24 September 2019: This is seriously good; #Troon, in #OrrongRoad, #Toorak, 1957, by #JohnAndPhyllisMurphy. A long block with two levels of flats looking north over the car area, with a string of units behind, which face side courts, with bridge access over a heavily-planted walkway, all in #concreteblock. It’s a fair replacement for the first … Continue reading Troon, Orrong Road →

Repost 2016: #Stairhall of #RecordsOffice. When it was first part of #openhousemelbourne, so long ago it was before mobile phone cameras and instagram - in 2011 ! Like the rest of the building, traditional Victorian rather than Edwardian in any way despite its date of 1900. Really quite French Second Empire actually. Designed by #SEBindley, … Continue reading Records Office (Births Deaths & Marriages) →

Repost 2018: It’s nice but for me it’s a bit plain - cnr Eliz & Collins, built in 1940, designed by #StephensonTurner, it was a modern yet traditional design, but I would have preferred more one or the other. Or maybe it’s just that the stone needs a clean. It was built as the #ESandABank, … Continue reading ES&A (ANZ) Royal Bank Branch →

Repost 2019: A fab example of #GeorgianRevival, with a bit of #Mannerist thrown in. This is the MH #Baillieu house, 1926, designed by Harold #DesbroweAnnear, who started off radical Art&Crafts Edwardian, but moved on to this kind of quirky Mannerist Georgian in the 1920s. Some good shots including interiors from Australian Home Beautiful. It has … Continue reading Annear, Toorak and a Baillieu →

23 September 2019 #TrawallaCourt somehow looks very LA, which is unexpected in #LascellesAve in #Toorak - I guess it’s the combo of #ArtDeco with elaborate #Georgian/classical bits, and the overall rather solid massing, with attached balconies. It’s early for Deco in Melbs, dating from 1931, the architect was #LewisLevy, and this seems like the best … Continue reading Trawalla Court Flats →

Repost 2019: There’s quite a lot of #midcenturymodern #highrise in #Toorak, which I didn’t realise, because some a bit hidden in the leafy streets - this one in #OrrongRoad id only glimpsed, and it’s great ! It’s by #LesPerrott, built 1959, which makes it one of the earliest high rise flats in Melb. Check out … Continue reading Toorak High Rise No 1 →

So we just had an earthquake! Very rare, but it does happen. This building in chapel street seems to be almost the only damage, and a freind tells me the upper floor converted recently to apartments with a new roof, and clearly the new internal wall was not attached to the external one, so no … Continue reading Earthquake! →

Repost 2017: Cashmore’s Corner, also known as Alstson's Corner after the #Tobacconist who occupied the prime corner shop from about 1900 in what was reputed to be Melbs first brick building of 1840. The replacement was built in 1904, looking even more vertical than now since the half on the right was added in 1908. … Continue reading Cashmore/Altsons/Brunton Chambers →

Repost 2018: The splendid 1891 #MelbourneTramwaysandOmnibusCo at the west end of #BourkeStreet - just repaired by current occupants, the charity #DonkeyWheelHouse. They recreated the lost tiles in the parapet that spell out MTOC in intertwined gothic letters, lovely. It’s an interesting bit of #gothicrevival by #TwentymanandAskew (who normally did classical like The Block Arcade), and … Continue reading Tramways Building, Bourke Street, 1891 →

Repost 2019: I’m posting an old pic first because #damntrees, but this curious building sure has an interesting story - firstly its 1937, by noted Modernists #SeabrookAndFildes, with what looks like a modern #curtainwall (and sometimes claimed as a first), but actually those metal panels are over concrete (I’ve seen the drawings), but still, pretty … Continue reading Early Modern in Bourke Street – Weber & Rice/Burnett’s 1937. →