27 April 2025 This very unusual place once stood in Albert Street East Melbourne, a very elaborate and rare example of the Moorish or Mogul style, a bit Alhambra, a bit Taj Mahal, a lot Victorian invention. It was overlaid as a verandah on an earlier house in about 1877, and might have been designed … Continue reading Moorish style in East Melbourne →

26 April 2025 The Labassa Conservatory was probably built around 1890, and features a cast iron structure and roof detailing, with other bits in pressed metal, and a tiled floor, by far the most elaborate late 19thC private freestanding conservatories to survive (there are quite a few attached ones left). It was probably designed by … Continue reading Labassa Conservatory →

20 April 2025 The fabulous Rivoli Theatre at Camberwell Junction, opened in 1940, has the most interesting Art Deco cinema interior left in Victoria. It was designed by cinema specialists Taylor & Soilleux (this is the only one of theirs left), who often did something more than the usual zigzags or waterfall curves - and … Continue reading Rivoli Theatre →

20 April 2025 Some long gone Collins Street elegance next door to the Melbourne Club. This building went through many changes: the first pic is 1950s, showing it as Pasteur House, a 1927 refurb of a row of terraces, turning it into a medical chambers with a central entrance. Designed by Neville Hollinshed (who later … Continue reading Paris End lost →

28 November 2025 Had a look at the reopened Campbell Arcade / Degraves Street underpass, opened to great fanfare in 1955. Pleased to say it looks pretty much exactly the same, but somehow a bit brighter compared to pic 2 before…ah I see there’s down lights in front of the shops now. So the pink … Continue reading Degraves underpass / Campbell Arcade →

19 April 2025 O’Donnell Engineering, 1940, Batman Street, West Melbourne. Designed by Marsh & Michaelson, great signage, though I’m sure wasn’t all grey originally (@pretty_0rdinary has an old shot showing under the grey paint is lime green tiles !). Though the tower is a bit dull, I’m posting this because it actually retains the recommended … Continue reading Acceptable facadism →

13 April 2018: Some excellent Edwardian era shops on #ChapelStreetWindsor, with a completely untouched upper facade, and all that elaborate detail is in pretty good condition. There’s a range on influences, including Queen Anne classical bits, Art Nouveau-ish arch tops and especially that panel of floral ornament, Gothic capitals on the piers, all topped by … Continue reading Chapel Street Windsor →

11 April 2025 Sadly these striking modernist units on the rise of Barkers Road in Hawthorn just over the river were destroyed by fire early yesterday morning. Others altered me to news footage and the destruction is pretty clear. They’re often said to be Robin Boyd, but the Frederick Romberg book says they’re his design, … Continue reading Modernism up in flames →

5 April 2015: The Carlton Post Office in Elgin Street, one of the few 19thC #postoffice’s that still is one ! (Update, it’s now @thetorchvic indigenous arts program). Designed by #JHMarsden of the #publicworksdepartment, and built 1884. Lovely #renaissancerevival #palazzo form. Oddly framed by gum trees, planted in the street median. And upstairs is (was) … Continue reading Post Office classical →

7 April 2025 The most interesting bit of the #federalcourt building opposite flagstaff gardens are these little balconies that stick out, which I was told open off the judges chambers, to allow them to get out of their rooms to think in the fresh air. I also recall that it’s L shaped because they couldn’t … Continue reading Federal Court →