That house with the turret on Lansell Road that stands out whether driving through Toorak is up for sale, so here’s a post that’s all real estate photos. Called Darnlee, it was built in 1899, and is an elaborate and unusual example of Edwardian, a style which emerged pretty much the year before, and quickly … Continue reading Darnlee, Toorak, 1899 →

Original post 5 Feb 2017: MelbourneExhibitionCentre (obvs). #DentonCorkerMarshall, 1996. That blade thing, biggest entry marker evah. #Deconstructivist or #Postmodern ???

6 December 2016: Ye Olde Mitre Tavern in #BankPlace, looking like a bit of Merrie Auld England in 1972. Lots of stories attach to this place, probably because it’s an odd little house sized building in a tight lane surrounded by older but much taller buildings, but few are true. It’s said to be one … Continue reading Mitre Tavern, Bank Place →

Original post 4 March 2018: A bit of #creambrick #bauhaus in Melbs, poorly treated - the #BabelBuilding at #MelbourneUniversity, so nicknamed by students cos it housed foreign languages, then made official. Built straight after the war, 1946-48. Only three floors then, designed in very European #modernist form by #GodfreySpowersHughesMewtonandLobb (so many partners !); in 1956-57 … Continue reading Babel Building →

Original post 3 March 2021: Very glad to see this house up for #heritagelisting by the @cityofgleneira - this is what I said in 2019 : The 1973 #KurtzHouse by #HolgarAndHolgar in #LumeahStreet #NorthCaulfield is not only amazing as a super-glam yet not kitschy design from one of my fave architect teams, but it survived … Continue reading Kurtz House, Holgar & Holgar, 1973- intact, then not. →

Original post 3 March 2021: Saved ! At least the facade. And just probably so far. It doesn’t look like much but it’s the principle. A project involving an office tower on the corner of Elizabeth and Queensberry Streets in Carlton South currently occupied by 5 buildings, three #heritagelisted as part of a precinct, but … Continue reading Upper Elizabeth Street development →

Original post 1 March 2017: The heroic statue / monument to the ill fated explorers Burke & Wills, who died in the desert after trekking from Melbourne to the north coast of Australia (and not finding an inland sea). That was 1861, and this, Melbourne's first major public monument (that wasn't imported) was cast by … Continue reading Burke & Wills →

Original post 1 March 2018: The 1927 National Bank by #AandKHenderson with its almost matching 1984 extension on the right (built after a long campaign by the #nationaltrust to save whole thing from complete dem for a tower). Strong expression of the #132ftheightlimit imposed 1916 and reimposed 1982. Also the facade recreates the 19thC 2 … Continue reading National Bank HQ Collins Street →

Original post 1 March 2021: So excited to see that St Johns Anglican Bentleigh (completed 1962, designed by Gawler Churcher & Drummond) is proposed to be #heritagelisted by Glen Eira Council (Update: now listed, including most original interior features). The @theageaustralia article quoted the vicar’s warden as thrilled to be so honoured (but worried about … Continue reading Marvellous Modernist Church, St John’s Bentleigh →

Original post 14 July 2019: One of my faves, #ElizabethChambers, 23 Elizabeth Street, near Flinders Street, built 1890, another one of those cbd #tallthinfrontages. Designed by #WilliamSalway, in a nicely decorative #RenaissanceRevival with a #QueenAnne flavour. After 40 years of neglect, with everything above ground floor vacant, it’s going to be restored, and not a … Continue reading Elizabeth Chambers →