Archive for November, 2008

Spotted on realestatesource.com.au, usually pretty reliable with the insider tip-offs, there is a nomination pending for Dimmey’s at 140 Swan Street Richmond (actually Cremorne) to be added to the Victorian Heritage Register.

The aim would be to protect the landmark clock tower and its distinctive ball of the 1890s department store from inappropriate development.

The article seems pretty optimisting about the building being listed, however from what I’ve seen lately of the Heritage Council – don’t hold your breath.  If there is a proposal for a 20 storey glass box, they’re just as likely to support it being knocked down and commend the proposal’s “stunning contemporary design”.  Such is the zeitgeist.

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12 Grey Street sits right in the heart of one of St Kilda’s most sensitive heritage areas.  The site is right next door to the George Hotel, arguably St Kilda’s most iconic non-foreshore building and also most neglected landmark.  The corner of Grey and Fitzroy Streets is a predominantly Victorian era streetscape is one of the finest in Australia.  The area is classified by the City of Port Phillip and Heritage Victoria as equally St Kilda’s most signficant and it is of national importance.

There is just one piece missing in the heritage puzzle that is this corner.   A single storey prefabricated 1960s building on a deep site with a narrow but street frontage on the corner of George Lane which currently is home to an African instrument shop and school.  This was presmably the result of one of the Victorian buildings on the street being demolished, but it is very difficult to find photos of it.  The 1960s building is of no heritage significance and is itself falling apart.  The site was begging for redevelopment, however you would think that any development would be sensitive to the character of the precinct.

So how on earth did a seven storey glass box with a pop art facade get approved by council back in 2001 ?

After multiple extensions, the development appears to now be going ahead.

While the building is slightly set back from the street with a five storey podium, even at this size it will not only block the rear facade of the iconic George Hotel with its complex brickwork and etched glass windows, but overpower George Lane, completely dominate its 2 and 3 storey Victorian neighbours and change the character of Grey Street forever.  As usual, despite the advances is computer aided design (CAD), the render on the right does the detail and architectural quality of the neigbouring heritage buildings absolutely no justice.

The proposed building was designed by Wood Marsh.  It is a glass box with a curved entrance obscured by a beaded curtain, like a metaphor to the entrance to a cheap brothel.  Now I have been a fan of the work of architects Wood Marsh in the past.  Buildings like the ACCA and Balencia apartments in the St Kilda Road precinct are interesting and high quality.  However in this case, Port Phillip Council appear to have been sold on the reputation of the architects rather than the specific response to the site.  At the time, the architects were fresh off winning the highest award in the business.  But from what I’ve seen, reputation alone is not the best indicator that architects forever maintain that standard, particularly when they shift from public to  commercial and residential developments.

Former councillor David Brand, the same person who wrote about “St Kilda – My Role in it’s Downfall” described it as a “minor icon”, which seems to me like the king of weasel words.  Come on Port Phillip Council – it is either an icon or it isn’t.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m certain that people will pay top dollar for these apartments, regardless of their architectural quality and even without carparking.  This is one of Melbourne’s best locations, on the junction of two of Melbourne’s busiest tram lines.

But in the end, this building is just another piece of tacky, oversized, instantly outdated, contemporary junk that is littering the inner city in the guise of avante guarde.

In my opinion, a smaller, more sensistive and sympathetically designed building would have been far more appropriate and respectful for this site.

I’m afraid that when this development goes ahead (and regrettably it is no longer a matter of if), it will be yet another sacrilege to St Kilda’s heritage.

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The Richmond Club hotel, a historic 1920s hotel in an Egyptian columned Beaux Arts style on Swan Street in Richmond was gutted on the 17th November at 4am.

It is fortunate that the facade appears to have been spared from the devastation of the blaze.

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A fire broke out yesterday morning

Victoria Hotel from Beaconsfield Parade

at the Victoria Hotel in Albert Park.

I happened to be nearby and saw the smoke billowing from the building. I had grave fears that the whole heritage registered building might go up because there were a dozen fire crews and for ages they couldn’t work out where it was coming from. It appeared to be electrical and coming from the basement of the bottom floor restaurant’s kitchens.

Luckily they were able to put it out and save perhaps Melbourne’s grandest seaside building.

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