13 March 2025 Some very pretty cast iron on one of the two cottages left on Alfred Square, St Kilda, which are surprisingly old. This one at No 1 is dated to at least 1855, when the earliest map of the area was drawn. It didn’t have a verandah then, but was there by 1873, … Continue reading Early cottage by the beach →

Published in Architect Victoria (magazine of the Australian Institute of Architecture, Victorian Chapter) Summer 2018 Architectural value in State heritage assessments. The rejection by the Minister for Planning Richard Wynne of the recommendation by both Heritage Victoria and the Heritage Council for listing the 1954 APM Power House in Alphington came as something of a … Continue reading Defining “ugly’. →

12 March 2025 Looks like maybe a 1910s cutesy cottage but it’s actually a c1856 prefabricated timber house in Lambeth Place St Kilda called Oberon. It’s kind of Swiss style, with that very projecting roof, and complicated window hoods, and having those triangular windows is very very unusual. It had looked pretty dilapidated when it … Continue reading Gold rush prefab in St Kilda →

12 March 2015: The front of St Peters Eastern Hill, built 1848, in simple, even simplistic, #gothicrevival in render over bricks, designed by #charleslaing. It faces away from the street, because it originally faced open space, looking towards Bourke Street in #colonialmelbourne before that space was chosen for parliament house in 1853. So now it’s … Continue reading St Peter’s Eastern Hill →

8 March 2025 Royal Saxon Hotel, 441 Elizabeth Street, built 1858, an early survivor near the market, built of face bricks (now painted), unusual skinny detailing, and a rough facade bluestone bit to one side. It’s the site of a proposed high rise development now up for sale with a (not bad) permit in place. … Continue reading Historic hotel, tower behind →

7 March 2025 Unusual shops & flats on Carlisle Street St Kilda, next to the library. It’s got a whole gable roofed section, typical for the 1920s Californian Bungalow style, but projecting over the footpath to form a narrow balcony (now glazed in). Also, a generous entry to the flats, splayed out with the shops … Continue reading Bungalow flats →

7 March 2025 I knew ‘immigrant nostalgia’ was a thing, but not that there’s a place in Lygon Street that’s dedicated to the idea ! Opening in mid 2023, Johnny, Vince & Sam’s is the brainchild of the 3 blokes called Sooshi Mango who do skits on YouTube dressed up as their nonnas and pappas. … Continue reading Nonna style →

5 March 2025 The fine restrained Georgian style offices at the Camberwell Tram Depot, built 1929. It has a corner piece like a little classical temple with a clock to keep the drivers on time perhaps. It was designed by Alan G Monsborough, who was the chief architect of the M&MTB from 1925-1938. The depot … Continue reading Camberwell Tram Depot →

3 March 2025 Truly appalling development in Grey Street St Kilda, completed in 2017, when I was outraged to discover it wasn’t just a case of facadism, but in fact they were allowed to demolish the whole lot, then rebuild the Victorian facade (probably because they were allowed to keep only the front wall, then … Continue reading Facadism ? No it’s all new →

2 March 2025 Repost 2021: The FG Scholes block at the former Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital, 1949, one of the best things #PercyEverett ever did (and he did a lot). Always thought of it as the isolation ward, since it was a series of individual rooms with screened porches, but then the whole place was … Continue reading Zigzag modern At Fairfield Hospital →