Coates Building, 18-22 Collins Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
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Total copies: 1
Title:
Coates Building, 18-22 Collins Street, Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 102169
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: Post-WarConstruction date: 1957-1959Notable features: Early 'glass box' true to 1950s transparency, no sill-height spandrel, no pause ceiling- simple slab edge.Architect: John La Gerche.ASSOCIATED RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER:.GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYStatement of SignificanceHistoryArchitect, John La Gerche, flushed with the success of Australia's first `glass box' (100 Collins Street) repeated histriumph a little further east but on a more constricted site. La Gerche applied for a permit to build this 12 storey`limit-height' office block in November 1957, estimating the cost at half a million pounds. It was finished two years later and named after the allotment's first purchaser, Walter Coates, in 1840. The periodical Cross Section (Oct. 1959) described it thus on its advent to the streetscape:`Coates Building is a younger brother, in several senses to Gilbert Court, Melbourne's first office building to earn thepopular title as Glass House. Both earned the title in a technical sense as well as a popular one, by being remarkable for the absence of the traditionally-expected upstanding fire-retarding spandrel between floors. In addition, both werepromoted rather than commissioned, both are the only intrusions of this sort of architecture, this end of Collins Street..'Both epitomized that sought-after total transparency and minimalism of the period where the cladding almost disappeared exposing the unadorned structural frame and the building occupants to honest scrutiny. No other multi-storey city offices achieved this in the brief period before air-conditioning forced a modest spandrel to hide the false ceiling and facades began a practical path to less transparency, particularly to the sun's heat. The limit placed upon building height had motivated against this extra floor thickness until the break-through by the ICI Building.The entrepreneurial nature of their design was also a signal of things to come, as public investors raised their stakes by glamorous architectural schemes. In this case it was co-operatively owned as Coates Building Ltd., the major share(75%) of which was allotted to the estate of the late Alfred and Jane Coates also Adelaide Eggleton, in return for the land on which the building stood. The remaining shareholders owned shares commensurate with the worth of separate floors in the building.Tenants were diverse and many, including many medical men and women, the designing architect, Australian Geographic Society, `Walkabout' magazine, `Readers Digest', the forerunner of McCann Erickson advertising agents, Prestige Ltd. showrooms and the Contourella Slenderizing Salon.DescriptionTwelve-storey aluminium curtain wall office building with a seemingly totally transparent glass facade. The thin edges of floor slabs are clad in aluminium, as part of the curtain walling system, to suggest that they do not exist in what then becomes a glass-clad `egg crate'. There are no false ceilings to lend artificial mass to the floor slabs and the corollary of that is there is no air-conditioning hence there are hopper sash windows openable at each level of the facade. Natural aluminium shopfronts are mainly original on the ground level, with the exception of a new bronze anodized suite at Number 18. Tenants' Directory and lobby are also near original, along with the sign, `Coates Building' attached above the entrance. An all aluminium facade, even the side-wall reveals of the building are clad in embossed aluminium sheet, which quickly disappears around the corner, where the more utilitarian concrete finish is exposed on the side walls. Terrazzo flooring inside and outside of the building is original and even the Mimosa Coffee Lounge (there since the building's opening) appears to have some original fitments in it.External IntegrityGenerally original, with the exception of new sympathetic shopfront at Number 18 and the addition of air units in thefacade.StreetscapeIsolated building, some relationship to Number 24.SignificanceThe second and last fully glazed multi-storey commercial facade and one of two known co-operatively owned commercial buildings in the C.A.D. with high integrity to its construction period..Hoddle Grid Heritage Review (Context & GJM Heritage, 2020)What is significant?The Coates Building, 18-22 Collins Street, a multi-storey office building constructed in 1958-59. Elements that contribute to the significance of the place include (but are not limited to): · The building’s original external form, materials and detailing · The building’s very high level of integrity to its original design. Later alterations made to the street level facade are not significant. Air conditioning units are not significant.How it is significant?The Coates Building at 18-22 Collins Street is of historical and representative significance to the City of Melbourne.Why it is significant?Constructed in 1958-59, to a design by John A La Gerche, the Coates Building has a clear association with the postwar building boom which transformed central Melbourne into a modern highrise city. The design of these commercial buildings from the late 1950s to the mid-1970s – many of which were architect designed – was driven by the commercial demands and the prestige afforded by a dominant city presence (Criterion A). The Coates Building is a fine and highly intact representative example of a Post-War Modernist commercial building. The building strongly reflects the style which was popular in the 1950s, particularly in central Melbourne. Constructed to the prevailing 40m (132 foot) height limit of the time, the Coates Building clearly demonstrates typical characteristics of a 1950s structure with a curtain wall street façade. The front façade of horizontal rows of framed glazing and vertical mullions which divide the facade into a grid-like pattern, and the use of materials such as aluminium window frames, demonstrate important aspects of the Post-War Modernist style. The fully glazed and transparent front façade is both unusual and distinctive in the Melbourne context (Criterion D).Primary source Hoddle Grid Heritage Review (Context & GJM Heritage, 2020).GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM cites GRAEME BUTLER 1982-3, ROYAL AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS (VIC) 20TH CENTURY ARCHITECTURE SURVEY and 20th CENTURY BUILDINGS REGISTER ; Architecture + Arts, 1959: 70.National Trust of Australia (Vic)(Hermes 64712:)Designed in 1957 by John La Gerche for Coates Building Ltd, the Coates Building is of state architectural significance as being the second building in Melbourne to have a fully glazed multi-storey commercial curtain-wall facade. It is also significant as being the only known co-operatively owned and developed multi-storey commercial building in the Central Activities District.Classified. 12/06/1991.NEWSPAPERS (TROVE)The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957)Saturday 25 August 1956 - Page 17Mr. J. A. LA GERCHE, architect, has been appointed a director of Coates Building Pty. Ltd., which will direct building of office and professional chambers at 18, 20, 22 Collins st..The Australian Jewish News (Melbourne, Vic. : 1935 - 1999)Friday 2 May 1958 - Page 18https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/262423599 (image)SEPARATE TITLES PTY. LTD.412 TOORAK ROAD, TOORAK, BJ5556, BJ 2871Specialists in the sub-division of Flats and Multi—unit Properties are proud to offerOWN YOUR OWNPROFESSIONAL AND OFFICE SUITESin a superb locationCOATES BUILDING18-20-22 COLLINS STREET, MELBOURNEin course of erection and to be completed by June 30th 195913 STOREY ULTRA MODERN STRUCTURE CENTRAL HEATING - 3 LIFTSto unique design and under supervision of Mr. J. A. La GERCHE (Architect of Gilbert Court, 100 Collins Street).Every possible amenity and convenience.Apart from security, it is far more economical to own your own space in this co-operative project than to rent comparable space and you are strong ly advised to avail yourself of this opportunity whilst it still remains.LOW INITIAL PAYMENT - BALANCE OVER APPROX. 20 YEARS….Contact the Sole Selling Agents immediatelySEPARATE TITLES PTY. LTD..TROVECoates Building at 20 Collins Street, Melbourne, Victoria, 1969 [picture] / Wolfgang Sievers 1960https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-161644344/view.Cross-sectionOct 1956The site 18-22 Collins-st Melb was cleared of itspicturesque antiquated bluestone building. A 13-storeyoffice block will be built there for Coates Building Ltd.One of that company's directors, arch't Mr J LaGerche,is visiting USA.May 1958Gilbert Court, Collins-st Melb, (C-S July '55) hasfirmly attached to its reputation the title "Melb's firstglass box". Its arch't, Mr John La Gerche, designed a2nd, in Collins-place, illustrated in C-S, December '54.The Collins-place site remains vacant, but now anotherCollins-st one is under way: Coates Building, No. 18-22,by the same arch't. (G A Winwood Ltd, bldrs;£750,000, for 14 floors, 66 ft frontage by 120 ft)Oct 1959 illust.Coates Building is a young brother, in several senses,to Gilbert Court, Melb's first office bldg to earn,popular title as Glass House. Both earned the title,in a technical sense as well as a popular one, by beingremarkable for the absence of the traditionally expectedupstanding fire-retarding spandrel between floors.In addition, both were promoted rather than commissioned,both are the only large intrusions of thissort of architecture this end of Collins-st, both weredesigned by arch't John La Gerche. (Coates built byG A Winwood Pty Ltd).City of MelbourneINCORPORATED DOCUMENT – SCHEDULE TO CLAUSE 72.04 JULY 2020Statement of Significance
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Research and reports
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1197733
| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 102169 | 1 PDF : 1630 KB ; A4 | Group of Items (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |