23 October 2023 Elwood #FireStation, opened 1927. I read that it was on Brighton Road but hidden behind flats, and only the other day I finally saw it. Very odd, built at an angle, half facing the flats built for some of the firemen out front. Why didn’t it face the main road, with the … Continue reading Elwood Fire Station →

18 October 2023 Another surviving St Kilda mansion, in Barkly Street near the top of the hill, but the gates are better than the house. The house was built in 1868 for successful tanner and leather merchant Michaelis Helenstein, a pillar of the St Kilda Jewish community. The gates are a bit later, dating from … Continue reading St Kilda mansion gates →

20 October 2023 This development proposal in Brunswick made the news last week because its mostly studio apartments, mostly 22.5sqm. Merri-bek Council said no, too small, VCAT said yes, but make them 24.5sqm, and make sure they have enough light. We don’t have minimum apartment sizes in Victoria, whereas in Sydney it’s 35sqm, and London … Continue reading How small can studio apartments be ? →

12 October 2023 The never built dome of Parliament House ….Adelaide! Just discovered the grand 1881 design for the South Australian parliament by EJ Woods had a dome that was pretty much the same as our 1877 design by Peter Kerr (2nd image). Seems like they copied us but it’s more complicated - the Adelaide … Continue reading Parliament House dome →

13 October 2023 Sts Constantine and Helen in Barry Street South Yarra behind the Prahran Market is another of those naive traditional style Greek Orthodox churches that can be found across Melbourne, but this one is a better attempt than most. The foundation stone says it was designed by ‘Theo Tsochatzis, Engineer’, but no date. … Continue reading Traditional style Greek Orthodox Church →

29 September 223 Very sad and annoyed to read that Yarra Trams is going to halve the City Circle W Class Tram service, by running them only one way, every 12 minutes. They’ve never wanted to run them, nor did the PTV before them - they just want to run modern vehicles - even though … Continue reading W Class Trams and the City Circle →

11 October 2023: This delightful house called ‘Fleurs’ on the #StKildaHill on Princes Street was built c1882 for retired lawyer John Barker. Which is pretty much all the Port Phillip Heritage Review says; though I can add he was superintendent of the Mint from 1872, and also a St Kilda city councillor, and that not … Continue reading Fluers, Princes Street, St Kilda, →

9 October 2023 This is the inside of the very fabulous 2nd Church of Christ Science, in Cookson Street Camberwell, just near the station. It was built in 1936, designed by Bates Smart McCutcheon, and is one of the very few Art Deco churches in Victoria (albeit not a traditional church). Lots of great details … Continue reading 2nd Church of Christ Scientist, Camberwell →

10 October 2023 Zander’s Store No 2, at 11 Highlander Lane, off Flinders Lane near King Street. Built 1854, when warehouses came to dominate this end of the city. JC Zander died in 1858, and unusually his wife, Cecilia, took on the business, expanding to adjacent sites over the next decade or so (see plan). … Continue reading Zander’s Store, Highlander Lane →

5 October 2023 Not Melbourne, but by Melbourne architects - the HQ for the AMP, built in Pitt Street Sydney in 1864, designed by Reed & Barnes (ie. by Joseph Reed). Interesting to compare with their Bank of NSW of 1858, once in Collins Street, the facade now at Melbourne University - more elaborate so … Continue reading Sydney AMP building, 1864 →