First posted Instagram 5 February 2020 This hasn’t changed appearance since the 70s, back then it was just ‘chinese food’, and now it gets 5 stars. A Victorian shop with an open verandah above like that is pretty rare, only one on a corner I can think of; though it’s possible the 50s/60s shopfront replaced … Continue reading Unusual Victorians in Collingwood on opposite corners
Author: Rohan Storey
Colonial in Collingwood
First posted Instagram 4 February 2020 Everybody’s favourite, this is Belmont in #JohnstonStreetCollingwood, looking very Colonial. This is because partly it is, the ground level anyway, built in bluestone in 1857 right on the street, with a few steps protruding onto the footpath, apparently because it was outside the area governed by the first building … Continue reading Colonial in Collingwood
Cute tiled postwar office block by – Harry Bloom (!)
Original post 2 November 2019 Photos 1 October 2019 #LaurensHouse in #LonsdaleStreet is a building that just wasn’t highlighted until the @nationaltrustvic started doing a review of CBD post war stuff a few years ago, and I said (or maybe it was someone else) said what about this one with the 50s #pinktiles? Turns out … Continue reading Cute tiled postwar office block by – Harry Bloom (!)
The Presgrave Building
April 2026 The Presgrave Building, #littlecollinsstreet, #MarcusBarlow, 1935/7, a bit of fine Streamlined Moderne (a subset of Art Deco) doing a good job of standing out in this narrow street, with a curved banded corner on #howeyplace and a bit of a tower motif. Though the horizontal speedlines turn the corner then abruptly stop. Marcus … Continue reading The Presgrave Building
NOT heritage colours, Elizabeth Street
First posted Instagram 3 Nov 2019. 😮 This #colourscheme on the old #AngusAndRobertson building on #ElizabethStreet has just been revealed (thanks for the photo @tristan_davies) - it’s cheery but so very wrong ! Apparently it’s some kind of mistake, and they (not sure who, but @plusarchitecture are moving in) certainly didn’t get a heritage permit. … Continue reading NOT heritage colours, Elizabeth Street
Collingwood Tech, 1938
2 February 2025 Photos of what’s now Collingwood Yards in Johnston Street I took in 2014 and 2020, plus two recent ones. Fabulous striking entry, with an arched rising sun motif, and scalloped brickwork above, a fine effort by Public Works chief architect Percy Everett, completed in 1939 as the Collingwood Technical School. It is … Continue reading Collingwood Tech, 1938
Keith Haring mural Collingwood, 1984
First posted Instagram 3 Feb 2020, updated 2026 Went to the #TammieBrown show yesterday (hilarious) so of course snapped the #KeithHaringMural, which is looking fine. He painted it in 1984 on a big blank side wall, with the help of the students. He was just hitting his peak fame at the time, with his unique … Continue reading Keith Haring mural Collingwood, 1984
Part protected, part not.
First published Instagram 6 November 2019 Delightful little #ArtDeco number on #ABeckettStreet, built 1939, for A G Way & Co, sheet metal workers, especially milk cans 😮. Designed by Alder & Lacey (who I’ve never heard of). I like the way the darker brick horizontal #spandrels stick out a little. Fortunately got #heritagelisted as part … Continue reading Part protected, part not.
Terrace pair, Coventry Street,South Melbourne
Published Instagram 7 November 2019 Sisters
What’s upstairs ? Architects of course.
Original post 7 November 2019 Didn’t look like there was anything up this stair on Crossley Street above those tiny shops, but of course its an architects office ! #HerbertAndMason, that’s Lucinda Mason, never head of them but they do shops, extensions, and hospitality eg Gingerboy (across the road) and #KingAndGodfrey. Seems to me theres … Continue reading What’s upstairs ? Architects of course.









