4 August 2020 #RitzMansions was built in 1927, designed by #ErnestHLong, and its that very rare thing in Melbs, and apartment block built on the street, with shops at front level, and tall enough for a lift - in fact prewar only a few apartment buildings had a lift, such as Alcaston House in the … Continue reading Ritz Mansions, St Kilda, 1927 →

Original post 3 August 2020 Not my photo - because in my photos taken from the lane (2-3) you can’t see much - this is the slightly famous #DalgetyLane #coachhouse in #StKilda, built for the large very early terrace I posted not long ago at 37 #DalgetyStreet, which for some reason had a block 5 … Continue reading Old coach house, Dalgety Lane, St Kilda →

Original post 29 July 2020 Strathmore on #fitzroystreetstkilda is a nice bit of interwar #SpanishMission, don’t know the date or architect but I do know that it’s built on the front garden of a #VictorianHouse of the same name built in 1881-2, one of four in a row all similar all built at the same … Continue reading Strathmore, Fitzroy Street, 1931 hiding 1881. →

Original post 30 July 2020: There’s these grand terraces across the road from my place in Dalgety Street St Kilda, with huge front gardens, and I’m a bit surprised to learn they’re 1858 ! Called Lansdowne Terrace, they still have their original very simple elegant timber verandahs. There were 6, but three were demolished c1970 … Continue reading Grand Terraces, Dalgety Street, St Kilda, 1858 →

Original post 28 July 2020 Save the MLC building in North Sydney - sign the Petition ! Sydney’s first really big office block, designed by #BatesSmartMcCutcheon, and completed just before their more famous #ICIbuilding, it’s a fine essay in#glasscurtainwall, with the added twist of patterning in the spandrels, giving movement to the otherwise massive wall. … Continue reading Save the MLC building in North Sydney! →

Original post 27 July 2020 The #GreatMelbourneTelescope was installed at the #MelbourneObservatory in 1869 and was one of the biggest in the world - I thought it was long gone, then heard it hadn’t disappeared completely - turns out there’s a huge restoration project putting it back together and recreating parts at #Scienceworks only got … Continue reading The Great Melbourne Telescope (1869) →

Original post 27 July 2020 I didn’t realise that the rebuild of #LaMama after the fire in may 2018 involved a whole new building (even though it was announced a year ago !). Anyway, the #openhousemelbourne video on the topic has the architect #MegWhite (also an actor) giving a bit more detail, that not only … Continue reading La Mama reconstruction plans →

Original post 4 October 2019 This unassuming little building in #HardwareLane is actually one of the first examples of #ArtDeco in Melbs, dating from sept 1930, about 6 months after Harry Norris’s Bourke St Coles, which was the first. #CycloneHouse was built as the showroom for the #cyclonewirefence company, and was designed by #ArthurPurnell, who … Continue reading Cyclone House, Hardware Lane, 1930, one of Melbs first Deco. →

Original post 5 October 2019 The Jewish Holocaust Centre Melbourne in Selwyn Street #Elsternwick is partly in this building, which is rather attractive and unusual, but I don’t know for sure what it was. Perhaps it’s the #Dispensary Hall that is mentioned from the early 20s ? Which might have been built by the Hibernian … Continue reading Dance Hall to Holocaust Museum →

Original post 25 July 2020 Another great video in #openhousemelbourne - on the #SidneyMyerMusicBowl structure, with original engineering drawings and old photos I’ve not seen before. I now understand that the theres 35 long cables (held firm by a 13m deep foundation) that drape, while the cross cables are there to hold it down in … Continue reading Myer Music Bowl engineering →