7, looking like a bit of Manhattan. Tall stylish #GeorgianRevival facade rather hard to see properly in narrow #littlebourkestreet, near the Supreme Court – in fact it was one CBD building I didn’t know at all until it turned up in the 2011 heritage review ! How could I have not known ? Also note that it’s formal #redbrick Georgian style was also used for the far smaller high court next door, also by Murdoch, designed / built 1926, though the top floor is was added in the 1930s.

Update : got some rather poor shots of the lobby, tiny, but partly intact, very 30s green and cream terrazzo and big tiles. Pic 2 from Peter Barrett FB page, which has lots more info.

27 November 2024

Great shots of telephone operators in action in the City West Telephone Exchange in Lonsdale Street in 1969, via @bigstachebearau and the Victorian Telecommunications Museum Inc. Im not sure exactly what they’re all doing, but it’s a reminder that a lot of things we take for granted as automated once required skilled people to make them work.

6 December 2024

Another building I hadn’t seen before spotted here next to the grand 1920s Michaelis Hallenstein in Lonsdale Street, where there’s now that huge brown brick telephone exchange – the photo is from the Victorian Telecommunications Museum, so of course it turns out that it was an earlier telephone exchange. It was I think only the second in the CBD, and built in 1911-12, and serviced 10,000 lines. It was designed by Charles Brittingham, who had a long career in the Victorian Public Works Department, and here went full Edwardian Baroque, with rustication, exaggerated keystones under arched pediments, a lot going on. A newspaper article on it shows the switchboard, with make staff, and another museum photo shows the sawtooth roof from above. Oh and it got an extra floor at some point, better with the central pediment standing clear, and @simon_gollan pointed out the bronze coat of arms was rescued and now sits near the entrance of the 60s exchange.