Original post 21 February 2022: In the news is another pub to close, but this one has a lot more history than most- the John Curtin Hotel in Lygon Street was built in 1915 as the Lygon Hotel, designed by Billing Peck & Kemter in a rather nice Arts & Crafts style (and may be … Continue reading John Curtin Hotel →

20 February 2018 The kind of suburban developer #postmodern that gives it a bad name, but I rather like its #baroque complexity and possibly original 80s pastel tones. #HighStreetArmadale. 20 February 2025 Update : it was demolished the next year, and the site added to the Edwardian bank next door to become apartments called Alara, … Continue reading Pastel Postmodern →

Original post 20 February 2018: The truly adorable #MutualStore, in Flinders Street, 1891, by #ReedSmartandTappin. A bit #queenanne #redbrick and #baywindows, #scrolledpediments, and a lot of #mannerist #brokenpediment on top. This was Joseph Reed’s firm, but he had just died before it was built, so this possibly by Smart. Opening in Nov, it replaced the … Continue reading Mutual Store →

Original post 17 Feb 2016: FantasticFacade of the Cartmell Buildings built sometime in the 1880s, with a degree of chunky detail like that on designs by #normanhitchcock, photographed on #brunswickstreetfitzroy in the 1950s. Sometime after 1962 all that rich detailing was scraped off. But they left the shopfronts behind, which are still there.

Original post 19 February 2019: Nearly all the shops in #RipponleaVillage on Glen Eira Rd were built 1912-1920, so they’re all a similar style, red brick Edwardian with some #ArtsandCrafts leaning. They’re mostly plain, but there’s a few standouts, like the corner number, 1st pic, very #EdwardianFreestyle, from 1918, architect Arthur Plaisted, the arched one … Continue reading Ripponlea village shops →

Original post 17 February 2017: Shocked but this development is a nasty example of facadism, and they even demolished and rebuilt the facade - why bother? The Ode, Grey Street, #StKilda. Looks slightly less massive without the scaffolding, but the (new) #Victorianfacade looks rather overwhelmed. Not to mention open gaps instead of windows. Well the … Continue reading Reconstructed rather than preserved- The Ode, St Kilda →

Original post 17 February 2018: This building bugs me every time I see it- not because it’s bad architecture but because it was the first building after #plotratio was dumped in 1999, just as the apartment boom started, with lots of big buildings that went straight to the Minister (over 50,000sqm rule) and his department … Continue reading Liberty, Collins Street, grr →

Original post 17 February 2019: What happened to the #tower ?? Cute Edwardian shops at #Ripponlea has finally been fixed up but without the tower ! What a shock.

17 February 2021 Some old-time isolation facilities (Covid!). This is the late 1940s ward block at the Greenvale Sanatorium for #tuberculosis patients, way out in a then isolated spot because TB was infectious. It was built 1947-8, but not officially opened until 1950. Designed by the prolific #PercyEverett (the drawings are dated May 1946), it … Continue reading Greenvale Sanatorium, Percy Everett →

Original post 16 February 2019: Repost from 2019: In Cecil Street South Melbourne - someone’s idea of a Victorian style #terracehouse, and actually I think it’s OK - clearly not Victorian (to me anyway), but the appropriate level of detail, it’s got a verandah, fits right in. Could be 80s, could be recent. An attempt … Continue reading Spotted in South Melbourne →