The hall in the #SouthMelbourneTownHall is very grand, but just a bit bland; maybe in 1880 it had a far more decorative #colourscheme ? Quite likely. Don’t know but maybe this scheme is from the 1930s when it had a big renovation, the #blackwood panelling, doors, nice #terrazzo stair all date from then. Heard there … Continue reading South Melbourne Town Hall interior; 1880+1937 →

The 1887 #GothicBank chamber in all its glory; proof that Victorian interiors weren’t all gloomy (though plenty were). Lots of #goldleaf and #eaudenil (a pale aqua). Important to note that it’s now double the width it was originally; in 1887 it was a fairly intimate thing only three bays wide, with counters either side and … Continue reading The Gothic Bank, Collins Street →

#MarianaHardwick’s #weddingdress superstore more or less carries on the function it was built for in 1908, as Hooper’s #Drapery. Designed by the prolific brothers #TompkinsAndTompkins, in the #tallarchedredbrickRomsnesque style mostly seen in Flinders Lane warehouses- but they also used it in the same year for Dimmeys Richmond, another suburban #departmentstore. This one noted for the … Continue reading Hoopers Drapery now Mariana Hardwick’s →

19 January 2019 Some more #MockTudor ‘residential shops’ on #ToorakRoad, right next to #SouthYarraStation, a bit dominated by the #highrise clustering behind. Found an article about them - built 1935, designed by Oliver Dixon, ‘in the Old English style’ - not as ornate as others but the #oldeworlde #leadlight #shopfronts are completely intact ! And … Continue reading Mock Tudor Toorak Road →

This cute little thing in #GleadellStreet #Richmond was built in 1883 as a house for a #GasInspector, whose job I guess was to look after the #gasometer that was behind it, dem in 1959. Couldn’t find a pic of it, so here’s one of North Melb one, on #ArdenStreet.

So #WilliamPittArchitect designed the #MelbourneStockExchange (left) first in 1888, then the #SafeDeposit (for the Stock Exchange Co, facing Queen Street, the two forming an L), in 1889, winning a competition - guess they liked the fact it was so much like the earlier design! The Safe Deposit was finished first in 1890, I guess because … Continue reading William Pitt double vision. →

19 Jan 2019 Only ever driven down #GrandviewGrove, #Prahran, happened to be invited to a book launch, and goodness I can see why it’s called Grandview. One of those streets in a good suburb subdivided (in 1880) with big blocks so of course it’s lined with #VictorianMansions, or at least very large houses, not quite … Continue reading Grandview Grove Prahran is grand. →

January 2019 The best #highrise on the #BeaconsfieldParade foreshore - Plaza 333, #SolSapir, 1970, #stkildawest. This is one of the relatively few #apartmenttowers of the period with 'decoration', in this case spiky projecting edges to the #precastpanels, check out that detail, love it ! Sol Sapir did all 9 towers along Beaconsfield Parade and up … Continue reading Sol Sapir, king of waterfront high rise. →

Anyone been in the basement here ?? It’s the fabulous #MelbourneSafeDeposit, built by the Stock Exchange Co, same time as the Exchange building, attached but separate, and also designed by #WilliamPittArchitect, very similar but not as ornate top and bottom and not in stone. Had a bay added on the left in 1923 by the … Continue reading Safe Deposit vaults made of ‘undrillable steel’, sounds good ! →

Jan 2019 So as part of the changes at the #GothicBank / #ANZWorldHeadquarters, these atriums, created in 1989-93, are going to be opened up and become ‘outside’ into a north and south ‘#campiello’; losing the not-great #pomo vaguely #Gothic structures no great loss, but a curious decision - is it #laneway mania ? The first … Continue reading Gothic atriums to new laneways. →