Archive for August, 2008

Port Phillip City Council is spending $233,000 and $25,000 a year in maintenance to conserve the area’s 24 monuments including he crumbling South African War Memorial on the Esplanade which is missing many of its glazed terracotta tiles and the St Kilda War Memorial in Catani Gardens.

This is much welcomed money to preserve monuments to those who gave their lives for their country – lest we forget – that themselves make such significant aesthetic contributions to our built enviroment.

The Capitol Bakeries site at 257 Toorak Road on the corner of Chapel Street is a large eclectic building featuring significant 1933 art deco design on the corner facade, large door motifs of moorish and byzantine inspiration and an early modern tower. It also includes a two storey Victorian renaissance revival mansion at the rear which is slightly hidden and hemmed between a nasty looking brown bricked Telstra Exchange tower. Formerly a tram shed which embraced the street at Toorak Road, many aspects of its early design are still evident and it is one of the few remaining former tram sheds in the inner city, with the demolition of Penfold’s building in Fitzroy.

The most distinctive features are the moderne and art deco patterns in the corner facade and tower which include jazz era columns and rams head motifs and both sections include the inscription “Capitol Bakeries”. The current cream monotone paint job, presumably applied in the 1950s unfortunately does little to highlight the heritage features of the building.

In the 1980s the building was converted into an amusement parlour known as the “Fun Factory”, which heavily modified the interiors and added a additional levels. It has been home to the Soda Rock Diner, an American style cafe and Freedom Furniture. The redevelopment included a tunnel for pedestrian access through the building.

The Capitol site on the corner of Chapel Street and Toorak Road and includes an impressive .

The site was one of the first victims of the Melbourne 2030 planning policy which defined South Yarra as an “activity centre” ripe for multi-storey development later to be known as the “Forrest Hill Precinct” which has been progressively turned into hi-rise apartment buildings.

The City of Stonnington opposed a planning permit for the Capitol site in 2002, but lost its appeal to VCAT, which subsequently approved demolition of the landmark art deco building.

Development of the land for a 27 storey building (maximum height) for the accommodation of 213 dwellings, shops and food and drink premises and basement car parking (666 spaces) in addition to demolition of the existing buildings and use of the land for a residential building (78 serviced apartments) and the sale and consumption of liquor and the dispensation of car parking”.

However the application stalled and several subsequent proposals including a Nonda Katsalidis designed tower – none of which retention of the art deco facades – have also stalled, giving the old building a temporary reprieve.

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The latest development is set to go ahead and again, does not preserve any of the Capitol, so it looks almost certain to be the final curtains for a South Yarra icon.

Tower may top Fun Factory

Development approval is being sought for a $A150m residential, retail and commercial project in the Melbourne suburb of South Yarra. Dubbed “The Capitol“, the proposed project on the Fun Factory site comprises a 38-storey apartment building, a six-floor office complex and a 3,471sq m shopping arcade. The site is jointly owned by APN Property Group and the founders of Freedom Furniture. There are also plans to construct an apartment building and office building on the site of South Yarra’s Jam Factory.

As reported back in 2005, Lend Lease wants to demolish one of Melbourne’s and for that matter – Australia’s – best examples of monumental stripped classical architecture.

Well although the Freemasons declined to exercise their option to sell the to developers then, it has recently been reported that Lend Lease and the Freemasons Victoria have reopened talks now that the Freemasons have transfered ownership of their nearby hospital site which has also undergone significant redevelopment.

Both the interiors and exteriors are cu rrently completely intact and largely unaltered. The building is in a Melbourne City Council heritage overlay, however it is unlikely that the State Government through VCAT will not approve the proposal on heritage grounds without Heritage Council listing due to the difficulty in integrating the building into the new development.

In the meantime, incredibly there has been little action from conservation groups and there is still no heritage protection offered to this landmark building so it looks increasingly likely that Melbourne will lose a modern icon which is of cultural significance to the state.

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The Robert Heatley Stand at Princes Park is the first victim of the Carlton Football Club’s redevelopment of the ground as a training facility.

The 1932 stand is the largest at the Carlton Oval football and former cricket ground which has also been known as Princess Park and under naming rights Optus and M C Labour Park.

The football club has also proposed the demolition of the George H. Harris stand and the Alderman Gardiner Stand (designed in 1903 and completed in stages between 1909 and 1913), which has a wrought iron structure and iron columns and medallions stamped with the crests of both the football and the cricket clubs. The stand is significant as it is the second oldest stand associated with the VFL before it became a national competition (after the heritage listed 1888 Brunswick Oval stand) and one of the oldest stands (after those at the SCG) in use in the AFL competition. Despite this, in September 2002, the Heritage Council rejected its nomination for the Victorian Heritage Register but recommended it be included in a heritage overlay which would provide some loose protection.

The National Trust called for Melbourne City Council to conduct a heritage study on Princess Park, after which the council created a heritage overlay, but has so far approved the demolition of two other old stands. Carlton does not have any current plans to restore the Gardiner Stand.

[googlemaps http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=optus+oval&sll=-37.77967,144.970093&sspn=0.034937,0.077248&ie=UTF8&cid=-37783852,144961670,14245373891508279413&s=AARTsJqZIr9fyTuvj_Vgf0pHNKpQcdhqYw&ll=-37.783757,144.961703&spn=0.005088,0.006437&z=16&output=embed&w=300&h=300]

It infuriates me that the Victorian government through VCAT continually allows interstate developers to lay waste to what is left of our heritage. As reported by Real Estate Source (which incidentally looks suspiciously similar to one of my earlier blog posts), Macquarie Bank has refused to incorporate the 105 year old Avalon mansion into its tower design (right) which is in my opinion a bland, boring and 1960s looking box with verandahs and an underground carpark.

Avalon mansion is/was significant for several reasons:

• It is one of few original pre-war mansions remaining along Queens Road. Queens Road, like St Kilda Road was once a boulevard lined with large mansions
• It is one of the only residential works by William Pitt, one of Melbourne’s foremost boom architects whose works included the heritage registered Princess Theatre, Victoria Brewery, Olderfleet Buildings, Collins Street Stock Exchange, Rialto Buildings, Safe Deposit Buildings, Empire Works Factory, Denton Hat Mills, Gordon House and Sir Charles Hotham Hotel
• It is one of few surviving examples of Pitt’s work. Many of his building designs have been demolished including the largest building in 1888, the Federal Hotel and Coffee Palace as well as Tower House, Commercial Union Assurance Buildings
• It is a rare surviving example of his work in the Edwardian era. The Sir Charles Hotham Hotel and Empire Works are probably the only other significant Pitt designed buildings in this era.
• It is a rare example of Pitt’s residential work
• It is one of the last works by Pitt before his death in 1918
• It is one of the largest surviving Edwardian mansions in the City of Port Phillip
• It is one of the only such buildings that can be clearly viewed from Albert Park Lake

It is a genuine tragedy that no aspect of this building can be preserved for future generations as it is by no means beyond restoration and was habitable right up until its tenants were recently evicted.
I certainly hope that they can clear the overgrowth around this building so that some good photos can be taken of it before they tear it down because the best parts of it are completely obscured from view.

Written by Marc Pallisco

Wednesday, 13 August 2008

A Macquarie Bank-led consortium has said it will not incorporate a historic Queens Road mansion into a proposed high-rise apartment building in Queens Road, opposite Albert Park Lake. Macquarie has lodged plans for a 12-level, 91-unit apartment complex at 70 Queens Road, near the Sebel Hotel. The tower won’t include the 105-year-old Avalon mansion, one of the only surviving homes designed by prominent architect William Pitt. Pitt’s most significant projects in Melbourne include the Princess Theatre and the Olderfleet buildings in the city, and Abbotsford’s Denton Hat Mill building. A permit to demolish Avalon has been approved by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and is active until December next year. A City of Port Phillip spokeswoman said the council would make a decision about Macquarie’s application next month. The move by Macquarie bucks a recent trend by developers to incorporate mansions into the design of their high-rise apartment blocks. Examples include the Grosvenor mansion at 55 Queens Road, the Mansion at 83 Queens Road, and Warwillah (572 St Kilda Road), Majella (473 St Kilda Road) and Airlie (452 St Kilda Road).

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