6 January 2026
Tucked behind the Woolies next to the St Kilda Station tram stop is this intriguing bit of public art. It dates from 1996, by Cliff Burtt, whose ‘cosmological work references history and legacy’, hence the astrolabe/sextant look.
It’s a feature of a quite attractive block of social housing, all one beds I think, nice brickwork, access galleries, and plenty of planting. It’s the nicest part of a strip of housing built on this ex-railway land, with private flats and a supermarket at the front, social housing behind, strung out along a snaking street. There’s also more ordinary units (last pic) and cute little pomo townhouses. Presumably all designed by the then Office of Housing, but the nice one feels like they maybe got someone in, or let someone really have a go. It’s all managed by Housing First, originally St Kilda Housing Association.
Update : I’m told they were all separately designed by various architects, the featured one was for older singles, and by De Jong Hooke, probably Leo De Jong who had worked for Merchant Builders till the mid 80s.
Storey of Melbourne 