1 September 2025
The former Police Barracks on St Kilda Road is rather grand, but also rather bland – it’s got a range of classical / Georgian details, but it’s all rather flat, but perfectly nice. Public Works Architect EE Evans liked a bit of no frills Georgian; Box Hill High is similar but much nicer.
It was built in 1925, replacing the ramshackle ex-immigrants home that had housed the single policemen rather poorly for about 15 years, and was one of the results of the police strike in 1923 over pay and conditions that saw looting in the city. The building, along with the rest of the site, was taken over by the Victorian College of the Arts in the mid 70s.
Storey of Melbourne 
It disturbs me that my grandfather was a strike breaker, but he was made a special constable during the police strike. Bland is a good word to describe the building.
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