8 December 2014:

This wonderful crazy thing was built as the Avon Butter Factory in 1932 in #nicholsonstreetfitzroy, near Johnston. One of the early works by that inventive architect I G Anderson, where he fused Art Deco, Spanish and some Gothic too. No idea why they went so over the top here, and at the height of the depression, guess lots of competition in the butter business, but luckily it survived long enough to get on the #victorianheritageregister last year. They should do something about the signs though. I remember it as a knife factory in the 80s, think it had been for a while.

Update : since 2022 it’s been Ecotel bakery supplies, sort of linked to its first use. I’m glad it went in the register in 2013, or it would be a facade with 8 floors of flats behind by now. I can also add that Anderson used a similar style on the ex-Brunswick Market in 1930, last pic, but less ornate. Anderson is better known for his later Art Deco flats, like Dorijo in Victoria Parade.

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