1 September 2024 Hmmm another facadism job, as well as plonking the tower very close to the existing top floor. Doesn’t look too bad at first glance, but it’s not even symmetrical with the retained bits. It’s in Lonsdale Street next to the old Titles Office on Queen Street. Originally housing the State Taxation Office … Continue reading Facadism in Lonsdale Street →

1 September 2024 Imagine this sitting at the top of Bourke Street ! Replacing the Imperial and more either side. Images are from the @nationallibraryaus and just say ‘Capella Project, Yuncken Freeman, 1973’, so don’t know how real, but does look like there was a very tall version and a lower one. Both pretty striking … Continue reading Unbuilt on Bourke Street →

30 August 2024 Thought this was going to be apartments, but it’s another monster house on Beaconsfield Parade, corner of Mary Street; I don’t hate it but it’s a bit clunky, just a concrete frame, glass and black steel balustrades, a lot of bulk right on the street, not much greenery. That’s the lap pool … Continue reading Another giant concrete house →

25 August 2014 Repost from 2014: Essendon Airport, lots of great old stuff still there ! First, the Area Approach Control Centre, 1950, now called the Everett Building (after the great PWD architect Percy Everett but I’m told he didn’t design it); then the Control Tower, built 1956 for the expected #melbourneolympicgames crowds, it was … Continue reading Essendon Airport →

26 August 2024 The Beaconsfield Hotel in West St Kilda has been in the news lately; infamous as the pub where cricketer David Hookes sadly died in 2004 after being hit by a bouncer, it’s been closed ever since, and now there’s an application to refurbish and reopen. It’s quite a big pub, and turns … Continue reading Beaconsfield Hotel →

26 August 2020, updated 2024, only pic 1 is mine: Nice half hidden early 20s house-style flats corner of Robe and Acland - it looks like a house because it’s actually a transformation of a Victorian home, adding a floor, turning it into three spacious flats - a spacious 2bed and a 1bed downstairs and … Continue reading Acland Street old lady house →

27 August 2024, photos 2013: Charles Street #Carlton, off Kay Street. A little dead end mid block street, all modest Victorian houses, mostly brick, some timber #victorian #terraces and #bluestone pitched street - hasnt changed much for over a century ! Update 2024: a rare type of street for Carlton, but there used to be … Continue reading Bluestone street, Carlton →

26 August 2024 What a massive sheer cliff of a building ! This is the giant Craig Williamson’s department store that once stood at the bottom of Flinders Street as it was during the Queens visit in 1954 (pic National Trust). It was demolished in 1968, and I’ve just worked out its history; I thought … Continue reading Craig Williamson’s →

25 August 2024 Fabulous curvalicious late late streamlined Art Deco house at 6A Dickens Street, Elwood. It was built in 1954 for Mr & Mrs Rubenstein, who were apparently quite active in the local Jewish community. The architect was Leslie J Reed, who had designed in all the revival styles and Deco before WW2, and … Continue reading Curvy late Deco in Elwood →

24 August 2024 The Paula Fox Melanoma and Cancer Centre on St Kilda Road is pretty striking, all curves where all around it are square. Opening in April this year, it was designed by @lyonsarchitecture, another version of their restless, dynamic forms and facades. This one is wiggly at the front, top and bottom, with … Continue reading Cancer Centre, St Kilda Road →