Melbourne Port Authority Building, 29-31 Market Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
Archives
Total copies: 1
Title:
Melbourne Port Authority Building, 29-31 Market Street, Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 106435
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:__________________________________________________DATE: 1932;ASSOCIATIONS: Melbourne Port Authority; Vacuum OilDESIGNER: Sydney Smith, Ogg & Serpell;BUILDER: Hansen and Yuncken Pty. Ltd.,Period: Inter-WarNotable features: Possessed a notable board room & foyer..VICTORIA HERITAGE REGISTERhttps://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/787What is significant?The Former Port of Melbourne Authority Building is a nine storey structure erected by Hansen and Yuncken in 1929-1931 to a design by Sydney Smith, Ogg and Serpell. The base and entrance surrounds are of polished Harcourt Granite, while the rest of the building was constructed of Stawell Stone on a steel frame. Arched windows extend through the first and second floors and are topped with a fanlight treatment and decorated with diagonal steel mullions and a bronze spandrel panel at first floor level. The second floor functions as a plinth for the next four ionic-ordered storeys. There are four columns, passing through the four floors, to each of the Market Street and Flinders Lane facades. The eighth floor facade is represented as a frieze with alternating windows and decorative panels representing metopes and triglyphs. The refined detailing of the exterior is replicated in the interior, which features Doric columns and extensive use of marble. The building was occupied by the Port Authority until 1982, when the former State Electricity Commission took over. It was converted to a hotel in 1999-2000.How is it significant?The Former Port of Melbourne Authority Building is of architectural and historical significance to the State of Victoria.Why is it significant?The Former Port of Melbourne Authority Building is of architectural significance as one of the most accomplished examples in Melbourne of 20th century Beaux-Arts-influenced Greek revival architecture. The Beaux-Arts style was relatively uncommon in Australia, tending to be reserved for large, monumental commissions, often of government buildings. The monumental elements characteristic of the style 'the giant order, strongly expressed base storey, and expertly executed classical motifs and details' are all clearly evident in this building. It is also rather unusual in that it is a stone faced building, in comparison to more common brick and stucco examples. The former Port Authority Building is also architecturally significant as one of the best finished buildings in Melbourne, with the internal and external detailing demonstrating particularly outstanding craftsmanship and the notable application of decorative schemes and materials in construction. This particularly includes the elaborate use of marble and wood panelling in the ground floor entrance, lift lobby and office area, and on the first floor, including the Board Room and Commissioner's Office, along with the external use of polished granite and Stawell stone. The building's architectural worth was recognised soon after its completion, when it won the 1933 Royal Victorian Institute of Architects' Street Architecture Medal.The Former Port of Melbourne Authority Building is of architectural significance as a distinguished example of the work of Sydney Smith, Ogg and Serpell, one of the leading exponents of the Beaux-Arts style in Australia, but also designers of a diverse range of buildings between 1910 and 1936. The firm's partners also had productive careers individually and in other partnerships.The Former Port of Melbourne Authority Building is of historical significance as an important element in the old centre of Melbourne's maritime industry. The building is adjacent to the Old Customs House, their location a reminder of the fact that Melbourne's port facilities originally extended much further upstream than they do now. The grand and imposing character of the building reflects the importance of the Harbour Authority and the port that it managed to Melbourne's commercial and maritime development. This importance was accentuated during the building's construction, during the Great Depression, when projects of such scale were valuable contributors to economic activity and employment..GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM cites RAIA 20th Century Architecture Register.__________________________________________________REID, KEITH & JOHN R, 1976, MELBOURNE CBD STUDY AREA 7 (source 80)PORI' AUTHORITY BUILDING31 Market StreetBUILT: 1929 (Tonkin)ARCHITECTS: Sydney Smith, Ogg & SerpellAWARDS: 1933 RVIA Street Architecture .MedalDESCRIPTION: 9 storey office building plus basement ALTERATIONS: Skilful addition of ventilation ducts and lighting.CONSTRUCTION & MATERI.AIS: Granite, freestone, brick and bronze windows.CITYSCAPE RELATIONSHIP: A building of individual consequence which also plays an essential role in the Custom House precinct.RECOMMENDATION: The complete building is recommended as essential for retention.(Refer Ray Tonkin report)DESCRIPTIONOf particular note is the grey marble to entry dado' s and ground floor counters, the pink marble dado I s to passages up to the first floor, the -white marble stairs I the stained timber dado I s to stairs above the second floor and the high light value -which penetrates into the centre of the building. The building is in an excellent state of maintenance and is a credit to the Harbour Trust.HISTORICAL COMMENTThe building stands on a site which has had a close association with Melbourne's maritime history and is adjacent to the Customs House. It replaced the original Melbourne Savings Bank, a vulgar 2 storey stone and cement building of perverted Renaissance style, -which was constructed 1856-64 and acquired by the Harbour Trust in 1913….RECOMMENDATIONDue to the historical importance of the site, still reflected by the building' s use, to the style of the building itself, its fitments and quality of light, the era it represented, and to its contribution to the Customs House precinct, the whole building is recommended as essential for retention.__________________________________________________HERITAGE BRANCH, MINISTRY FOR PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT 1987 CITY OF MELBOURNE CENTRAL CITY NOTABLE BUILDINGS CITATIONSSTATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCEThis nine-storey building was designed by Sydney Smith Ogg and Serpell and constructed in 1930. It is one of the most significant examples of Victoria of 20th century revival architecture and is one of the best finished buildings in Melbourne. It was awarded the RVIA Street Architecture Medal in 1933 and is of social significance as one of the few building sites that provided work to Melbourne's construction industry during the Great Depression__________________________________________________VICTORIA HERITAGE REGISTERFORMER PORT OF MELBOURNE AUTHORITY BUILDING - HistoryContextual History:History of Place:This site was occupied for about fifty years, until 1913, by the head office of the Melbourne Savings Bank. It was purchased by the Melbourne Harbour Trust in 1913 and the former bank building was used by the Trust until the construction of the present building.Australian materials and craftsmen were used wherever possible in the construction of the building. It was one of 17 buildings erected between 1922 and 1933 that reached the 132 foot Melbourne City Council height limit. The height limit was breached in 1955 by the ICI building in East Melbourne.Associated People: Owner PORT AUTHORITY; Assoc. People PORT AUTHORITY__________________________________________________STOREY, ROHAN 2019. HODDLE GRID INTERIORS THEMATIC STUDY (DRAFT): MAY 2019The Harbour Trust, 29‐31 Market Street, 1931A particularly elaborately finished chamber, with fine marblework and plaster classicaldetailing. One of the few counters in any chamber in Victoria.__________________________________________________NEWSPAPERS (TROVE)1932Advertiser (Hurstbridge, Vic. : 1922 - 1939) Fri 22 Jul 1932 Page 1 NEW CITY LANDMARKhttps://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/56738405The new Port Authority Building in Market street, which has just been completed and is an imposing addition to the city's skyline.Photo by Courtesy of the "Argus," Melbourne.see also https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/242824954.1933 illusthttps://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/205118667THE STATELY PORT AUTHORITY BUILDING.Designed by Messrs. Sydney Smith, Ogg and Serpell, arcnltccts, of. 3-19 Collins-street, and erected under their supervision by Hansen and Yuncken Pty. Ltd., master builders, the Port. Authority Building, Market-street, won the Victorian street architectural' medal for 1933. The competition was inaugurated four years ago by the Royal Victorian Institute of Architects, to encourage excellence of design in street architecture..alsohttps://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/265683978.https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/265683978PORT AUTHORITY BUILDINGMarket Street, MelbourneThe new location of the Vacuum Oil Company—six floors of which will be occupied by 600 members of the staff, panelled in Australian blackwood, with every modern convenience—Itwill be the head office of a company employing over 3000 Australians and New Zealanders, with an investment in plant and equipment in Australia and New Zealand of approximately £5,000,000..https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/11689962STREET ARCHITECTURE MEDALPort Authority BuildingFive buildings were nominated this year for the Street Architecture Medal, which is awarded annually by the Royal Victorian Institute of Architects to encourage good design in street architecture. Buildings completed within the three years ended December 31, 1932, were eligible. The Port Authority Building was placed first, and was awarded the medal for 1932. It is interesting that the Australian Mutual Provident Society building, at the corner of Collins street and Market street, which won the medal last year, and the Port Authority building, are both of stone.Messrs, Sydney Smith, Ogg, and Serpell, of Collins street, were the architects, who designed the Port Authority building.Announcing their decision, the judges gave the following description of the Port Authority building:- "It is solid and massive in treatment, with quiet and restrained detail and happy proportions. It is designed to suit the material of which it is built. The nicely proportioned granite base is treated as granite should be, with bold, plain moulding and in large blocks, with a minimum of window openings, giving strength to the supporting base. All the weight-carrying piers are carried severely down to the ground. The architects have relied for shadow effects on the recessed stories with Ionic columns, and on the main cornice, and they have succeeded in producing broad, deep shadows giving a thoroughly masculine effect to the facade. The entrance doors are happy in proportion and design, and sit appropriately within the granite work surrounding them, while the simple panelled bronze work associated with the windows is entirely satisfactory in design. The building generally is plain, simple, and dignified, free from any florid ornament and is an acquisition to the street architecture of the city.".1934 illusthttps://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/149682807.1998https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/261971905 illust.`…Walker Corporation is refurbishing the historically significant 11-storey building, considered one of Melbourne’s best examples of 20th Century revival architecture, with 90 one andtwo-bedroom apartments, some also with studies. These will be priced between $152,000 and $550,000.Architects Hayball Leonard Stint have designed a refurbishment that will complement the existing architecture but provide modern interiors with a range of view taking in the city skyline, the BotanicalGardens Southbank and the bayside.__________________________________________________
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Research and reports
Record number:
1259892
| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 106435 | 1 PDF : 2,149 KB ; A4 | Group of Items (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |