The tower of Lonsdale House, sadly demolished in 2010 for the Emporium, despite local heritage listing - probably the last really big heritage issue to galvanise Melburnians. It was created in 1936 out of two Victorian buildings, and designed by #IGAnderson. He also did #Dorijo in East Melbourne I recently posted, which has a similar … Continue reading Lonsdale House
Tag: 1930s
Orrong Hotel, High Street Armadale
The Orrong Hotel is one of the more striking Art Deco pubs in Melbourne, with that stepped corner tower. And the Fosters neon sign is original! Always thought maybe 80s Deco-revival, but no it’s 1939. It’s mostly intact, but at some point the bricks and speed lines and ‘hotel’ sign were rendered over, then later … Continue reading Orrong Hotel, High Street Armadale
Art Deco shopfront, Little Collins Street.
Original post 18 July 2020 Photos 20 June Great little #ArtDeco #shopfront in #littlecollinsstreet in the Royal Arcade building; don’t know date or designer. One of melbourne's most striking #artdeco #shopfront. So #modernist looks like might be new repro, but no its 30s. It's a shopfront inthe edwardian rebuild of the #littlecollinsstreet back end of … Continue reading Art Deco shopfront, Little Collins Street.
San Diego, 1936
Original post 14 July 2020 This very stylish block on my street is called San Diego, but it’s quite obscured by some #damntrees. It’s clearly 1930s Art Deco, with a bit of Bauhaus influence, all those stepped volumes with corner steel framed windows, and little sticking out balconies. That's about all I know, except that … Continue reading San Diego, 1936
Manchester Unity Building lobby
Original post 11-13 July 2020 Photos 20 June The exterior of the #ManchesterUnityBuilding is Gothic/Deco, but the interiors are fully #ArtDecostyle; zigzags and chevrons and little delicate patterns. But there’s some oddities too, showing maybe architect #MarcusBarlow hadn’t quite fully grasped how the style was usually executed - there’s a sort of flat pink marble … Continue reading Manchester Unity Building lobby
Newspaper House, Collins Street, competition 1932.
Original post 8 July 2020 This is #NewspaperHouse, built in 1932-33 for the Herald as their city office as it is, and as it might have been; there was a competition, with 8 entries published, mostly quite conservative but all Art Deco more or less, showing how it had taken hold after first emerging in … Continue reading Newspaper House, Collins Street, competition 1932.
Skipping Girl viewlines
Original post 24 February 2020 So the building the #SkippingGirlSign is on is on a separate title from the bit with the Deco tower just beyond; and it’s the closer bit that being sold soon, which is #heritagelisted, so they’ll have to keep at least 10m depth of it (preferably all of it!) but then … Continue reading Skipping Girl viewlines
Deco flats – bit too close for comfort
Original post 25 February 2020 Cute Deco flats in #FitzroyStreetStKilda, BUT the two halves are so close together! Check out those balconies down the back, you could lean out and touch the other one ! As far as I can work out, they’re the stairs, but still, there’s lounge rooms facing each other only like … Continue reading Deco flats – bit too close for comfort
Not Skipping Girl, Handley & Co, designed by Alder & Lacey, 1938
Original post 23 February 2020 This is the factory next to the factory that the #SkippingGirlSign is on, and I’m very chuffed to have just found via Trove old newspaper searches that this was built in 1938, and the architects were #AlderAndLacey. Even though I helped get the sign on the Heritage Register, nobody ever … Continue reading Not Skipping Girl, Handley & Co, designed by Alder & Lacey, 1938
Apartment ’tower’, Elwood
Original post 22 February 2020 Photos 22 July 2018 A tower with a #blockofflats attached, or is it the other way round ? ‘La Torelle’, a rather quirky design in #BrightonRoadElwood by #WHMerritt, c1935. Seems the tower was originally open on top, and at least one flat has a great fireplace and another a great … Continue reading Apartment ’tower’, Elwood









