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Melbourne Central Business District Study Area 7

Reid, Keith14th December 1976

Scope and contents

Area 7 occurs on the eastern side of the western hill of Melbourne upon which the original township commenced.

Record details

Title:

Melbourne Central Business District Study Area 7

Creator:

Reid, KeithReid, John R.

Date of work:

14th December 1976

Reference number:

CBD AREA 7

Level of description:

Item from Collection: Heritage Collection (HC)

Type of materials:

Textual materialGraphic materialsCartographic material

Part of:

Series: Central City (CON-CITY)

Access restrictions:

UnrestrictedOpen access.

Use restrictions:

Refer to individual item records for Use Restrictions.Please contact City of Melbourne Libraries about obtaining permission to reproduce images. High resolution files may be held by City of Melbourne Libraries and available on request. Users must acknowledge City of Melbourne Libraries when reproducing items.

General notes:

Historical PreambleArea 7 occurs on the eastern side of the western hill of Melbourne upon which the original township commenced. In just 20 years from the time when John Batman allegedly came ashore at the south west corner of Area 7 in March 1937, Melbourne grew at an astonishing rate. By 1839 there were 77 warehouses, shops and offices in Melbourne, by 1842 there were 769 houses, by 1851 there was a population of 77,345 which had exploded to 410,766 by 1857. The pure water of the Yarra that Batman wrote about, quickly became adulterated by the by-products of a thriving and at time undisciplined population..Bark humpies and shanty houses were soon joined by colonial 'Georgian' buildings of substance up to 3 storeys high and the whole of Hoddle's rectangular grid was occupied by the 50's. Building materials consisted of timber clapboarding, timber roof shakes, galvanised iron and brick, together with the hard and durable locally-obtained basalt, termed 'bluestone'. Natural colour and weather soon gave Melbourne a hue of grey..Bluestone was commonly used for churches and warehouses and the nature of the material discouraged fine detail. However, surviving examples of austere rectangular buildings, some with patiently hammerdressed surfaces, are a visual tribute to the particular importance of the wool trade in the young colony. Unlike Sydney and Launceston, the colonial Georgian heritage in Melbourne suffered drastic demolition to make way for the rebuilding necessitated by this city's financial predominance, anyway Melburnians in the later part of the 19th Century were not so appreciative of this simple, robust heritage. They complained of the inelegant, but "grand warehouses frowning in bluestone on either hand" at the west end of Bourke Street. "The Jewish Synagogue (a classical temple) and St. Patrick's hall exhibit fronts of tasteful design, but the vast wool stores are features of the district." (5).From those earliest days, Custom facilities were strategically located in their present position in Flinders Street, overlooking the ford and landing point of that 'black sullen stream', and government quarters were similarly located on the hill along William Street. Collins Street quickly attracted the banking and commercial fraternity and has kept their custom ever since, Elizabeth Street was just a 'muddy gully' but still attracted the smaller retailers. Land use has not drastically altered in these areas in the history of our city, but the nature of the place and the architecture has - a number of times..With gold, grew pride and the development of the revival styles in architecture - Classical, Renaissance and Gothic with all the imaginable variations possible. In the 1880's and 90's the eclecticism raged throughout the city and public and private buildings grew up in every corner, often beside lowly iron sheds. The style of architecture demanded more flexible materials. Stone was imported from the surrounding countryside, from Sydney and New Zealand and the predominant colours of it were beige and white. With the amount of rebuilding, and particularly the new public buildings, the hue of Melbourne changed from grey to beige, a colour which has predominated ever since..Contemporary descriptions (5) glowed with pride. Looking along Elizabeth Street "the eye is lost in amazement at the magnificent vista of warehouse, bank and public building that stretches on either hand," it being possible to count 20 banks from one corner. William Street, named by Bourke after the sailor king was "as handsome a thoroughfare as any" and the Custom house, "spaciously situated, turned its sombre face out upon the wharves.".Roadways had gas lighting and low arched timber boardwalks to cross from sidewalks to roads. Verandahs were not common elements but occasionally occurred as simple curved extensions tacked on to the less pretentious buildings..The area which had not been affected by this enthusiastic revival of architectural styles were viewed with embarrassment. Flinders Street consisted of 'side long rows of second rate shops, seaman's restaurants and chandlery places. Half a street, to our right open and fringed with wooden wharves, whence float the smoke of puffing and rattling donkey engines, and the dust of collier vessels unloading with mighty din." Flinders Street Station was an "area of temporary structure, wood or ugly brick with roofs of iron." Bourke Street contained no shops but tradesmen's places and horse bazaars..The Revival period ground to a halt around the turn of the century with a "Victorian" style burst which produced a ten storey office building on the corner of Elizabeth and Flinders Lane. The iron sheds and bluestone warehouses were replaced by Victorian fronted warehouses as well as some 'early modern' buildings produced by young architects born in the colony..These Flinders Lane warehouses had peculiarities of their own. Strongly defined lines at approximately a metre high with windows under lighting basements. Strong vertical piers and pilasters rising sometimes to 8 floors with heavy, ornate but untraditional cornices..The 1930's saw rebirth occurring back in Collins Street. Financial Institutions found their premises inadequate and architecture moved tentatively out of its ornate cloak to produce monumental but simple facades with an emphasis on vertical window elements..In the subsequent forty years, walling masses reduced, structure had become rationalized and for a brief period was clad in tile, and glazed surfaces have gradually replaced masonry altogether..The wheel has turned full cycle. The highest towers have returned to the hill at Williams Street and the rest of the area has almost taken on a uniformity of height, but at a much larger scale..Area 7 is primarily a commercial area. It contains 10 out of 53 of Melbourne's "city buildings". 5 out 16 of our established clubs, 3 post offices, only 3 out of the 35 primary restaurants and only 3 of our 25 city car parking stations. The area contains no hospitals, churches or public theatres..The Area has a wide variety of urban conditions which give it character, from skyscraper complexes which base onto plazas of a civic nature, to mundane commercial streetscenes and to intricate pedestrian alleys which have survived from previous eras. These conditions extend beyond Area 7, into adjacent areas. Patterns are identifiable which have the potential to be exploited to retain and enhance the heritage and facilitate new development.

Names:

Historic Buildings Council (Vic.)

Topics:

Conservation studiesHeritage studiesHeritage consultants

Places:

Melbourne (Vic.)

Form/Genre:

Reports

Record types:

Research and reports

Record number:

1747274