Original post 28 November 2017: “Our Lodging” in #LittleBourkeStreet, 1883-4, unusual in so many ways - first it’s an unusually severe Tudor/Gothic, designed by #WilliamPittArchitect; second, it was the first attempt at #socialhousing in Melbourne, but built privately - by #GeorgeCoppin, actor, entrepreneur, philanthropist and politician (yes all at the same time!), built amidst the … Continue reading Our Lodgings, later Gordon House →

Original post 25 November 2017 The expanding and shrinking signage on Young & Jackson’s. Y&Js is a truly iconic place in Melbourne, and in fact one of the oldest, right on possibly the most important intersection of the city. The corner building dates from 1853, it then became the Princes Bridge Hotel in 1861, then … Continue reading Young & Jackson’s as a billboard →

Original post 24 November 2017 Mother of God, Ivanhoe, designed by Mockridge Stahle and Mitchell, 1957. A groovy Modernist church that also has traditional elements, such as the coloured glass gabled end, and features a terrific canopy swooping out towards the street, though perhaps those two elements clash a bit. It’s pretty intact, except for … Continue reading Mother of God, Ivanhoe →

20 November 2023 There’s a good array of shop tops at the south end of Glenferrie Road, Malvern, dating from the 1880s and early 1900s. The first one is particularly elaborate, and still has all its urns, the last one is a bank from c1905 that looks like it’s 1880s, except for the slightly baroque … Continue reading Shopping strip, Malvern →

20 November 2023 This striking Deco landmark on Wattletree Road near Glenferrie Road Malvern was built for Coughlin’s Dairy in 1941, providing office space and a milk bar next to their earlier diary. Unusual long thin proportions probably because it was squeezed into one side of their site, then exaggerated by adding a clocktower. The … Continue reading Deco dairy in Malvern →

Original post 20 November 2017: St Leonards Brighton, architect Bruce Kemp, 1956. Early modernist church design for Victoria, and an unusual one. It’s modern but traditional, managing to still look like a church. Almost European expressionist, but likely influenced by Coventry Cathedral, with those tall stepped plan windows (meant to be stained glass like Coventry, … Continue reading A delightful fish-based Modernist church in Brighton →

Original post 21 November 2017: St Patricks Murrumbeena, #RichardEllis, 1963. Unusual oval shape, diagonally facing the street corner; nice textured #concreteblocks in patterns like stonework, catches the light. Smart idea to just make one pointy end all glass to mark the entrance, rather than adding a porch (though there is a little one). Simple interior, … Continue reading An oval church ? Why not ! →

16 November 2023 A bit of Lost Melbourne that seems often overlooked - the great grand Bank of Victoria, built in Collins Street in 1861, just to the left of the Centreway Arcade. It was designed by Alfred L Smith (later as part of Smith & Johnson did the GPO), and was based on the … Continue reading Bank of Victoria, Collins Street →

14 November 2017: Parliament Station, completed January 1983, designed by McIntyre Partnership (firm founded by #PeterMcIntyre), the second to open of the 10 year long #cityloop project. Love the bizarre but fun #column tops, full scale replicas of the #TuscanOrder columns of the front 1889 collonnade of the nearby Parliament House. The miniature classical surrounds … Continue reading Parliament Station, 1983 →

18 November 2023 The now beautifully restored Prahran Arcade is one of the most extravagant products of the 1880s boom, both in its scale and purpose, opening with great fanfare in July 1890. It was a huge risk, since the arcade only led to a Turkish baths at the rear, and Chapel Street was just … Continue reading Prahran Arcade →