Melbourne Steamship Co Pty Ltd Building, 27-31 King Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
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Total copies: 1
Title:
Melbourne Steamship Co Pty Ltd Building, 27-31 King Street, Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 105294
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 2021:__________________________________________________Style: Neo-BaroquePeriod: EdwardianDATE: 1913;ASSOCIATIONS: Melbourne Steamship Co;DESIGNER: Tompkins, H W & F B;BUILDER: Holden, W FNotable features: 1. Highly notable. 2. Probably beginning of verandahless 'podium' ground level composition type for 20th century?.Graeme Butler 1985 Melbourne Central Activities District Conservation StudyStatement of SignificanceHistoryA forgotten firm, Melbourne's early river port role and the almost forgotten interstate coastal shipping trade, all are represented in this building and its siting. Along with the Adelaide Steamship Co. Ltd., Huddart Parker Ltd. And McIlwraith McEachern Ltd., this Melbourne shipping equivalent served the south coast until surface and air transport, and higher labour costs, ended company's past, including the Hobson's Bay Dock and Engineering Co. and David Syme Jnr who (incongruously) was acting as the Japanese Consul. David York Syme Snr commissioned the Tompkins Brothers, the doyens of Melbourne's first generation of 20th century commercial architecture, for this more restrained but similarly Baroque inspired contemporary to the CTA building and nearby Flinders Street (1913).DescriptionMulti-storey, stuccoed and of the Edwardian Baroque, the building possessed the dynamism of the Commercial Traveller Association building, albeit in a more modest form. Semi-cylindrical window bays were substituted for the half octagons of the Commercial Travellers Association and the still unpainted stucco for the fancy bricks. Curved forms supplemented by swirling cement details implied movement and similar plant motifs were repeated inside on tiled hallway dados and metal ceiling patterns. An open cage hand operated lift, wrapped by an open stair, provided an unhurried form of vertical travel and until recently original office partitioning existed in the lofty ground floor.External IntegrityGenerally original. Internally, the dado tiles have been vandalised, the partitioning on the ground and upper floorsremoved but pressed metal ornamental ceilings generally survive. The top floor wall plaster has been removed.StreetscapeNow isolated but distantly related to the similarly styled Waterside Hotel and the former Bank of New South Wales at the Flinders Street corner.SignificanceIn a relatively untouched state, the building is highly evocative of Melbourne's foremost late 19th and early 20th century shipping line and is an early and successful Edwardian Baroque design..GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM cites source 85, page 151; RAIA (Vic) 20th C. Register, survey notes: highly notable; probable beginning of verandah less 'podium' ground level, composition type for 20th century; Interior recommended for inspectionVICTORIAN HERITAGE INVENTORY H7822-18491866 - building on site. 1877 - two-storey houses to lane; one-storey shop, E Thomas Boots. 1888 -three buildings ontwo allotments;one- tothree-storeys. 1905 - same buildings; W Kendall, Veterinary Surgeon; McLaughlin, Blacksmith.NATIONAL TRUST OF AUSTRALIA (VIC)This building, which was constructed in 1913 from the designs of the Tompkins Bros. for the Melbourne Steamship Company, has State significance for its architectural interest as an early and successful amalgamation of Edwardian Baroque commercial building design in London and of framed structures in Chicago. Substantially original, the Melbourne Steamship Building has architectural importance, also as a fine example of the work of a firm regarded as the doyen of Melbourne's first generation of twentieth century commercial architects. Historically, the building is significant at a state level for its associations with Melbourne's foremost late nineteenth and early twentieth century shipping line, and with Melbourne's early river located port and the almost forgotten interstate shipping trade. This company served the south coast up until the World War 11 period.Classified: 16/10/1991HERITAGE BRANCH, MINISTRY FOR PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT 1987 CITY OF MELBOURNE CENTRAL CITY NOTABLE BUILDINGS CITATIONSA five-storey office building erected in 1913 to a design by the architects H W & F B Tompkins for the Melbourne Steamship Company. Designed in the Edwardian neo-baroque idiom. The building illustrates the long tradition of shipping activity in the south-western quarter of the city.
Related material link:
27-31 King Street, Melbourne (Butler10779\\)Melbourne Steamship Co Pty Ltd Building, 27-31 King Street, Melbourne (Butler13910\\)Melbourne Steamship Co Pty Ltd Building, 27-31 King Street, Melbourne (Butler16519\\)Melbourne Steamship Co Pty Ltd Building, 27-31 King Street, Melbourne (Butler16520\\)Melbourne Steamship Co Pty Ltd Building, 27-31 King Street, Melbourne (Butler16522\\)Melbourne Steamship Co Pty Ltd Building, 27-31 King Street, Melbourne (Butler16521\\)Melbourne Steamship Co Pty Ltd Building, 27-31 King Street, Melbourne (Butler16523\\)
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Record types:
Research and reports
Record number:
1247764
| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 105294 | 1 PDF : 1,339 KB ; A4 | Group of Items (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |