Laurens House, 414-416 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
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Total copies: 1
Title:
Laurens House, 414-416 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 105735
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:__________________________________________________Period: Post Second WarNotable features: 'Vertical feature' of the interwar Moderne sublimated in 1950-1960s.DATE: 1956, 1960-1;ASSOCIATIONS: George Laurens Pty Ltd;DESIGNER: Harold Bloom;.IMAGE 1984-5:https://librarysearch.melbourne.vic.gov.au/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/WPAC/ARCENQ?SETLVL=&RNI=746436.CONTEXT (WITH GJM HERITAGE) 2020, HODDLE GRID HERITAGE REVIEWWhat is significant?Laurens House, a modernist office building at 414-416 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, completed in 1956.Elements that contribute to the significance of the place include (but are not limited to):• The building’s original external form, materials and detailing; and• The building’s high level of integrity to its original design.Later alterations, particularly at street level, are not significant.How it is significant?Laurens House at 414-416 Lonsdale Street is of local historical, representative and aesthetic significance to the City of Melbourne.Why it is significant?Laurens House built in 1956, is of historic significance for its demonstration of the surge in office development at the time, which reflected not only the adoption of modern architecture, but also widespread economic and political change. From 1949, significant increases occurred in commercial enterprise in Australia in the areas of mining, finance, commerce, and industry, a process facilitated by speculative investment after the Commonwealth government lifted restrictions on share dealings in 1947. This contributed to an increase in the development of city offices. (Criterion A)Laurens House is a representative example of an early curtain-walled office building of the early postwar era (1950s-60s). The building is one of a group of commercial buildings built for insurance and finance companies in the city centre during this period. The modernist aesthetic expressed the ambition and corporate image of these companies. (Criterion D)The eight-storey office building known as Laurens House is distinctively modernist with visual interest derived from the arrangement of building elements across the asymmetrical façade. The lightweight glazed curtain wall contrasts with the more solid masonry elements to one side of the building. This use of solid and void in façade composition distinguishes the early multi-storey curtain wall offices from later examples where glazing was used across the whole façade. Laurens House retains a high level of integrity, comparing favourably with the other examples that have often been refaced or altered significantly at ground level. (Criterion E)Primary sourceHoddle Grid Heritage Review (Context & GJM Heritage, 2020).GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM.CITY OF MELBOURNE BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATIONS21/3/1956 29924 ₤47,000 3 storey building6/4/1960 34064 ₤50,000 additional storeys24/11/1962 illum. Signetc..CONTEXT (WITH GJM HERITAGE) 2020, HODDLE GRID HERITAGE REVIEWRECOMMENDATIONSRecommended for inclusion in the Schedule to the Heritage Overlay of the Melbourne Planning Scheme as an individual heritage place.Extent of overlay: Refer to mapSUMMARYLaurens House at 414-416 Lonsdale Street, designed by architect Harold Bloom in 1956 is an eight-storey office building featuring an asymmetrical curtain wall facade comprised of a combination of lightweight glazing and ceramic tiles.SITE HISTORYThe land at 414-416 Lonsdale Street is part of Crown Allotment 1, Block 29, purchased by Matthew Cantlon in 1837 (DCLS). By the early 1950s, the subject site was occupied by a pair of two-storey shops and dwellings (Age 18 June 1953:13).In June 1953, the pair of brick shops and dwellings at 414-416 Lonsdale Street, which was part of M J Metcalfe’s estate, was sold for £7,500 (Age 18 June 1953:13). The shops and dwellings were demolished by 1955, and the vacant land was rated at a Net Annual Value (NAV) of £320 in the 1956-57 financial year (RB 1956).In January 1956, Harold Bloom, architect, called tenders for the erection of a four-storey reinforced concrete office building for George Laurens Pty Ltd, a debt collecting company. The gross floor area of the building was 8,800 square feet (Age 25 January 1956:19).In March 1956, the owner of the building, George Laurens, applied for a permit through the Melbourne City Council to erect an office building on the site (Figure 1). Laurens also expressed his intention to ultimately extend the building to seven storeys in height (VPRS 11201/P/1 UNIT 376).The quantity surveyor for the building was Crisp & Wolferatan, with the construction contract awarded to F T Jeffrey Pty Ltd at an estimated cost of £47,000 (Age 15 August 1956:12). Concrete form work had commenced by August 1956 (Age 15 August 1956:12). According to the rate record from the 1957-58 financial year, 414-416 Lonsdale Street was only completed as a four-level office building. The first NAV of the newly finished building was £3,000 (RB 1957).Figure 1. Elevation drawings prepared by Harold Bloom in 1956 (Source: VPRS11201/P/1 UNIT376).Named after the owner, the building became known as ‘Laurens House’ (Mahlstedt Map, section 2, no 4a, 1962). The building contained four levels of open-plan office spaces. A loading zone was provided at the rear of the ground floor, which was accessed from the rear service lane, Finlay Lane. A kiosk was installed in the lobby, behind the main entrance. The provision of the ‘light court’, or a lightwell, is also notable. A small section near the eastern boundary on each floor was recessed towards the west so that the natural light could flow into all levels (Figure 2) (VPRS 11201/P/1 UNIT 376).Figure 2. The ground and first floor plans showing the internal arrangements of the office levels. Note the provision of the ‘light court’ on the eastern boundary. (Source: VPRS 11201/P/1 UNIT 376)In March 1960, Bloom invited tenders for a four-storey addition to Laurens House. The quantity surveyor was again Crisp & Wolferatan (Age 26 March 1960:48). The construction work, which extended the building to eight storeys high, was carried out at a cost of £50,000 and completed by the next financial year. The NAV in 1961 tripled to £9,000 pounds compared to the previous year (RB 1961-2).In 1962, a Mahlstedt Fire Survey Plan noted the subject building as an eight-storey building with hollow blocks and concrete. At the same time, the storage rooms behind the southern staircase had been turned into a lift (Mahlstedt Map, section 2, no 4a, 1962). The light court was also extended to the entire height of the building (Figure 2, Figure 3).Figure 3. The building footprint in 1962, following the addition of four levels. (Source: Mahlstedt Map, section 1, map no 4a, 1962)Since its opening in 1956, Laurens House has housed local financing and commercial firms. George Laurens Pty Ltd occupied the front half of the building, while the rear was tenanted by A D Goodman and M Kelly, both solicitors. The lobby kiosk was leased to M Wagman, tobacconist (S&Mc 1960; RB 1960).Since 1961, the offices of Laurens House have been shared by George Laurence Pty Ltd, A D Goodman, M Kelly, Cameron, Goodman & Co, and a branch of the National Bank of Australia Ltd.Around 1970, the building was sold to Peak Properties Pty Ltd. Following the change of ownership, the building was vacated by its tenants, except for the National Bank of Australasia (Age 6 April 1961:5; S&Mc 1965, 1970). By the mid-1970s, the building was renamed UTC House. The tenants around this time were Glassop & Son Pty Ltd, bankers; L G Quinn & CO Pty Ltd, accountants; Davies & Collison, patent attorneys; N P Dunn, solicitors; D Ting & Byrne, solicitors; Civil Security Agency, UTC Pty Ltd, travel agency, Myer Southern Stores (buying office); and the National Bank of Australasia Ltd (S&Mc 1974).The offices were subdivided in 1978. The ground-level shopfront and entrance to number 416 is an addition from 1990. The construction cost at that time was $20,000 (MBAI).The building currently contains eight businesses and one shop (CoMMaps)REFERENCESContextual History references contained within City of Melbourne Hoddle Grid Heritage Review: Postwar Thematic Environmental History 1945-1975Age, as cited.City of Melbourne Interactive Maps (CoMMaps) 2017, http://maps.melbourne.vic.gov.au/, accessed 7 June 2017.City of Melbourne Municipal Rate Books (RB), as cited.Department of Crown Lands and Survey, Victoria (DCLS) c1839, ‘Names of purchasers and amounts paid for allotments at first land sales held in Melbourne in 1837, 1838 and 1839’, State Library of Victoria (SLV): Land subdivisions of Melbourne and suburbs, 1837-1876 Map key, accessed online 11 May 2018.Mahlstedt's Pty Ltd 1948 City of Melbourne detail fire survey. Section 1, Mahlstedt Pty Ltd, Melbourne.Marsden, Susan 2000, Urban Heritage: the rise and postwar development of Australia’s capital city centres, Australian Council of National Trusts and Australian Heritage Commission, Canberra.Melbourne Building Application Index (MBAI), retrieved from Ancestry.com 2015, Victoria, Australia, Selected Trial Brief and Correspondence Registers and Other Images, 1837-1993 [database on-line], http://ancestry.com.au, accessed online March-April 2018.Public Record Office Victoria (PROV), City of Melbourne building plans and permits (1916-1960), VPRS 11200, 11201.Sands & McDougall, Melbourne and Suburban Directories (S&Mc), as cited.Storey, Rohan 2008, ‘Skyscrapers’ in eMelbourne, School of Historical & Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne, http://www.emelbourne, accessed 13 May 2018..DIRECTORIES OF VICTORIA, MELBOURNE-SANDS AND KENNY, SANDS & MCDOUGALL1961414-416 Laurens HouseLaurens, G Pty Ltd debt collectors;Kelly, M solicitorGoodman, A D solicitor
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| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 105735 | 1 JPEG : 486 KB ; A4 | Single Item (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |