Robertson & Moffat buildings (1888) under demolition

is currently under demolition by Myer.

The building on the corner of Staughton Place is the last piece of pre-war architecture on this side of this once important streetscape with David Jones completing the demolition of its former Little Bourke Street fronts.  315 Little Bourke, a richly detailed stone Victorian framing Angelo Lane and the GPO has already been demolished and its neighbour is an elegant interwar warehouse with decorative giant order columns.

The streetscape was one of the few in Melboure’s retail heart which featured a mix of height limited six storey pre-war buildings. Despite their laneway frontage, many of them featured detailed facades with pediments which gave depth and detail to the streetscape. They had become gritty, but were really only in need of a coat of paint.  Like Flinders Lane, they once represented a little piece of SOHO in Melbourne.

The rear of the David Jones building, currently

Rear of David Jones Buildings under demolition

scaffolded, reveals many previously hidden finely decorated plaster ceilings and walls.

Whether its shiny glass new look will stand the test of time remains to be seen. Personally I think it is one last vain attempt for these two department store giants to remain relevant to 21st century shoppers. Nevertheless there is certainly plenty of competition in the new and shiny department with the completion of the Waterfront City retail complex in nearby Docklands as well as the QV precinct, which has drawn retailers further north of the former retail heart. One would think that Docklands represented the perfect opportunity for Myer and David Jones to start afresh.

One of the historic 1888 buildings demolished as part of the Myer redevelopment

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 nominate it for its “stunning contemporary design”.  Such is the zeitgeist.

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

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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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157 years would have had made it one of the oldest hotels in the state.

Historic Diggers Rest Hotel destroyed by fire

Article from: Herald Sun

Staff writers and wires

October 30, 2008 11:20am

A 157-year-old hotel was destroyed by fire north-west of Melbourne overnight and police are treating the blaze as suspicious.

Firefighters were called to The Diggers Rest Hotel, about 30km from Melbourne, just before midnight but there was nothing they could do to save the historic hotel.

Fire Officer Joel Davey said 55 firefighters from surrounding regions fought the blaze for 90 minutes but the two storey 20m-by-60m building could not be saved.

An arson chemist will investigate the fire , which started about 11.30pm last night and caused more than $1 million damage, the Sunbury Leader reports.

It was believed to be deliberately lit.

The historic hotel was unoccupied at the time as it was closed for renovations.

Its owner had been hoping to reopen by Christmas.

Hotel licensee Brett Commisso said he was still in a state of shock.

“I’m still coming to terms with it - I can’t believe it,’’  he said.

“I just got a call from the police to say the hotel’s on fire.

“I went there and opened the door and there was fire coming down the stairs. There was nothing I could do.”

Mr Commisso took over the hotel about a year ago.

He said he had spent “hundreds of thousands of dollars” renovating it.

“Because the building’s so old, it just needed a lot of work,” he said.

“We had a few hiccups but we got through them all. It’s now all gone to waste.”

Diggers Rest Fire Brigade Lieutenant Tim Welshe said about 15 local units attended the fire.

He said the building was well alight when firefighters arrived.

“It took us about two hours to get the fire under control,” he said.

“We couldn’t enter the building as it was so structurally unsound, so firefighters wearing BA (breathing apparatus) took up full defensive positions outside the hotel.

“It’s literally the pub with no beer now.”

Detective Sen-Constable Michael McCormack from Melton CIU said police were treating the fire as suspicious.

“Information received from the fire units that attended about the spread of the fire lead police to believe the fire was suspicious,”he said.

“We estimate the damage in excess of $1 million, the building is 157 years old and virtually unrepairable.

“I’m sure it will need to be demolished at some stage.”

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Edzell designed by Reed Smart & Tappin in 1892 is one of Tooraks major landmarks and is listed by both Heritage Victoria and National Trust.  While barely visible from St Georges road through the thick trees, it is one of the few remaining massive old mansions viewable from the Yarra River with its distinctive Edwardian baroque tower and Queen Anne roof and gables.

Edzell. 76 St George's Road, Toorak from the driveway from the archives of the State Library of Victoria

St Georges Road was once home to many grand mansions, but many were demolished in the 1960s and 1970s for flat and unit development.  More recently its character has been restored somewhat with a number of sympathetic (and not to mention very expensive) private developments.

It is great to see someone taking pride in Melbourne’s heritage.  We’ll be watching this one with interest.

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The skyscraper gothic Manchester Unity building is on one of Melbourne’s most prominent  the corner of Collins and Swanston streets in the CBD at 220 Collins Street.   The 1932  building was, like the Grace building in Sydney, inspired by the Chicago Tribune Tower.

Manchester Unity Building from City Square

The Manchester Unity building is about to get its detailed faience facade repaired and major maintenance and restoration work done which is great news.  The building features fine details including statuary on top of its faceted bay windows, window dressings and tower gothic buttresses.

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While the building is heritage registered and protected by law, the estate agents are advertising its development potential (the addition of an extra storey) subject to council approval.

Such a development would likely be pushed for by any new owner as this is one of the medium to low rise apartment buildings which is directly affected by the Triangle development opposite and would most likely block views of the sea from the lower level apartments (this may well be the reason that the original owners all sold out).  However such a development would compromise the most significant feature - the tower - and severely impact the heritage quality of this building.

Any such development would also require approval from Heritage Victoria.

However in recent times, anything is possible when the state government and VCAT becomes involved.  Nevertheless we will be watching this one closely.

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Viewed from Robe Street

Koombalah - 27 Grey Street

Koombalah at 27 Grey Street St Kilda on the corner of Jackson Street, is a significant Federation Queen Anne end terrace which is currently in a severely neglected state. The building bears a bronzed art noveau plaque with its name “Koombalah” and features two prominent tudor style gables, an imposing chimney and faceted bay window.

While one part of this duplex is the home to a Salvation Army Crisis Centre, the other half has been derelict for many years. In recent months, the whole building was boarded up (with security cameras in place obviously to deter drug users and squatters) and the corner balcony and window frames have rapidly decayed to a point nearly beyond repair and the chimney has been simply propped up by wire.

Rubble and Weeds

The building, deep in the area of the corner of Fitzroy and Grey Streets is classified as as a “significant place” in 2007 the City of Port Phillip’s heritage overlay strategy. But its owners, the state government (Department of Human Services) appears to have a different definition of significant place, as according to council records, they have apparently not maintained it since 2003 when they did some minor roof repair when they requested permission to install a sunlight only to remove one of the chimneys altogether ….

One can only hope that they do this beautiful building justice before this it falls down completely.

I have created a couple of new label categories for this kind of thing, “neglected buildings” and “derelict buildings”.

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