Repost this day 2019: Corner of Swanston & LaTrobe- I do worry on behalf of anyone who bought an apartment in the lower 10 or 20 floors of one the towers built first, only to see all the others emerge around them, sometimes less than 10m away, especially on dull days like much of this … Continue reading Crowded towers →

30 May 2019 (and Harry Potter is still going in 2021): So much #gilding - the refreshed #PrincessTheatre looks marvellous. Just realised that the great little copper #dragon light fittings on the canopy arnt some restored detail, but added as a hint to the #HarryPotter stuff going on inside - doh ! Built 1886, #WilliamPittArchitect, … Continue reading Princess Theatre →

This strip of mostly low scale heritage places on the west side of Elizabeth Street was added to the 40m (10 storey) central retail #heightlimit district in 2017. Then in 2019, the buildings were doubly protected by becoming a #heritageprecinct as part of the hardware lane review. Just in time too, with a proposal last … Continue reading Heritage and a height limit ! →

drivebyshooting; #ChristChurchSouthYarra, Toorak Road, created in two main stages; nave, transepts, chancel, tower base in 1856-9 by Webb & Taylor, with aisles, sanctuary and the bulk of the tower added over the period 1881-9 to the design of Reed Henderson & Smart (not sure if following the earlier design). The @nationaltrustvic says : “The most … Continue reading Christ Church South Yarra →

November 2019, new pics from August: Christ Church Brunswick, on Glenlyon Rd, a great and unusually styled church built over many stages, and with that tower, ochre limewash and the cypresses looks like it could be Tuscany (maybe). The nave, with its square side windows and gothic front ones, is early, 1857, by #PurchasAndSwyer (that’s … Continue reading Christ Church Brunswick →

27 May 2019 : This is the old #CityOfSunshine offices and chamber, competed in 1967 awaiting redevelopment - @kalaia17 kindly offered some closeups for everyone’s enjoyment! I’ve added some real estate pics. It was designed by #StuartWarmington, who went on to do more in Sunshine but nothing much else, but the #DalleDeVerre #stainedglass panel that … Continue reading City of Sunshine offices →

The #ThornburyPictureHouse is a small cinema cum bar in an old garage ! The very early kind that was a drive through on a corner, with an office or residence upstairs, back when petrol still came in cans, and they poured it in for you (I think). The TPH website says it was built in … Continue reading Garage cum Cinema in Thornbury →

Rather elegant bit of design in #HighStreetThornbury from c1970 I’m guessing. A social hall for the United Villages of Florina, that being a town in northern Greece. Update : I’m told by a local it was a State Bank, and it looks more like a bank than a social club, so I guess they bought … Continue reading Modernism in Thornbury →

Repost from March 2018; plus current sale images of the penthouse owned by John Denton of #dentoncorkermarshall, who’s owned it since 1991, and I’ve been to a party there, possibly that year, I don’t recall ! He bought it with #MorrySchwartz (#AnnaSchwartz took the ground floor as her gallery). They also bought the building next … Continue reading Flinders Lane penthouse →

10 September 2019 : The delightful #SapphireHouse, in #CrossleyStreet. Not protected until 2016 when #BourkeHill #heritageprecinct was reviewed. Built 1957 for the #Hurwitz family jewellers and traders, with the ground floor rented to Pellegrinis until the 90s as a larger (more expensive) serve yourself affair. The building hasn’t changed, entry looks original too, including #terrazzo, … Continue reading Mid century in a city lane →