Australasian Catholic Assurance (ACA) Building, 118-126 Queen Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
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Title:
Australasian Catholic Assurance (ACA) Building, 118-126 Queen Street, Melbourne
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Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 108111
Level of description:
Item from Collection: Heritage Collection (HC)
Type of materials:
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 2022:__________________________________________________DATE: 1935-1936;ASSOCIATIONS: Australasian Catholic Assurance Company Ltd;DESIGNER: Hennessy & Hennessy & Co.Style: Neo-GothicPeriod: Inter-WarNotable features include: metal window details - terracotta facing. facade lettering.GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYStatement of SignificanceHistoryPenfold House and the Gordon & Gotch Buildings gave way to the Australian Catholic Assurance Company for these new buildings. Designed by the Sydney architects and engineers, Hennessy Hennessy and Co., in 1934-35, Melbourne builders, Lewis Construction Company Pty. Ltd. were the contractors and the work was completed by early 1936. The Hennessey firm received many commissions from the Catholic Church in New South Wales, including work on St. Mary's Sydney. A large Hennessy project mooted in the 1930s was a New South Wales' motor manufacturing town, Austral, where all public and private service buildings were to the firm's design.The Catholic Assurance Company no longer functions; the building being more recently owned by the South British Insurance Co. and leased for professional offices.DescriptionNo later than the Myer Bourke Street façade, the ACA Building could at least boast a terra-cotta faience façade, and in a colour not unlike the G.J. Coles Bourke Street store, the forerunner of the Neo-Gothic style in Melbourne city (1928-30).The ribbed and fluted façade rises through eleven levels and two planes, either side of a central stepped tower. Window frames and spandrels are of bronze, incorporating multi-paned glazing and grilles, and the building's name is repeated in metal lettering, set as in a music score on a three line bar.Late Gothic to Queen Street but, glimpsed from Little Collins Street, the more contemporary Moderne style occupies the building's rear façade as a series of horizontal window strips with rounded spandrel-ends. Ecclesiastical allegiance or the junior designer, confined to the rear elevation: it is surprising the building has two styled elevations at all. Shopfronts and lift lobby detailing, with lighting, the black marble and chrome as accessories to the Moderne rather than the neo-Gothic, are all but original.IntegrityGenerally original.StreetscapeRelates, across Queen Street, to the similarly styled and finished National Trustees Executors and Agency Co. Building also, by vertical emphasis in the fenestration, to the more recent Scottish Amicable Building adjoining.SignificanceAn almost intact and successfully designed (if late) Neo-Gothic styled building which possesses all of the styles' attributes including the terra cotta faience and bronze joinery..GRAEME BUTLER & ASSOCIATES 2011, CENTRAL CITY (HODDLE GRID) HERITAGE REVIEWStatement of SignificanceWhat is significant?Penfold House and the Gordon & Gotch buildings were replaced by a new Australasian Catholic Assurance Company building, designed in 1934-35 by the Sydney architects and engineers Hennessy & Hennessy and Co. and R Morton Taylor of Melbourne, architects in association. Melbourne builders, Lewis Construction Company Pty. Ltd. were the contractors and the building completed by early 1936.The Hennessy firm received many commissions from the Catholic Church in New South Wales, including work on St. Mary's Sydney. A large Hennessy project mooted in the 1930s was a New South Wales' motor manufacturing town, Austral, where all public and private service buildings were to the firm's design. The Catholic Assurance Company no longer functions; the building being more recently owned by the South British Insurance Co. and leased for professional offices.No later than the cement rendered Myer Bourke Street facade, the ACA Building could at least boast a `Benedict Stone' facade, a cladding block which could be produced in a variety of colours, and in a colour similar to the terra-cotta faience of G.J. Coles Bourke Street store (1928-), the forerunner of the modern Commercial Gothic or Jazz Moderne style in Melbourne city. Although examples of the style used in the ACA Building are earlier, such as the former Coles Building or Marcus Barlow's Manchester Unity Building (1932), the ACA building is faced with a different material and is detailed in a more ornate manner. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brisbane appears to have acquired the Australian rights for the appropriately named `Benedict Stone' and it was henceforth manufactured in Brisbane, where it was used for a number of significant buildings across Australia.The ribbed and fluted facade rises through eleven levels from ground level and basement, either side of a central stepped tower, and is articulated by means of a number of stages and bays. The lower three storeys provide a podium above which rise a number of facade bays separated by moulded pilasters, with a dramatic increase in vertical emphasis. The façade steps back at the ninth storey and again at the eleventh storey, echoing the dramatic setbacks to upper storeys which characterise the stepped Manhattan's skyscraper profiles of the 1920s. All elements of the facade are detailed with commercial Gothic or Jazz Moderne incised or moulded ornament which clearly reflects the influence of Gothic architecture, illustrating one of the most vital fonts of inspiration for the eclectic Jazz mode and the primary influence upon Jazz Moderne skyscraper design in America and elsewhere.Window frames and spandrels are of bronze, incorporating multi-paned glazing and grilles, and the building's name is repeated in metal lettering, set as in a music score on a three line bar. Late Gothic to Queen Street but, glimpsed from Little Collins Street, the more contemporary Streamlined Moderne style occupies the building's rear façade as a series of horizontal window strips with rounded spandrel-ends. The Brooks Robinson shopfronts and lift lobby detailing, lighting, black marble and chrome are all vital accessories to the Moderne and are all near and significant.The ACA building relates, across Queen Street, to the similarly styled and finishedNational Trustees Executors and Agency Co. Building also to the more recent but also significant Scottish Amicable Building, adjoining, because of the similar vertical fenestration,.How is it significant?The Australian Catholic Assurance Building is significant historically and aesthetically to the Melbourne Capital City ZoneWhy is it significant?The Australasian Catholic Assurance Co Ltd (ACA) Building is of state architectural significance as a large, very fine and substantially externally intact example of the Gothic-influenced Jazz Moderne styled skyscraper mode. Although later than other important examples such as the former G J Coles Building, Bourke Street or the Manchester Unity Building the ACA Building is notable for its distinctive detailing, its dramatic stepped form and its facade of rose pink Benedict Stone, a concrete product developed in the 1920s in competition to terracotta faience.Historically the building is a key part of the inter-war boom when finance institutions (banks and insurance companies) built headquarters and branch offices in the Capital City Zone when Melbourne was the financial capital of Australia. The use of Benedict Stone in the ACA Building is also illustrative of the strong and unusual association between the Catholic Church, this new concrete product and the design firm of Hennessy & Hennessy..Central City Heritage Study Review 1993:Appendix 4:`Statement of SignificanceBuilt in 1935-36 to designs prepared by the Sydney architectural firm Hennessy, Hennessy & Co, in association with R Morton Taylor of Melbourne the Australasian Catholic Assurance Co Ltd (ACA) Building 118-126 Queen Street. is of state architectural significance as a large, very fine and substantially externally intact example of the Gothic-influenced Jazz skyscraper mode Although later than other important examples such as the former G J Coles Building. Bourke Street or the Manchester Unity Building the ACA Building is notable for its distinctive detailing, its dramatic form and its facade of rose pink Benedict Stone, a concrete product developed in the 1920s in competition to faience.'`History & Description:The Australasian Catholic Assurance Co Ltd (ACA) Building was designed and constructed in 1935-36 by Hennessy & Hennessy of Sydney and R Morton Taylor of Melbourne, architects in association) The building is of twelve storeys with a two storey central tower. While the façade is one of Melbourne's most distinctive and dramatic Jazz compositions, the rear section adopts a quite different Streamlined Moderne design with strong horizontal emphasis. The façade is faced with pink 'Benedict Stone' 2 and is articulated by means of a number of stages and bays. The lower three storeys provide a podium above which rise a number of bays separated by moulded pilasters, with a dramatic increase in vertical emphasis The façade steps back at the ninth storey and again at the eleventh storey, echoing the dramatic setbacks to upper storeys which characterise Manhattan's skyscrapers of the 1920s. All elements of the façade are detailed with Jazz (Art Deco) incised or moulded ornament which clearly reflects the influence of Gothic architecture, illustrating one of the most vital fonts of inspiration for the eclectic Jazz mode and the primary influence upon Jazz skyscraper design in America and elsewhere Although similar examples of the mode are earlier, such as Harry Norris's former GJ Coles Building, 299-307 Bourke Street (1928-), or Marcus Barlow's Manchester Unity Building, corner Collins and Swanston streets (1932). the ACA building is faced with a different material and is detailed in a far more ornate manner Indeed, the Jazz mode was on its last legs at the time of its design and construction, giving way to the influence of the Moderne and International styles, the ACA Building should be seen as part of the final flowering of the mode in Melbourne.In city building exteriors glazed terra cotta cladding was challenged by a concrete product developed in the 1930s as 'Benedict Stone', a cladding block which could be produced in a variety of colours. It as produced in Sydney at the Granville works of Goodlet & Smith, who had entered an agreement in 1927 with Benedict Stone Ltd, USA, by which they were to produce the material under licence, with 15% of profit going to America. By October 1927 it was beginning to be used, and in the next few years it appeared in prominent works like the new offices of the Sun newspaper, and war memorials for Granville RSL, and Blackheath Memorial Park The local Benedict stone company succumbed to the depression and went into liquidation in 1931, but the product was still being advertised in 1933.3 The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brisbane appears to have acquired the Australian rights, and the material was henceforth manufactured in Brisbane, where it was used for the Shell Building 4 It was used especially in the various offices of the Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Co designed by Hennessy & Hennessy One of the best examples is at 41-49 King William Street, Adelaide, of 1935-6,5 and another was built in 1936 at St George's Terrace, Perth, but demolished in 1980 6 The use of Benedict Stone in the ACA Building is illustrative of the strong association between the Catholic Church, this new concrete product and the firm of Hennessy & Hennessy.'.RAWORTH, B 2002. REVIEW OF HERITAGE OVERLAY LISTINGS IN THE CBDfor the City of MelbourneHistory and DescriptionThe Australasian Catholic Assurance Co Ltd (ACA) Building was designed and constructed in 1935-36 by Hennessy & Hennessy of Sydney and R Morton Taylor of Melbourne, architects in association 1. The building is of twelve storeys with a two storey central tower. While the facade is one of Melbourne's most distinctive and dramatic Jazz compositions, the rear section adopts a quite different Streamlined Moderne design with strong horizontal emphasis. The facade is faced with pink 'Benedict Stone'2 and is articulated by means of a number of stages and bays. The lower three storeys provide a podium above which rise a number of bays separated by moulded pilasters, with a dramatic increase in vertical emphasis. The façade steps back at the ninth storey and again at the eleventh storey, echoing the dramatic setbacks to upper storeys which characterise Manhattan's skyscrapers of the 1920s. All elements of the facade are detailed with Jazz [Art Deco] incised or moulded ornament which clearly reflects the influence of Gothic architecture, illustrating one of the most vital fonts of inspiration for the eclectic Jazz mode and the primary influence upon Jazz skyscraper design in America and elsewhere. Although similar examples of the mode are earlier, such as Harry Norris's former GJ Coles Building, 299-307 Bourke Street (1928-), or Marcus Barlow's Manchester Unity Building, corner Collins and Swanston streets (1932), the ACA building is faced with a different material and is detailed in a far more ornate manner. Indeed, the Jazz mode was on its last legs at the time of its design and construction, giving way to the influence of the Moderne and International styles; the ACA Building should be seen as part of the final flowering of the mode in Melbourne.In city building exteriors glazed terra cotta cladding was challenged by a concrete product developed in the 1930s as 'Benedict Stone', a cladding block which could be produced in a variety of colours. It as produced in Sydney at the Granville works of Goodlet & Smith, who had entered an agreement in 1927 with Benedict Stone Ltd, USA, by which they were to produce the material under licence, with 15% of profit going to America. By October 1927 it was beginning to be used, and in the next few years it appeared in prominent works like the new offices of the Sun newspaper, and war memorials for Granville RSL, and Blackheath Memorial Park. The local Benedict stone company succumbed to the depression and went into liquidation in 1931, but the product was still being advertised in 1933 3. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brisbane appears to have acquired the Australian rights, and the material was henceforth manufactured in Brisbane, where it was used for the Shell Building4. It was used especially in the various offices of the Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Co designed by Hennessy & Hennessy. One of the best examples is at 41-49 King William Street, Adelaide, of 1935-6,5 and another was built in 1936 at St George's Terrace, Perth, but demolished in 1980 6. The use of Benedict Stone in the ACA Building is illustrative of the strong association between the Catholic Church, this new concrete product and the firm of Hennessy & Hennessy.The building is in excellent original condition having retained original shopfronts, decorative detail and window details throughout. Awnings above ground floor entries appear to be the only inappropriate addition.Footnotes:1 MCC Building Permit 16680, 11.9.35, Erection of a building, £95,000; Age, 8 December 1936 [RVIA Press Cuttings 1936, SLV]. Perspective illustration of the newly completed A C A Building for the Catholic Assurance Co Ltd at 120-126 Queen Street, by Hennessy, Hennessy & Co of Sydney inassociation with R Morton Taylor of 271 Collins Street - cites use of Benedictine Stone [sic]; note also MCC Building Permit v862, 9.10.36, Sunblinds, £70, which would appear to relate to the existingawnings.2 Not faience, or glazed terracotta, as has been claimed in the various previous analyses of this building.3 A W Johnson, Goodlet and Smith Ltd. Brickworks, Roofing Tile Manufacturers, Cement Works & 'Benedict Sto'e' Manufacturers. Granville, NSW. (1886-1982)' (3 vols, major project for Historical Archaeology II [University of Sydney] 1982), p.9.4 Florence Taylor, A Pot Pourri of Eastern Asia (Sydney 1935), p.47.5 Susan Marsden et al (eds), Heritage of the City of Adelaide (Adelaide 1990), p.95.6 Ian Molyneux, Looking Around Perth (East Fremantle [WA] 1981), p.63..GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM cites Keith and John Reid, CBD Study Area 7 Historic Buildings Preservation Council, 1976: : 287 not Recommended to Historic Buildings Register - no sources stated;_________________________________________CITY OF MELBOURNE BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATIONSMCC Building permit application (Building Permit Application) 1935, 16680_________________________________________City of Melbourne i-Heritage:Central Activities District Conservation Study - Graeme Butler, 1984 Building Identification Form (BIF): Description/Notable Features Notable features include shop front; elaborate/high standard design of rendered surfaces; metal window details; terracotta facing and lettering.References Refer RVIAJ May 1937_________________________________________NATIONAL TRUST OF AUSTRALIA (VIC)National Trust of Australia (Vic), Central Activity District Heritage Shopfronts, CAD Shopfront Survey 2000: Graded A, cites this shopfront: BROOKS ROBINSON shopfront Original awning bars, gilding metal.Statement of Significance`A set of very stylish Moderne shopfronts, original with the building and integrated with the architecture. Distinctive for their small scale, and level of detail, particularly the horizontal ‘streamlining ‘ below the windows and their slight projection to create a display case effect.'_________________________________________NEWSPAPERS (TROVE)`The Argus':Thursday 18 January 1934AUSTRALASIAN CATHOLIC ASSURANCE.The Australasian Catholic Assurance Company, Ltd., received total revenue of £163,641 for the year ended June 30, 1933. Expenditure was £89,630, leaving £74,211 to be carried to reserves. Claims- paid were £ 4381. maturities £15,991, and surrenders £0265. AS a result of an actuarial investigation a dividend of 7 per cent, will be paid to share- holders, and an Increase in bonus distribution ranging from 14 per cent, to 50 per cent, on bonus declaration for the year ended June 30, 1933, will be allotted to policyholders. Capital Is £14,512, and life assurance fund £440,759. Assets are valued at £470,943, and include £276,571 loans on mortgage and £123,863 Government securities.1935A.C.A. BUILDING, MELBOURNEThis structure, which was designed by Architects Hennessy, Hennessy and Co , is to be erected forthe Australasian Catholic Assurance Society in Queen St., Melbournehttps://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/222916576Illust..alsohttps://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/222915640Sydney ACA Building._________________________________________DIRECTORIES OF VICTORIA, MELBOURNE-SANDS AND KENNY, SANDS & MCDOUGALL1939118-126 ACA Building lists tenants on basement (Café 118) and 11 floors (Australasian Catholic Assurance Company Ltd 11th)
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1261806
| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 108111 | 1 PDF : 1,002 KB ; A4 | Group of Items (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |