Gollin Building, later Abrahams Buildings, 561-563 Bourke Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
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Total copies: 1
The most significant contemporary design by D'Ebro (in conjunction with Richard Speight Jnr.) was the former Melbourne Wool Exchange (Winfield Building) of 1891-2. Here the use of the corner round tower and English Queen Anne revival motifs, seen as inspirations in Gollin's, were fully developed.
Title:
Gollin Building, later Abrahams Buildings, 561-563 Bourke Street, Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 101157
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:
Period: EdwardianConstruction date: 1901-1902Notable features: include an intact shop front.ASSOCIATED RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER:GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYStatement of SignificanceHistoryMerchants and importers, Gollin & Co. Pty.Ltd., progressed from Adelaide of the 1870s to open offices at Melbourne in 1889 and create a London branch in 1902. They were agents for international companies such Shell Trading and Transport Co. Ltd., <$IBurmah Oil Company>Burmah Oil Company, Lever Brothers and H.J. Heinz and Co. but also represented local firms such as the Mildura Fruitgrowers Association whose produce was first marketed by Gollin in London. For Shell they had arranged the construction of two wharfside 4000 ton capacity kerosene tanks at Williamstown (Newport?), possibly commencing the area's association with petroleum.Having spent some time in South Australia, Charles D'Ebro was chosen as their architect and the prolific builder, Clements Langford as the contractor, continuing a combination which had proved successful in the construction of the Equity Trustees Building, Queen Street (1901) and the Adelaide Steamship Company in 1905 (both demolished). Langford and D'Ebro also built a brick store for Gollin & Co in Batman Street, during 1915. Gollin & Co. occupied this building among others until c1965.DescriptionThe most significant contemporary design by D'Ebro (in conjunction with Richard Speight Jnr.) was the former Melbourne Wool Exchange (Winfield Building) of 1891-2. Here the use of the corner round tower and English Queen Anne revival motifs, seen as inspirations in Gollin's, were fully developed. Perhaps a closer precedent to Gollin's however could be British work, contemporary with the exchange. T.E. Collcutt's Royal English Opera House, London (1889) commissioned by a patron of the Aesthetic Movement, has the same corner oriel and domed tower above.Gables, extensive red brick and foliated terra-cotta friezes were also elements in common with Gollin's. Corner towers and Medieval (Romanesque) details were also much favoured by Melbourne architect, Nahum Barnet. The defaced, Altson's Building, Collins Street, is the earliest surviving example (1903-4) of Barnet's predilection. Gollin's differs fundamentally from D'Ebro and Speight's Winfield Building in the purposeful austerity of the ornament and the dominant role left to the red brickwork rather than stucco to provide modelling on the facade. Given its corner sitting, next to a two-storey row, each tall and narrow facade element is given full prominence.External IntegrityThe ground level window has been partly altered and air units have been added.StreetscapeShares sitting, fenestration, massing period detail and some wall finishes (stucco) with 565-9 Bourke Street.SignificanceBecause of its corner site, perhaps the first fully realised example of the English Queen Anne revival style in Melbourne, it is prominently sited and successfully composed and, without the complication of applied detail as at the Winfield, the contrived 3-dimensional facade modelling is clearly visible; also the major Australian office for an important national firm of the period.CITY OF MELBOURNE BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATIONPA.8443, 1.11.1901VICTORIA HERITAGE DATABASEhttp://vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au/search/nattrust_result_detail/64390National Trust of Australia (Vic)File NumberB4054LevelStateStatement of SignificanceThe former Gollin & Co. Headquarters building was built during the period of economic revival which followed the recession of the 1890s. Built in 1902, and designed by architect, Charles D'Ebro, the building reflects the austere medieval revival which had been active in Britain since the 1850s, under Norman Shaw, Sir Astin Webb and others. In Victoria however, this style had been hitherto apparent only in public buildings such as post offices, court houses and schools, and not used in commercial buildings.The important elements of this style which may be seen in Gollin and Co's building include the large area of face, red brick work; the sparingly applied freestone dressings and cement friezes, depicting formalised floral patterns. The grouped, flat-arched windows; the gabled bays which terminate the main facade and create a picturesque skyline; and the corner, round tower or tourelle, which is topped by a cupola.The building is both a fine composition of asymmetrically arranged massing, which is aided and enhanced by the corner position and the narrow Bourke Street frontage and a skilful juxtaposition of natural and synthetic materials.Gollin & Co. were highly successful general merchants and importers who were sole Victorian agents for the Shell Co. in distribution of kerosene and were responsible for the first shipment to Britain by the Mildura Fruitgrowers' Association. This was their first headquarters building.The main windows to Bourke Street at ground level have been reglazed but otherwise little alteration has occurred to the building exterior.Notable parts of the interior include the ground floor and first level offices.Also passages and the main staircase to the second level above ground.Classified: 27/03/1980Revised:GroupCommercialCategoryCommercial Office/BuildingVICTORIA HERITAGE DATABASEhttps://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/705VICTORIA HERITAGE REGISTER H0685Statement of SignificanceWhat is significant?The Former Gollin and Company Building was designed by Charles D'Ebro and built in 1902 by Clements Langford. It is a five storey building, constructed of load-bearing brick with steel floor joists. It is decorated with stucco details, including elaborate main door and window surrounds, gables, and string courses at impost and sill heights. Features of the exterior are the corner sign surround front door case with a swan-neck pediment, metal eaves brackets and particularly the tourelle, which has an elaborately decorated base, foliated band, windows of different shapes and a flagpole-capped cupola.How is it significant?The Former Gollin and Company Building is of architectural and historical significance to the State of Victoria.Why is it significant?The Former Gollin and Company Building is of architectural significance as a now-rare example of a Queen Anne-style commercial building in Melbourne which possesses a number of distinctive features. It is a rather late example of the Queen Anne style, this particular form of architectural expression flourishing only briefly from the late-1880s. But perhaps because of this belatedness, the Gollin building displays the full development of the style. The use of the corner tourelle as the principal facade feature appeared in England in the 1890s, but the premature demise of the Queen Anne style's popularity amidst the collapse of the property market in the 1890s depression in Melbourne meant that it was an uncommon architectural feature here. The Gollin Building's tourelle is one of the very few, and perhaps most intact, surviving in this city. The diverse range of stylistic elements upon which the Queen Anne style drew is illustrated in this building particularly in the windows. The ground floor windows in particular are uncommon, while the first floor openings have a classical flavour and those on the second floor exhibit eclectic French Renaissance Revival traits. The upper two floors are more restrained. The Gollin building is, in sum, a skilled composition making great use of its corner site.The Former Gollin and Company Building is of architectural significance as the work of Charles D'Ebro, an important member of Melbourne's architectural community from the 1880s until his death in 1920. D'Ebro won many awards and designed numerous important buildings. He was also a leading civil engineer and a surveyor. Some of his better known works include Princes Bridge, Georges in Collins Street, Prahran Market and Stonnington.The Former Gollin and Company Building is of historical significance as an illustration of a successful general merchant and import firm of the late-19th and early 20th centuries. Gollin and Company had a diverse business, handling kerosene and oil distribution and shipment of fruit from Mildura to England, amongst other activities. The substance and impressiveness of this building was a specific expression of the company's prosperity and importance, and a general indication of the revived Victorian economy in the first decade of the 20th century, after the 1890s depression, and of the importance of import companies to an economy with limited industrial capacity.
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Record types:
Research and reports
Record number:
1188239
| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 101157 | 1 PDF : 1,051 KB ; A4 | Group of Items (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |