September 2026
Fantastic shot of the #RecordsOffice in Queen Street I havnt seen before, from the RHSV. So many trees impossible to capture the grandeur and exuberance of this major public building.
It looks kind of American, or possibly even French, because it’s so very French Second Empire, with projecting wings and multiple mansard roofs. Which is very 1880s but it’s actually 1904, designed by #SEBindley, an architect in the public works department – he also did the Supreme Court extension nearby in 1896, similar but Dutch gables.
The stair hall inside is also pretty good, got to see it in #openhousemelbourne in 2011, so long ago it was before mobile phone cameras and instagram – someone lent me a digital camera.
Like the rest of the building, it’s pretty traditional Victorian rather than Edwardian, with the exception of the newel posts which go a bit Art Nouveau. Really quite amazing. It’s became the Victoria University Law School in 2004, with renovations by Peter Elliott, including new floors on the former file store done in zigzag corrugations riffing off the deep rustication of the original.
