Original post 22 May 2020 I dont hate it but I don’t like it much - a new thing in Coventry Street #SouthMelbourne opposite the market - a lack of imagination and relationship to context, I mean this black brick and the pierced brickwork, it’s just 60s revival popular, they could have had fun with … Continue reading Too contemporary, South Melbourne →

Original post 21 May 2020 Photos 9 February 2020 Imagine living in a house entirely made of thick corrugated and cast iron ? And trying to sleep in the attic in summer ? That’s what lots of Melburnians did from the 1850s, and it was a step up from living in tents and badly built … Continue reading Prefabricated iron houses for gold rush Melbourne. →

Original post 20 May 2020 Photos 20 Sept 2019 A fine pair of buildings at the east end of #CollinsStreet, part of the reason it’s called the ‘#ParisEnd’. This photo is from last Sept, they’re normally obscured by #trees. The left is #TheChanonry, 1912, by #BatesPeeblesAndSmart, exactly when they were doing the State Library dome, … Continue reading The Chanonry and Victor Horsley, Paris End. →

Original post 19 May 2020 ‘The proposal references the colourful graffiti art of #HosierLane, and adds to the vibrancy’ @bharchitects ....😂☹️ #gentrification at work. After @melbourne_heritage_action complained last year they’ve come back with ....a 0.5m setback, which of course makes no difference whatsoever. And I’m all for colour, but this is just childish. Preferably don’t … Continue reading Gentrification in Hosier Lane →

Original post 18 May 2020 Pretty good match up I think ! #EsplanadeHotelStKilda, as it was from 1878-1920, and now. It was built initially to be three grand terraces, but before it was completed had become an hotel, the Esplanade. It replaced a hotel, so why the terrace idea I don’t know; maybe the market … Continue reading Esplanade Hotel, then and now. →

Original post Saturday 16 May 2020, 12.30 pm ☹️ just an hr ago the 1888 #SpurlingHouse was totally destroyed by fire. It was by NSW architect #JohnHorburyHunt, was the only example of the US #ShingleStyle in Victoria. It was heavily damaged in a fire in 2015, and ever since the owners have literally left it … Continue reading Spurling House destroyed by fire, this time completely. →

9 October 2019 It’s not awful, kinda groovy actually, but this new thing in #CrossleyStreet replaced an 1880s warehouse, which had just been included in the adjacent #heritageprecinct in 2015; the @cityofmelbourne gave this a permit anyway because A. It had been abandoned and only the facade was left, and B the new design was … Continue reading Crossley Street Hotel, nice but could have been better. →

Original post 17 May 2020 The ornate corner wing of the #GeorgeHotelStKilda was added in 1886, designed by #HarryBGibbs, very #highvictorian, a delight to pass on the way to shops. Very interesting stylised capitals. When this wing was built, along with the rear dining room wing, The George became the largest hotel in Melbs outside … Continue reading The George St Kilda, 1886 →

20 July 2024 St Paul’s Chapter House on Flinders Lane is so very urban, built on the street alignment, with a meeting hall perched above an arched walkway and shops, love it. Completed in 1891, and designed by Reed & Barnes in a fairly restrained Gothic Revival style, matching the Cathedral, it accommodates many functions. … Continue reading St Pauls Chapter House, 1889-91 →

Original post 15 May 2020 Photos 3 March 2020 This facade in #QueensParadeCliftonHill looks like some daggy 80s #PostmodernClassical, but it’s actually 1927! Appears to be an added front to an 1880s venue known as the Albert Hall. I havnt unravelled the history, but seems it was hall first, used for theatricals and meetings, with … Continue reading Albert Hall/ Masonic Hall, Clifton Hill →