May 2021 This is the restaurant of the new #HiltonLittleQueen which is actually on Bourke Street, and is made out of the 1931 Byzantine style #EquityChambers building, designed by #OakleyAndParkes. Quite a saga, first it was going to be apartments not keeping much of the interiors in 2008, creating opposition and a successful nomination to … Continue reading Equity Trustees interiors, repurposed →

May 2017: The slightly faded grandeur and intimate scale of the #AtheneaumTheatre - perfect for the performance of #Cabaret I saw last night. Love #PaulCapsis. The theatre was created in 1924 inside the 19thC hall/lecture theatre of #theAth, Melbourne's first #mechanics institute; the theatre was designed by #HenryWhite, who did so many theates and cinemas … Continue reading Athenaeum Theatre and Library →

Just approved for the site of the #GreyhoundHotel, shockingly demolished in 2017. This is the third owner, hence the vacant site for so long. Im not aware that @cityofportphillip has done anything in response to the demolition, such as making sure that every pub is actually #heritagelisted, never mind later alterations. Design by @bharchitects. I … Continue reading Greyhound Hotel, dem 2017 →

Just off #ElwoodBeach I was drawn to a rather good house in slim concrete and steel with a great stone wall, and discovered Dawson Avenue is a collection of good contemporary houses, and bad and very bad 90s-2000s houses. This steer us actually in Brighton, maybe that’s a contriving factor somehow. Cheap finishes that stain … Continue reading One street in Brighton: the house, the bad, the …. →

Repost from this day in 2019: Seen in #Carlton in Feb - the fantastic #mannerist #italianate confection of #Rosaville, designed by the ever creative #NahumBarnet practically at the beginning of his career in 1883. Hope the clients were happy, it would have really stood out as a statement amongst the big but generally conservative terraces … Continue reading Some OTT Victoriana- Rosaville, Carlton, 1883 →

18 May 2019 : The #earlymodernist horizontal lines of the old #mercymaternity #hospital in #eastmelbourne by #stephensonandmeldrum 1935. The second curved bit was added 1939, the next bit in the 70s, and the curved corner entry canopies added in the 90s.I'm pleased I made the effort to get this on the #victorianheritageregister when I was … Continue reading Mercy Hospital, 1935 →

Repost this day 2019: Generally considered #IMPei’s gift to #Melbourne, the #twintowered, #citywithinacity #CollinsPlace, initial design prob c1970, ANZ tower finished 1978, the hotel tower in 1981. Seems not Pei himself though, since the #PeiCobbFreed website has a CV for #HenryCobb listing it as his, and he did the big towers it seems, but let … Continue reading Collins Place (not IM Pei) →

In #HighStreetThornbury, another one of those fine #ArtDeco #CommonwealthBank branches, symmetrical, with slightly leaning out fins, and the original terrazzo entry floor pattern. There’s another about 2 miles down the road, corner Separation Street. They usually had great grills /gates too, but long gone here. They havnt even repainted since the bank left though. Another … Continue reading Art Deco Commonwealth Bank x 2 →

1 February 2021 A lot of #ArtNouveau details under the cream paint on the 1915 #KilkennyInn, cnr Lonsdale and King, probably showing the hand of #RobertHaddon, doing work for #SydneySmithAndOgg, who did many many pubs 1900-1920s. The circular open corner is also very unusual - and about all that would be left if the current … Continue reading Not just a facade ! Kilkenny Inn, King Street. →