McClure, Valentine and Co Warehouse, later Eadies Building, 61-69 A'Beckett Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
Archives
Total copies: 1
Title:
McClure, Valentine and Co Warehouse, later Eadies Building, 61-69 A'Beckett Street, Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 500333
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 2024:__________________________________________________DATE: 1871;ASSOCIATIONS: McClure, Valentine & Co;DESIGNER: Webb, Charles?;Period: Early Victorian__________________________GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYStatement of SignificanceHistoryMcClure Valentine and Company, wholesale grocers and wine and spirit merchants, had occupied the stone store, west of this site, since its construction for Hugh Glass in the 1850s (qv). Glass rebuilt two of his stores in 1861 but appears to have eventually sold them to his lessees. In 1871 McClure Valentine were rated for a new brick store with a 77 feet frontage to A'Beckett Street.Halstead, Kerr and Co., the sawmillers from the opposite side of A'Beckett, were the first to lease the store until McClure and Valentine took it for their own use. By c1883 the engineers and ironmongers, Bennie, Teare and Company, had commenced a long tenure which extended well into this century and took up both 61-69 and 71-73 A'Beckett Street. By 1940 the Myer Emporium used it as a warehouse and more recently T T Eadie, manufacturing stationers, occupied it.DescriptionPolychrome brickwork and well spaced and finely proportioned arched openings characterise the street elevation. The subtle variation from an arch segment to a full arch at the top level is amplified by the two-colour voussoirs over each. Similarly the symmetrical three bay composition is enhanced by the segment-arched raised entablature at its centre and the almost matching arch to the wagon entrance below. A link with the row of stone stores this building replaced is the shared basalt plinth with the surviving stone store on the west. Inside an old hydraulic powered lift is reputedly still active.External IntegrityOpening have been bricked up and a roller shutter has replaced the main doors. Trim colours are `sympathetic'.StreetscapeShares fenestration period detail, scale and elevation bay width with 71-73 A'Beckett Street. The materials and scale of the adjoinign building on the east are also similar whilst more direct comparison may be made with 41-53.SignificanceRemarkably well preserved for an industrial facade and early in its use of polychrome brickwork, the facade proportions and fenestration are particularly elegant and the two buildings at 61-73 A'Beckett Street complement each other historically given their common owners over a long period.______________________________Victorian Heritage Registerhttps://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/14122Statement of SignificanceWhat is significant?The warehouse building at 61-69 A'Beckett Street was built in 1870-71 for McClure, Valantine & Co, wholesale grocers and wine and spirit merchants, who had been in business in A'Beckett Street since the 1850s. In the second half of the nineteenth century Melbourne was the main centre of trade in the Australian colonies, and a large number of warehouses were constructed in and around the city centre to provide for the handling, redistribution and export of goods. These city warehouses were prestigious buildings and were often designed by prominent architects, but no architect has been found for this building. Warehouses of the 1850s and 1860s were mainly of bluestone, but from the 1860s higher quality bricks were becoming more readily available, and their use for all building types increased. This coincided with the introduction of and the increasing popularity of constructional polychromy in Victoria. Inside this warehouse is the only known surviving example of a nineteenth century operational hydraulic goods lift, which was until recently used to move goods between the two floors of the building. It was powered by mains pressure water, and is thought to have been in the building since it was constructed.The warehouse is a symmetrical two-storey building of hand-made bricks, with a rendered parapet and curved pediment above the entrance, and with bi-chrome voussoirs above the door and window openings. Internally the original open spaces of the ground and first floors have been retained. The first floor is supported by cast iron posts with timber corbel pieces supporting the timber beams. The first floor has timber trusses and a timber-lined ceiling. The building is generally intact, though the original front vehicle doors have been replaced with a metal roller door, and one of the openings has been partially bricked up to form a window. In the 1940s the original timber staircase in the north-west corner was replaced with a reinforced concrete stair.The hydraulic lift comprises a vertical hydraulic cylinder, with a bore of approximately 18 inches (457 mm) diameter and approximately 5 inches (1524 mm) stroke, which is mounted on two vertical timber columns. The piston rod is attached to a pulley and there are four cable sheaves. The cylinder is located near the back wall of the warehouse and the cables run across the roof to the lift,which has internal dimensions of 5'3' x 5'3' (1.6 m x 1.6 m). There is also a cable from the lift back to the regulating valve allowing control from the lift. There are no markings on any of the parts to indicate the name of the maker. The hydraulic lift is intact and operational and predominantly original castings and timber is present. The bolts and nuts have been replaced in more recent times. The mains water pipe to the hydraulic cylinder also appears to have been replaced.How is it significant?The warehouse at 61-69 A'Beckett Street is of architectural and historical significance to the State of Victoria. The hydraulic goods lift is significant for historical and scientific (technical) reasons at a State level. The building with the lift is significant at a State level.Why is it significant?The warehouse building is architecturally significant as a fine and intact warehouse building of the 1870s. It is significant for its intact facade and for its large open interior spaces, typical of warehouse buildings, with the original cast iron columns supporting the first floor and timber trusses supporting the roof. It is an early example of the use of polychromy for a commercial building. The building makes an important contribution to the A'Beckett Street streetscape.The warehouse building is historically significant as a reflection of the importance of Melbourne as a centre of trade in the second half of the nineteenth century and of the associated prosperity of the city. It is also a reflection of the development of industry from the 1860s, with bluestone buildings giving way to brick as high quality bricks became more readily available.The hydraulic lift is of scientific (technical) significance at a state level as the only known intact example in Victoria of an early hydraulic lift powered by mains pressure water, pre-dating the later use of pressurised water. It is a typical example of the lift installations used in Melbourne prior to the establishment in 1889 of the Melbourne Hydraulic Power Company. It demonstrates the innovation of the application of water pressure to lift goods and people, and the evolution of the provision of motive power to lifts via the application of hydraulic principles. Its significance is enhanced by still being in operational condition.The hydraulic lift is historically significant as a unique example of the new technology which was to have a major influence on the skyline of Melbourne, as the use of hydraulic lifts allowed for the construction of much taller buildings, particularly following the advent of the public hydraulic power supply in 1889.The building with the hydraulic goods lift is significant at a state level as the only example in Victoria of a warehouse building with its original nineteenth century hydraulic lift in situ.___________________________GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM cites source 83,p10;RB1871,1563;_______________________________________Melbourne Central Activities District Conservation Study Building Citations, 1985:_______________________________________LEWIS, M- AUSTRALIAN ARCHITECTURE INDEX`Charles WebbTenders wanted - erecting 2 1-storey brick stores in A'Beckett Street.Argus 23.4.1870 p 3'_______________________________________
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Research and reports
Record number:
1266984
| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 500333 | 1 PDF : 729 KB ; A4 | Group of Items (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |