Hotel Alexander, later Savoy Plaza Hotel, 122-132 Spencer Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
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Title:
Hotel Alexander, later Savoy Plaza Hotel, 122-132 Spencer Street, Melbourne
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Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 108966
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Item from Collection: Heritage Collection (HC)
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Graphic materialsTextual material
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Series: Central City (BIF-CITY)
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UnrestrictedOpen access.
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UnrestrictedPlease contact City of Melbourne Libraries about obtaining permission to reproduce images.
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RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER 2023:__________________________________________________DATE: 1928;ASSOCIATIONS: Alexander Hotel Pty. Ltd.;DESIGNER: Perrott, Leslie M.Period: Inter-War.GRAEME BUTLER & ASSOCIATES 2011, CENTRAL CITY (HODDLE GRID) HERITAGE REVIEWStatement of SignificanceWhat is significant?One C. Alexander was the owner and occupier of a brick and stone house in course of construction in 1865-6 at this site. A hotel operated here soon after, owned by Bright Bros. with Alexander as the occupier of a `Brick house and bar, 30 rooms and a shed'. The 1888 Mahlstedt plan shows it as a three storey hotel known as Alexander's Family Hotel and remained so in the 1920s when it was changed to the Sunshine Hotel. Rate records from 1929 confirm that Alexander Hotel Pty. Ltd. owned a brick hotel, of eleven floors on the site, with an annual value of ₤ 7,500 pounds. Hotel entrepreneur, James Richardson, was a key figure in the company that erected the hotel.Opened by the Premier of Victoria early in 1928 the Hotel Alexander was immediately the newest, largest and most modern hotel in town with views out over bay shipping. Visiting dignitaries were entertained there as a matter of course. It was deemed the largest hotel in Australia and built to Melbourne's height limit of 132 feet.Leslie M. Perrott designed the Alexander Hotel, Australia Hotel and the Chevron. As a precursor to the project, the owner Richardson and Perrott had spent five months touring hotels in North America. Richardson and is thought to have spent £300 000 on the building and another £50 000 on furniture and fittings. The hotel's lobby was described as magnificent, `...entered by a wide flight of stairs from Spencer Street and filled with light through tall windows, occupied the entire first floor.' `The Argus' noted later that it was the first hotel to include en-suite bathrooms to rooms when built but that it was now intended to fit it out as a world class hotel. :The Brisbane Courier stated in 1931: `The Hotel Alexander is situated at 122-132 Spencer-street, opposite the railway station, and has 200 rooms and 200 baths. The most important fact about the Hotel Alexander Is that it is an hotel of character and distinction, and is the Melbourne home of discriminating travellers.'In 1952 , Hotel Alexander was sold to the rival Federal Hotel Ltd. for £450,000, thought then to be the highest sum bid at a Melbourne auction, with the stated aim to convert the Alexander into one of the finest luxury-hotels in the Commonwealth and renaming it the Sávoy Plaza.`Its Rainbow Room and maître d' Albert Argenti became renowned in Melbourne over the next decade, hosting a who's who of international show business including Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald. Some young Australians, such as John Farnham, Rolf Harris and the Seekers, began careers there. Frank Sinatra, performing at nearby Festival Hall, was a guest, as were Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins and others during the filming of 'On the b'ach'.The hotel was sued as the Police Cadet Training Academy until 1987, after acquisition by the Victorian Government in 1974. Then it was purchased by Spencer Investments and rebuilt internally as the Savoy Park Plaza Hotel to designs by McIntyre & McIntyre and reopened May 1991.Designed in the Modern Palazzo style, the Alexander was built from reinforced concrete, the speciality of Leslie M Perrott, with identical facades to Spencer and Little Collins Street. Façade embellishments included a projecting cornice at third floor level which marked the podium, with a matching parapet cornice and balconettes at the second and tenth floors. Podium level windows were more elaborate reflecting the internal use for public function rooms.The Hotel Alexander compares with other Palazzo style city buildings such as the more ornate and highly significant former AMP Building, 425 Collins St (1931) but is earlier than most and some observed that the simpler detailing reflected a more Modernist approach to architecture. Its near island site allows full expression of the style in a similar manner to the AMP example, while other Palazzo examples were more typically street facades only.How is it significant?The Hotel Alexander is significant historically, socially and aesthetically to the Melbourne Capital City ZoneWhy is it significant?The Hotel Alexander is significant historically and socially as one of the great Melbourne Hotels of the early 20th century bringing modernity to City accommodation in a new era of hotel construction, located close to the City and country rail termini and reaching new building heights for hotel use. The Hotel Alexander was where visiting dignitaries and personalities were housed and entertained as Melbourne's best of the 1920s-30s. This was the first 20th-century American-style hotel in Victoria, with en-suite bathrooms and a controlled temperature environment. Reborn as the Savoy Plaza the hotel took on a further persona associated with international lifestyles and entertainment.Aesthetically, the hotel is an early, well-preserved and good example of the commercial Palazzo style in the city, the simple detailing reflecting a more Modernist approach to architecture. Its near island site allows full expression of the style while other Palazzo examples were more typically street facades only..RAWORTH, B 2002. REVIEW OF HERITAGE OVERLAY LISTINGS IN THE CBDfor the City of MelbourneHistory and DescriptionThe eleven storey Savoy Park Plaza International, formerly known as the Hotel Alexander was constructed in 1928-9 1. An early design by hotel specialist Leslie M Perrott for millionaire identity Jimmy Richardson, it is a distinguished and intact example of an interwar Commercial Palazzo. Key features of the style found here include the vertical tripartite division of the façade into a heavy rusticated base and neutral intermediate floors surmounted by a prominent classical cornice. The hotel was the first large project undertaken by Perrott, who travelled to the USA with Richardson on a fact-finding tour prior to commencing the design. The international influence is evident in the building’s use of reinforced concrete as the primary structural material and the progressive approach to services (it is believed to be the first building in Melbourne to incorporate copper plumbing). The building is in excellent and very original condition with virtually no alterations other than external painting.Statement of SignificanceThe Savoy Park Plaza Hotel is of aesthetic significance at a local level as a good and particularly intact example of a commercial palazzo within Melbourne's CBD.Footnotes:1 Interview, LM Perrott jr, October 1996.,GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM cites L. Wilson & Associates, 'Report on Central Business District Block 6, (Melbourne) 2 Vols, 1976_________________________________________L. Wilson & Associates, 'Report on Central Business District Block 6, (Melbourne) 2 Vols, 1976 (85):254then used as police training school, cites Rate Books:1. HISTORY.1866 C. Alexander (owner and 'occupier). Brick and stone house in course of construction (rate book).1868 Bright Bros. (owner), Alexander (occupier). Brick house and bar, 30 rooms and shed (rate book).1888 Mahlstedt plan shows three storey hotel known as Alexander's Family Hotel.1920 Directory lists Alexander's Family Hotel.c.1923 Name only changed to Sunshine Hotel (directory and Mahlstedt).1927 Sunshine Hotels Pty. Ltd. (owner/occupier). Brick hotel, 2 floors, AAV 1600 pounds (rate book).1929 Alexander Hotel Pty. Ltd. Brick hotel, eleven floors, AAV 7,500 pounds (rate book).c.1955 Building renamed Savoy Plaza.Although the first mention of eleven floors in the rate book is 1929, the AAV changes substantially from 1,600 pounds in 1927 to 5,000 pounds in 1928. The architect for this building is known to be Leslie Perrot Snr.2. DESCRIPTION.An eleven storey reinforced concrete structure, the identical facades to Spencer and Little Collins Street are generally unadorned except for a projecting cornice at third floor level matching the parapet cornice, and balconettes at second and tenth floors. The window treatment below the lower cornice is more elaborately detailed which reflects the internal use of this lower portion of the building. as public function rooms. This building is stylistically similar to a number of others in Melbourne of the same period, however, the detailing is less exuberant reflecting the more 'mode'n' approach to architecture. No architectural significance is attached to the building.3. RECOMMENDATION. The retention of this building is not warranted.'; (on the Historic Buildings Register)_________________________________________City of Melbourne i-Heritage:Central Activities District Conservation Study - Graeme Butler, 1984 Building Identification Form (BIF): Notable features include shop verandah. Alterations / Recommendations: Air units added (inappropriate - remove or reinstate sympathetic alternative), ground level altered (reinstate original design or sympathetic alternative)._________________________________________NEWSPAPERS (TROVE)`The Argus' (Melbourne)Friday 5 March 1920HOSIE'S CHANGES HANDS.Sold at Auction for £48,500. to James Richardson, owner of Exchange Hotel, Swanston St.Friday 15 December 1922Cathedral Hotel Brings £57,000.When submitted by auction yesterday afternoon, the Cathedral Hotel, at the comer of Swanston Street and Flinders lane, was purchased by Mr. James Richardson for ₤57,000.Wednesday 30 June 1954Bank buys hotelAn old city landmark, Richardson's Hotel, on the north-east corner of Bourke and Russell sts., was bought at auction yesterday for £131,500 by the National Bank of Australasia Ltd.Friday 12 December 1924MODERN HOTELS.LESSONS FROM AMERICA.Plans for Melbourne Buildings…`While in America, Messrs. Richardson and Perrott visited the newer hotels in all the principal corrugated iron'ies. 'It was not just a case of walk in and walk out again,'said Mr. Perrott. 'In all cases we had introductions to the managers, and in some cases we spent as much as a wholes day studying the planning and equipment of one hotel…'Richardson was to build two hotels in Australia on American lines.`hotel accommodation in Australia requires much improvement Ausstralians do not know what service in hotels means but the Americans reilise thatt all the latest equipment without proper service is of little use'Wednesday 1 February 1928At the dinner celebrating the opening of the Hotel Alexander, Spencer street, Mr James Richardson said that it would be the policy of the hotel to do its part in attracting tourists from all parts of the world'`Northern Territory Times' (Darwin) Tuesday 7 February 1928`NEW HOTEL ALEXANDER LARGEST IN AUSTRALIA.The Hotel Alexander, Melbourne, is claimed by the owners to be the largest and most modern in Australia,, and was opened by the Premier today. It cost £300,000.'The Argus Saturday 26 May 1928`SOCIAL EVENTS.'Lady Fuller entertains large party of friends at dining room of Hotel Alexander, including Gonzalez Fuller opera Company.13/6/ 1928SIR JOHN RUSSELL. CIVIC RECEPTION. then lunches at Hotel Alexander provided by directors of the Carlton & United Breweries Ltd. etc.The Brisbane Courier Friday 20 November 1931`MELBOURNE'S MODERN HOTEL.The Hotel Alexander is situated at 122 132 Spencer-street, opposite the railway station, and has 200 rooms and 200 baths. The most important fact about the Hotel Alexander Is that it is an hotel of character and distinction, and is the Melbourne home of discriminating travellers. The tariff per day, room and meals, are from 22/6, room and breakfast, from 12/6, with special rates for permanent guests. Telephone, F4141 (10 lines)'The Argus (Melbourne) Wednesday 5 July 1933`AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY was celebrated last night at a dinner given at the Hotel Alexander'Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW) Friday 3 June 1938`HOTELKEEPER FALLS 5OFT. TO DEATHMELBOURNE, Friday:- Louis Krello (46), a Sydney hotelkeeper, who fell 50-feet from his room on the seventh floor of the Hotel Alexander yesterday morning died last night. '`The Argus':Wednesday 29 October 1952`...Sold for £450,000 and called Savoy-PlazaThe 11-storcy Hotel Alexander, in Spencer st., was sold yesterday for £450,000.It will be renamed the Savoy - Plaza, and converted to a standard of luxury equal to any over-seas.The Canberra Times (ACT) Wednesday 29 October 1952`HOTEL ALEXANDERSOLD FOR £450,000MELBOURNE, Tuesday.After- being , passed in at £380,000 at auction this afternoon, Hotel Alexander, was later sold privately for £450,000. The buyer was the Federal Hotel Ltd. The, directors of Federal) .Hotel Ltd. , said later they . hoped lo convert Hotel Alexander, which would-be renamed the Sávoy Plaza, into one of the finest luxury-hotels in the Commonwealth'`This was probably the highest amount ever bid in a Melbourne auction sale. In tense excitement the last bidder, Mr. Angus Mcintyre, of Yeo, Crosthwaite, and Co., conferred with the vendors.It was then announced that he had bought the property, on behalf of Federal Hotels, for £450,000.The auction called for one of the longest contracts of sale on record. It took 50 minutes to read its 43 clauses.The hotel has 164 bed- rooms, and can accommodate 300 guests. It was the first built in Mel- bourne with a bathroom to each bedroom. Mr. Markillie, chair'an of Federal Hotels, said: 'We hope to convert the Alexander, renamed the Savoy-Plaza, into one of the finest'hotels in the Commonwealth.'We want to give Aus- tralians the satisfaction of knowing that their visitors and business associates are being treated as well as they wo'ld be in oversea countries.'The demand for luxury accommodation should expand, and make the prospect of running high-class hote's a much less risky venture.'The auctioneer, Mr. G. E. Broadhead, of Baillieu Allard Pty. Ltd., said it had been estimated that it would cost £1 million to replace the building today.The auctioneers in contributory- junction for the sale were Baillieu Allard Pty. Ltd., W. D. Sampson and Son, and J. J. McGeeand Co.'_________________________________________LEWIS, M- AUSTRALIAN ARCHITECTURE INDEX:L.M. PERROTTHotel Alexander, Spencer St., Melbourne.Royal Victorian Institute of Architects Journal Sept. 1931 p xxxixLeslie M. PERROTTHotel Alexander, Melbourne.Illus. Photo.Royal Victorian Institute of Architects Journal Sept. 1929 p vii_________________________________________Graeme Butler, 2011:McIntyre & McIntyre designed renovation 1980s_________________________________________eMelbourne: web sitePublished by School of Historical StudiesDepartment of History, The University of MelbourneProduced by the School of Historical StudiesDepartment of History, The University of MelbournePublished July 2008`Savoy Hotel (Hotel Alexander)Located on the north side of the street, opposite Spencer Street Station, this was the first 20th-century American-style hotel in Victoria, claiming to be the first in Australia to have ensuite bathrooms and a controlled-temperature-interior environment.Replacing an earlier Alexander's Hotel of 1866, the 200-room building was completed for owner James Richardson in 1928 to a design by Leslie M. Perrott, later architect of the Australia and the Chevron. Richardson and Perrott had spent five months touring the USA in 1924 for new ideas, and the usually frugal Richardson lavished £300 000 on the building and another £50 000 on furniture and fittings. The hotel's magnificent lobby, entered by a wide flight of stairs from Spencer Street and filled with light through tall windows, occupied the entire first floor.Richardson moved into a top-floor suite in the Alexander in 1948. After his death three years later, the hotel was bought for £450 000 as the second hotel in the Federal Hotel chain and renamed the Savoy-Plaza. Its Rainbow Room and maître d' Albert Argenti became renowned in Melbourne over the next decade, hosting a who's who of international show business including Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald. Some young Australians, such as John Farnham, Rolf Harris and the Seekers, began careers there. Frank Sinatra, performing at nearby Festival Hall, was a guest, as were Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins and others during the filming of On the beach.Sold to the Victorian Government in 1974, the hotel became the Police Cadet Training Academy until 1987, when it was purchased by the Nauruan-owned company Spencer Investments. Rebuilt internally as the Savoy Park Plaza Hotel, it was opened on 10 May 1991.'Chrystopher J. Spicer
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1263161
| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 108966 | 1JPEG : 470 KB ; A4 | Single Item (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |