Markillie's Hotel, 5-7 Downie Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
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Title:
Markillie's Hotel, 5-7 Downie Street, Melbourne
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Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 103985
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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 2021:See Markillie's Hotel.Period: InterwarASSOCIATIONS: Carlton Brewery Ltd.;.GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDY.Statement of SignificanceHistoryThe Sir Charles Hotham Hotel occupied the nearby Spencer Street corner from the 1850s joined by the Prince of Wales Hotel, on this site, later in the century.The Carlton Brewery Ltd and architects, Sydney Smith & Ogg, had been a proven combination since c1901, in many previous hotels; the builder, C.F. Pittard being the contractor on this site (the nearby Kilkenny Inn, King Street, 1915- was also designed by Smith & Ogg).Arthur Markillie was the licensee at Ascot Vale's Laurel Hotel around 1900. He was the licensee after the Carlton Brewery's reconstruction of this hotel opening to the style of Markillie's Prince of Wales Hotel. Markillie's reign as host at the hotel continues into the 1940's, with a short break around World War I, when Bertha Brown was the Licensee.Around the corner, architect, P J O'Connor, designed a Neo-Grec style three-level annexe in Highlander Lane, in 1927.DescriptionA full-blown Edwardian Baroque design, the cemented façade is deeply modelled with bas-relief detail, heavy mouldings and a skilful combination of mass and void. Ox-bow pediments over the intermediate and uppermost windows are echoed laterally by a wide bow-fronted balcony which surmounts a series of superposed columns which terminate at first floor levels. A major part of the central balcony recess is the broad opening arch, with its richly foliated spandrels. It is a perfect counterpart for the bow of the balcony. A sizable parapet cornice and brackets accentuate the highly moulded façade character of the building, together with the more traditional device of pavilion-like bays, expressed with heavily ruled smooth rustication.Perhaps the most richly detailed and moulded of the High Edwardian Baroque hotel, this design has precedents in British work by John Belcher, Pite, and the more conservative Aston Webb. In Victoria, it parallels with the Abbotsford Yorkshire Stingo and other Baroque designs by the same architects. However, despite its impressive façade, it is at a disadvantage when compared to what are mostly corner hotels and hence perfect vehicles for towered, highly plastic designs.External IntegrityGenerally externally original, except for the intrusive added sky-sign and shopfront details.StreetscapeAdjoins and complements another Edwardian Hotel (Sir Charles Hotham) and the late Victorian Great Southern Hotel in Spencer Street.SignificanceThe most richly ornamented of the many Edwardian Baroque hotel designs (albeit with only one elevation) in Victoria; a further example of the Carlton Brewery's expansion immediately after World War I and part of a late Victorian and Edwardian hotel group..GRAEME BUTLER & ASSOCIATES 2011, CENTRAL CITY (HODDLE GRID) HERITAGE REVIEWStatement of SignificanceWhat is significant?The nearby Sir Charles Hotham Hotel had occupied the Spencer Street corner from the 1850s joined by the Prince of Wales Hotel, on this site, in 1915. It was designed by Sydney Smith & Ogg for the Carlton Brewery Ltd. with the Richmond builder, C F Pittard as the contractor. Bertha A Brown was one of the early licensees.The Carlton Brewery Ltd and architects, Sydney Smith & Ogg, had been a proven combination since around 1900 in many previous hotels. The brewery worked with Smith & Ogg on a number of hotel projects during the 1910s including the nearby Kilkenny Inn on King Street (1915), the Napier Hotel in Fitzroy (1916), the Prince Albert Hotel in Williamstown (1915-6) and Retreat Hotel, Abbotsford.Arthur Markillie was the licensee at Ascot Vale's Laurel Hotel around 1900. He was the licensee and (he claimed) the new owner of the Prince of Wales Hotel in the late 1920s, opening to the style of Markillie's Hotel. Markillie's reign as host at the hotel continues into the 1940s. Around the corner, P J O'Connor designed a Neo-Grec style three-level annexe to the hotel in Highlander Lane, in 1927 as a measure of Markillie's success. Markillie was later the chairman of the giant Federal Hotels group.An energetic Edwardian Baroque design, the cemented façade is deeply modelled with bas-relief detail, heavy mouldings and a skilful combination of mass and void. Ox-bow pediments over the intermediate and uppermost windows are echoed laterally by a wide bow-fronted balcony which surmounts a series of superposed columns which terminate at first floor levels. A major part of the central balcony recess is the broad opening arch, with its richly foliated spandrels. It is a perfect counterpart for the bow of the balcony. A sizeable parapet cornice and brackets accentuate the highly moulded façade character of the building, together with the more traditional device of pavilion-like bays, expressed with heavily ruled smooth rustication.Perhaps the most richly detailed and moulded of the Edwardian Baroque hotels, this design has precedents in British work by John Belcher, Pite, and the more conservative Sir Aston Webb. In Victoria, it parallels with the Abbotsford Yorkshire Stingo and other Baroque designs by the same architects. However, despite its impressive façade, it is at a disadvantage when compared to what are mostly corner hotels and hence perfect vehicles for towered, highly modelled designs.The nearby State Savings Bank, also thought to be designed by Sydney Smith & Ogg, has the same deeply modelled cement work while the existing Victorian and Edwardian-era hotel group in Spencer Street and their proximity to transport hubs such as the wharves, and railways all played a role in this hotel's creation and success.How is it significant?Markillie's Hotel is significant historically and aesthetically to the Melbourne Capital City Zone and Victoria.Why is it significant?Markillie's Hotel is significant aesthetically as a the most richly ornamented of the Edwardian Baroque hotel designs in Victoria.Historically it is an excellent example of the work of Sydney Smith & Ogg for the Carlton Brewery Ltd during the brewer's expansion in the period after WWI. This had been a proven combination since around 1900, producing many significant hotel buildings. The hotel's location next to the wharves and Spencer Street railway station and among other hotels is indicative of the effect of transport nodes on development in the Capital City Zone in the Victorian and Edwardian-eras..RAWORTH, B 2002. REVIEW OF HERITAGE OVERLAY LISTINGS IN THE CBDfor the City of MelbourneHistory and DescriptionMarkillie's Hotel was constructed in 1915 to signs by Sydney Smith & Ogg and built by CF Pritchard for the Carlton Brewery. The brewery worked with Smith & Ogg on a number of hotel projects during the 1910s including the nearby Kilkenny Inn on King Street (1915) and the Napier Hotel in Fitzroy (1916). It is likely that the Prince Albert Hotel in Williamstown (1915-6) and Retreat Hotel (c.1911) are also a product of the same collaboratign, The five storey hotel was erected on the site of the earlier Prince of Wales Hotel which had traded from the latter part of the nineteenth century. With the redevelopment, Arthur Markillie became the licensee of the new enterprise which adopted the name Markillie's Prince of Wales Hotel. Markillie had previously been licensee of the Ascot Vale Hotel and maintained an association with the Flinders Street premises until the 1940s (with a brief interlude during WWII).As constructed, the hotel was an energetic Edwardian Baroque design, its symmetrical rendered facade deeply modelled with has relief detail and heavy mouldings to produce a skilful balance of mass and void. The ox bow pediments over the intermediate and uppermost windows were echoed in a wide bow-fronted balcony surmounted by a broad opening arch with richly foliated spandrels. Pavilion-like bays to each side of the facade rise to more ox-bow pediments incorporated into a sizeable parapet and cornice. The sculptural facade is further modelled through heavily ruled smooth rustication.Markillie's Hotel is perhaps the most richly detailed and moulded of the High Edwardian Baroque hotels with antecedents in the British work of John Belcher, A Beresford Pite and the mare conservative Aston Webb. Locally, it recalls the Abbotsford Yorkshire Stingo and other Baroque designs by the same architects.The building survives in good and very original condition to its exterior.Statement of SignificanceMarkillie's Hotel, is of aesthetic and historic significance at a state and local level as a the most richly ornamented of the many Edwardian Baroque hotel designs in Victoria. It is an excellent example of the work of Sydney Smith & Ogg for the Carlton brewery during the brewer's expansion in the period after WWI. The extension to the rear is of little significance..GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM cites Lawrie Wilson & Associates, 1977. Historic Buildings Preservation Council Report on CBD Block No 6 Dec 1977 (84),p141;Building Permit Application 10/3/ 1915, 5433, builder, owner, designer. `five storey brick hotel' , fee ₤6(see Graeme Butler research).VICTORIAN HERITAGE INVENTORY H7822-18461837 - garden area. 1866 - building. 1877 - Kellys Hotel, two-storey building, sheds, yard.1888 - Kellys Hotel, two-storey building and two-outbuildings. 1905 - Prince Of Wales Hotel, two-storey building and outbuildings; part of Hazardous Store (1 storey)..STATE LIBRARY OF VICTORIAState Library of Victoria collection: Cole Collection, entries:PRINCE OF WALESLocation: FLINDERS ST1912 DUGGAN, CECILIA1910 MORAN, JAMES1895 TORPEY, MARGARET, MissDate 1898 DUGGAN, MARGARET MissDate 1889 BRODIE, PATRICK(rebuilt)Date 1918 BROWN, BERTHA. E1923 DWYER, M. A Mrs.NEWSPAPERS (TROVE)`The Argus':7/7/1928 (1st add found as Markillies Hotel)MARKILLIE'S HOTEL,562 Flinders Street, City(One Minute from Spencer Street).This Modern and First-class Hotel is Owned andManaged by the Markiillie Family,Whose Courtesy, Cuisine, and Service areRenowned. Medium Tariff on Application.INCLUSIVE or ROOM and BREAKFAST..13/10/1928(also popular with country and interstate visitors for the excellence of its table and cheerful service').Wednesday 29 October 1952Markillie as the chariman of Federal Hotels Ltd..NATIONAL TRUST OF AUSTRALIA (VIC)File NumberB6264Level RegionalStatement of Significance`The Markillies Hotel, designed in 1915 by the architects, Sydney Smith and Ogg for the Carlton Brewery Ltd, is of regional architectural significance as a richly ornamented example of many surviving High Edwardian Baroque hotels in Victoria, and as one of a great number of 20th century hotels designed by these architects for the Carlton Brewery. The building also has historic significance at a regional level as an example of the Carlton Brewery's expansion immediately after World War 1.Externally original except for some shopfront modification, the Markillies Hotel forms part of an important Victorian and Edwardian hotel group, which includes the adjoining Sir Charles Hotham Hotel and the late Victorian Great Southern Hotel in Spencer Street.The interiors of the hotel are of interest. The bars have been significantly altered and although the residential levels re main largely unchanged they are primarily of interest through their relationship to the complex as a whole..DIRECTORIES OF VICTORIA, MELBOURNE-SANDS AND KENNY, SANDS & MCDOUGALL1920 Prince of Wales Hotel, Mrs Bertha Brown1924 Prince of Wales Hotel, Mrs MA Dwyer1930 Markillies Hotel, A Markillies.
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| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 103985 | 1 JPEG : 218 KB ; A4 | Single Item (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |