Day's Building, 401-405 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
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Total copies: 1
Title:
Day's Building, 401-405 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 105852
Level of description:
Item from Collection: Heritage Collection (HC)
Type of materials:
Graphic materialsTextual material
Part of:
Series: Central City (BIF-CITY)
Access restrictions:
UnrestrictedOpen access.
Use restrictions:
UnrestrictedPlease contact City of Melbourne Libraries about obtaining permission to reproduce images.
General notes:
RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER 2022:__________________________________________________Period: Edwardian; Inter-War additionDATES: 1911; 1935 additions;ASSOCIATIONS: William Day and Sons;DESIGNER: Ward & Carleton 1911;BUILDER: John W Atkinson 1911.GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM.CITY OF MELBOURNE BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATIONShttps://www.ancestry.com.au/imageviewer/collections/60672/images/44777_349576-006541935 Oct 16748 ₤12000 addition and remodelling of buildingetc.VICTORIAN HERITAGE INVENTORY H7822-1465https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/93801866 - building on street frontage. 1880 -two one-storey terraces. 1888 - vacant. 1905 - mostly vacant, small one-storey buggy shed..LOVELL CHEN 2017. GUILDFORD & HARDWARE LANEWAYS PRECINCT3.5.6 Former Day & Sons warehouse, 401-405 Little Bourke StreetThis property is known as the former Day & Sons warehouse, at 401-405 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne. It was previously graded D.What is Significant?HistoryThe warehouse at 401-405 Little Bourke Street was constructed in part in 1911 for saddlery merchants and ironmongers, William Day and Sons. The business was one of many selling horse-related products, in this case leather products, established in this area due to its proximity to the successful Kirk’s Horse Bazaar. Local horse-related businesses included livery stables, veterinary surgeons, stock agents and saddle-makers, with saddlers, farriers and blacksmiths located on Little Bourke Street.91The 1894 MMBW plan shows the subject site at the corner of Little Bourke and Vengeance (now Kirks) Lane to be a largely vacant allotment with a rectangular shed in the south-west corner. In 1911 a four-storey brick warehouse with a semi-basement was constructed (the subject building).92 Designed by architects, Ward & Carleton, and constructed by John W Atkinson, the new building was valued at a NAV of £450.93 A single-storey brick shop, occupied by John Dixon and Co stood on the adjacent (to the west) site at 405 Little Bourke Street. Day and Sons traded from the first floor of the warehouse, with their factory on the second floor. The other floors were variously occupied by a tyre company, underclothing manufacturer, and a boot, shoe and leather merchant.94In 1933, the shop at 405 Little Bourke Street was sold, Figure 56. The works largely resulted in the current configuration of the building.95 and three years later it was incorporated into 401-3 Little Bourke Street through the construction of an additional three floors and the remodelling of the Little Bourke Street (north) facade.96 The architect of the 1930s works is not known. A rooftop or upper level, set back from the façade, was also added in or about this period, as is evident in the c.1940 image at 97 Day and Sons continued to occupy the first floor into the 1970s, by which time it was listed in the directory as ‘Day’s Building’. Various businesses, including bookbinders, leather goods, paper merchants, printing companies and manufacturing agents occupied the other floors.98 By 1987, a popular lunch place/restaurant called ‘Parlez’ was operating from the site.99 The building is currently in part occupied by a bar/restaurant called The Apartment..Figure 55 The subject building in 1934, showing the north facade prior to alteration and extension (indicated).Source: State Library of Victoria.Figure 56 The subject building after modifications, c. 1940Source: State Library of Victoria.DescriptionThe former Day & Sons warehouse at 401-405 Little Bourke Street was constructed in 1911 and extended in 1936. It is located on the south side of Little Bourke Street, with the east elevation to Kirks Lane. The face brick building has a rectilinear plan, and is of four storeys with a semi-basement, and rooftop elements at a small setback. It presents an asymmetrical façade to Little Bourke Street reflecting the different structural arrangements of the two building components.Consistent with commercial design of the period, the building is expressed as a tripartite arrangement broadly modelled on fifteenth or sixteenth century palazzi with unornamented intermediate floors above a heavy base floor and below an overhanging cornice or ‘capital’ level.100 In Australia, buildings of this form are occasionally described as Commercial Palazzi. However, the subject building is devoid of classical detailing and references to buildings of the Italian Renaissance largely derive from its tripartite form rather than its ornamentation.101The semi-basement level is rendered in a rusticated manner to produce a heavy base to the composition. Brick pilasters, broadly recalling classical columns rise to abstracted, dentilated capitals. The upper level sits over a rendered string course and is capped by an ornamental parapet. The cornice, parapet (and a section of the facade below the parapet) are rendered, providing the upper level with a contrast to the brick intermediate floors below, and giving emphasis to the building’s crown. Rooftop elements appear to date from the 1936 works (they are visible in 1940, Figure 56) but do not affect the façade composition. The eastern elevation is without ornament presenting simple, punched window openings to the laneway. Original steel framed windows to this elevation have been replaced The current entry arrangement on the western side of the north façade appears to date from c.1980s, albeit the altered arrangements continue to utilise existing openings and the works have not affected the rhythm of the original fenestration. External rendered elements have been overpainted and timber windows to the façade have been altered. The external expression of the façade otherwise survives with face brickwork and rendered detailing intact.How is it Significant?The warehouse at 401-405 Little Bourke Street, constructed in part in 1911 and extended in the 1930s, is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance.Why is it Significant?The warehouse at 401-405 Little Bourke Street, constructed in 1911 for saddlery merchants and ironmongers, William Day and Sons, with significant modifications undertaken in 1936, is of local historical significance. The building is significant for its historical association with the commercial horse-related products and services businesses which were concentrated in this area of the central city. The businesses were in historical proximity to the renowned horse bazaars, including the long running Kirk’s Bazaar, after which the adjoining lane is named. Day and Sons were one of a number of like-minded businesses in the area, which flourished from the nineteenth century, although unusually the company continued to operate from at least part of the building into the 1970s. The warehouse is also of aesthetic/architectural significance. While the original 1911 building was extended and modified in 1936, the works were relatively early in the history of the building, and undertaken by Day and Sons. The works were well resolved architecturally and in execution, with regard to the building’s form and understated stripped classical expression. The building balances a classical sense of composition with the use of limited and particularly stylised classical detailing. The face brickwork of the building also stands out in the Little Bourke Street context. Buildings of this type additionally demonstrate an affinity with the emergent Modern School while continuing to offer the familiarity of classically-based architecture.NOTEScites City of Melbourne Building Application Index, 401-405 Little Bourke Street, BA16748, 4 October 1936, held by Lovell Chen.
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Record number:
1252811
| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 105852 | 1 JPEG : 450 KB ; A4 | Single Item (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |