27 July 2021, updated : Kia Ora, #StKildaRoad, one of those places you know from the tram, a big set of #ArtDecoFlats, built 1936/37 in two stages (replacing a 19thC mansion and the house next door, only 12 years old). Designed by Lewis Levy in a smart streamlined mode, but most interestingly, the 60 flats … Continue reading Kia Ora, St Kilda Road →

3 October 2024 I first posted the amazing interior of the 1996 Paramount Centre in Bourke Street in 2015 on Instagram then again in 2019, finding new delight in it. Now an updated post because other people now like it too - @memo_review has just published an article on it, a testament to the questions … Continue reading Paramount Postmodernism on Bourke Street →

17 September 2025 The thing about Park Street South Yarra is that there’s so much great stuff, and it’s pretty much all 1880s to 1930s, no more than three floors, and tightly packed too, so it feels very urban. The east side must have been some kind of hill, so there’s a lot of stair … Continue reading Park Street, South Yarra →

Repost 2019: The #cabletram #enginehouse on the corner of Nicholson & Gertrude Street, with that cute but rather precarious corner oriel/tower room, a #signalcabin, where a man must’ve sat for hours making sure the Clifton Hill trams went round the corner, and the North Fitzroy trams went straight ahead. Required skill and timing since the … Continue reading Cable Tram Engine House Fitzroy →

9 June 2024 #Peeking out behind some magnificent Lemon Scented Gums is #Torloisk, an 1883 #RenaissanceRevival #MelbourneMansion squeezed onto a relatively small corner block in that bit of #EastMelbourne on the south side of Wellington Pde, near Hoddle. It addresses both streets and especially the corner, and unusually its three floors, ending up rather vertical. … Continue reading Torloisk, Jolimont →

Repost 2018: I took a snap, and it matches ! I guess an obvious spot. A favourite postcard view since the #ManchesterUnityBuilding was completed in 1932. The Town Hall #clocktower was completed 60 years earlier in 1872. 1930s193419501950s

26 July 2021 A fine bit of #latemodernism, probably early 1980s, just slick aluminium panels and mirror glass windows. I think if it was in the CBD, it would be better known and appreciated, but here in B class office land, you just go past. No 468. Photos 2025 2021 2021 I kind of admired … Continue reading Late Modern in St Kilda Road →

24 July 2024 Collins Street Baptist Church, designed by Reed &Barnes, completed in 1862. Heritage Victoria describes it as “modelled on a Roman temple and is Reed’s finest and purest achievement in the giant Corinthian Order”, and it is pretty impressive and delicately detailed. Set on a raised podium, with quite a few steps, like … Continue reading Collins Street Baptist Church, Central House, and shop →

Repost 2018: #Balencea, #WoodMarsh, 2013, very striking. The scalloped curves are great, with the sharp points seen in their work from the 90s, but here in reflective glass; like so many towers from then on, a pretty slick skin, with balconies inset rather than attached. Sheer glass from inside. Proportions helped by the fact that … Continue reading Curves in St Kilda Road →

Repost 2014: Walkham House, 902 Swanston Street, opposite the University. Definitely 1880s, and pretty definitely Norman Hitchcock, a builder-designer, since there’s a lot of details characteristic of his work. He liked to go fully #vermiculated, and the #scrolledbracket things are actually pierced, another signature of his. Nice to see all the #acroteria and antefixae in … Continue reading Elaborate parapet in Carlton →