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Austral Buildings shopfront, 115-119 Collins Street, Melbourne

Butler, Graeme1985

Scope and contents

An ornate, intact Edwardian shopfront. Though not original to the building, it is sympathetic, and notable for the distinctive case windows, set out on legs. The claw-foot support, normally only found in furniture, is particularly notable.

Record details

Title:

Austral Buildings shopfront, 115-119 Collins Street, Melbourne

Creator:

Butler, Graeme (Name details)

Date of work:

1985

Reference number:

BIF-CITY 102070 2

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:

ASSOCIATED RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER:.GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYStatement of SignificanceHistoryAlex McKinley and Co., publishers of Melbourne Punch, engaged architect Nahum Barnet to design these shops and offices in 1890. Builders J and J Baxter had completed the contract by 1891, preceding a diverse list of tenants which included one Sydney Spark who specialised in magnetic massage among other things; E Thompson-Boyd, an American dentist and two clubs, the Lyric Club and Austral Dramatic Club. Charles Fraser and Miss E. Walter had artists' studios there, as did the renowned photographer, John W. Lindt. As a change from the usual dentist-doctor enclave, other tenants were music teachers, Thomas Hammond and William Hunter, and a botanist, William Terry. Felton Grimwade and Co. occupied the ground level around 1910 and, safely confined to the basement, was the Victorian Spiritualists Association.DescriptionRed brickwork, adorned with classical mouldings and layered between numerous stucco impost and string moulds, characterises the English Queen Anne derivation of this building (refer Nesfield's Kinmel, Denbighshire, 1868-). Pedimented attic windows look out from the high (now modified) hipped roofs which dominate the above parapet facade.Below lies Barnet's favoured window bays which, here, extend from the dormers to stop short at second floor level, as oriels, and belly back to the wall with the support given by two Ionic column stubs. Barnet's role as designer is made most obvious, however, by the elongated consoles which crowd the central facade bay and support the basket-arched shopfront portals below.The shopfronts, each balancing precariously on one cabriole leg, appear from early this century but are nevertheless impressive. Comparable examples in this style include Barnet's, A'Beckett street Moss-White tobacco factory(qv), the more Elizabethan inclined City of Melbourne Building, 112-118 Elizabeth Street, and the former Wool Exchange, Collins Street.External IntegrityThe roof has been reclad, extended at the rear and detail removed. Awnings are new as are the sympathetically designed shop-fronts.StreetscapeNow isolated, being unrelated to its, surviving neighbour on the east.SignificanceA successful design in the English Queen Anne revival manner which achieves distinction from the facade detailing (consoles) and surviving shopfront joinery.(see later citation).Victorian Heritage Register H0472https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/720What is significant?The Austral Buildings was designed in 1890 by the noted Melbourne architect Nahum Barnet for Alexander McKinley, publisher of Melbourne Punch, and constructed in 1891 by J. and J. Baxter as shops and professional offices.The building consists of four storeys plus an attic storey and was built of red brick with cement banding. Ground floor elliptical arches support oriels on either side of a recessed central bay that features mannerist elements, the whole capped with a mansard roof. The ground floor rolled-bronze shopfronts were added in 1909 and 1929. An additional studio, the East Studio, was added probably in the 1920s.How is it significant?The Austral Buildings is of architectural and historical significance to the State of Victoria.Why is it significant?The Austral Buildings is of architectural significance for its innovative design, which marks a shift from the mannerist urbanity of the 1870s and 1880s to a more picturesque and expressive style of the early decades of the 20th century. The Austral was one of the earliest examples of the English Queen Anne Revival style in Melbourne, and the use of red brick in particular was innovative and must have marked the building as very modern when it was built.The Austral Buildings is of architectural significance as an early work of Nahum Barnet (1855-1931), and displays the kind of innovation that was to make him one of the most important designers of commercial buildings in the Federation period. The composition and exposed brickwork of the facade hint at his later works, such as the Auditorium Building, and reflect his view, adopted by many other architects in the early decades of the 20th century, that materials should express the colour and harmony of nature (hence red brick rather than render or bluestone), and that designers should pay more heed to local climatic conditions, freely adapting styles rather than simply copying given styles (hence the muted eclecticism of the Austral Buildings).The Austral Buildings is of historical significance as a centre for professional activity and innovation in medical, literary and artistic circles from its inception through most of the 20th century. The studios on the fourth floor were occupied by such noted artists as the photographer J.W. Lindt and the painters John Mather, Charles E. Gordon-Frazer, Leslie Wilkie and, in the 1920s, Alexander Colquhoun.During the 1890s and later the building was the headquarters of the Austral Salon, a pioneer Victorian club for women dedicated to their intellectual and artistic advancement. The Arts and Crafts society of Melbourne was reputedly formed at the Austral Buildings around 1908. The building continued to be associated with artistic circles through the Melbourne Arts League from the 1940s to the 1980s. The league, organised by the eccentric elocutionist Lorimer Johnstone, encouraged young actors and artists, arranged theatrical productions, and, during the 1950s, exhibitions by such artists as Fred Williams, Donald Friend and the late Rupert Bunny. From its earliest days the Austral Buildings was expressive of the traditional occupation of the top of Collins Street by the medical fraternity. It also had important and enduring associations with Alexander McKinley, the publisher of Melbourne punch and a Member of the Legislative Assembly.The Austral Buildings is of historical significance as a reminder of the character of inner Melbourne in the last decade of the 19th and first half of the 20th century. The diversity of its tenancies reflected a time when the CBD itself was a substantially more diverse place, with artists and theatre professionals living close to the theatres, and medical practitioners concentrated in this part of the city.???What is significant?The Austral Buildings were constructed in 1891 as professional rooms. The building consists of four storeys plus an attic storey and was built of red brick with cement banding. Ground floor elliptical arches support oriels on either side of a recessed central bay that features mannerist elements, the whole capped with a mansard roof. The ground floor rolled bronze shopfronts were added in 1909 and 1929. An additional studio, the East Studio, was added probably in the 1920s.How is it significant?Austral Buildings are significant historically and aesthetically to Melbourne and Victoria.Why is it significant?Austral Buildings are significant historically and aesthetically as a significant late example of office buildings constructed during the Boom period and is part of the traditional occupation of the top of Collins Street by the medical fraternity. The later rolled-bronze shop fronts are a notable aspect of the Collins Street landscape..FURTHER REFERENCES:.BUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORMcites source 78, 78A John & Phyllis Murphy Pty. Ltd. Architects. Historic buildings study of part of the C.B.D. Melbourne. (part 1) 1976Report to the Historic Buildings Preservation Council covering the area bounded by Little Collins, Flinders, Spring and Elizabeth Sts:7.35 115-119 Collins Street -Austral Buildings.Construction Date: 1891. 1Building Journals and indexes at the Latrobe Library have been checked, but to date no information referring to this building has been found. At first appearance it might easily be thought that it was built at a later date than 1891. However, it has many similar characteristics to a number of other buildings of the same year, built in Melbourne. They were no doubt considered very modern and up-to-date with the red brickwork and contrasting trim. The flat bay windows, the loosely used broken pediments and balustraded parapet are similar design components to those used in the Mutual Store, also 1891, although the overall designs differ.Austral Buildings appears to have always been used as professional rooms. Mr. A. Bronner, a skin and tuberculosis specialist, occupied rooms there. This gentleman had no "pretensions to be a legally qualified medical practitioner …. is recognised by physicians of repute … has cured many cases which had proved beyond the help of the medical profession". 2Mr. William H. Terry, a "prominent representative of the modern spiritualistic movement" also practised there at the turn of the century, and Herr Grundt provided services as a "Masseur and medical electrician". One begins to think that the tenants may have all supplied those remarkable medical services, outside the medical profession, in which the Victorians indulged.1. Sands &McDougall Directories of Victoria, 1890/1891.2. Smith, James, (ed) , The Cyclopedia of Victoria, Vol II, p 223.3. Smith, James, (ed) , The Cyclopedia of Victoria, Vol II, p 224;4. Smith, James, (ed) , The Cyclopedia of Victoria, Vol II, p 211..Recommendations8.1 The whole of the area that has been studied should be declared an Area of Special Significance so thatappropriate controls may be used to protect the buildings and streetscapes of importance and to retain the existing character. (includes this building)...8.3 The following buildings should be submitted for consideration to be included in the Register of Historic Buildings(excludes this building).alsoVictoria Illustrated: 152;CITY OF MELBOURNE BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATIONS 4339.Lewis, M. Australian Architecture Index:Record 74633 Barnet, N; McKinley, A; Melbourne VIC Buildings; Baxter, J & J - Pasley St Sth Yarra 1890 02 25 4339 MCC registration no 4339 [Burchett Index]. Fee 12.6.0block of buildings.VICTORIA HERITAGE REGISTERhttps://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/720AUSTRAL BUILDINGS - HistoryContextual History:History of Place:There were originally two artists' studios on the top floor of the Austral Buildings, located at the front of the building on the east and west sides of a caretaker's residence. A number of important artists used these studios, including the following:John Mather (1848-1916), painter, etcher and teacher, occupied a studio from 1891 until c. 1912. He studied in Glasgow, at the National Gallery School in Edinburgh and in Paris, and arrived in Australian in 1878. He was a Trustee of the National Gallery of Victoria from 1893 to 1916, and President of the Victorian Artists' Society from 1893 to 1901, 1905 to 1910 and 1910 to 1911. He was a foundation member of the Australian Art Association in 1912. Mainly a painter of landscapes in a Scottish tradition, one of Mather's first commissions was to help decorate the dome of the Exhibition Buildings.Charles E. Gordon-Frazer, who occupied a studio in the early 1890s, was a Colonial School landscape and portrait painter.Leslie Andrew Wilkie (1879-1935), painter, teacher and gallery curator, occupied a studio during WW1 and into the early 1920s. Born in Melbourne, he studied at the National Gallery School from 1898 to 1901. Wilkie was art critic for the Age for a brief period and taught drawing at the National Gallery School in 1907-08. He later taught at the South Australian School of Art and was president of the RSASA.The East Studio appears to have been occupied by Alexander Colquhoun (1862-1941), perhaps the most noted of the artists on the fourth floor, who was there during the 1920s. Colquhoun was born in Glasgow and migrated to Australia in 1876. He painted landscapes, church interiors and portraits and was highly respected as a critic. He attended the National Gallery School in 1877-1879 and 1882-1887. He was art critic for the Melbourne Herald from 1914 to 1922, correspondent for the Philadelphian Christian Science Monitor in 1916-17 and art critic for the Age from 1926 until his death in 1941.The Melbourne Arts League occupied the East Studio from 1947 until the 1980s. Lorimer Johnstone used it for theatrical productions in the 1950s and for training young actors. Notable artists such as Fred Williams, Donald Friend and Rupert Bunny exhibited in Melbourne Arts League shows here in the 1950s.Associated People:Assoc.People J W LINDT, JOHN MATHER, C E GORDON-FRAZER.CENTRAL ACTIVITY DISTRICT - HERITAGE SHOPFRONT DATA SHEET 2010RBA Architects and Conservation Consultants in association with the National Trust of Australia (Victoria), 2010. CAD Shopfront Survey115 Collins StreetGraded ANoted: STEVENS shopfront (1909), gilding metalStatement of SignificanceAn ornate, intact Edwardian shopfront. Though not original to the building, it is sympathetic, and notable for the distinctive case windows, set out on legs. The claw-foot support, normally only found in furniture, is particularly notable.119 Collins StreetGraded ANoted: Pressed metal stall board with ventilation panels. Art Nouveau corner painted + gilded glass note identification on shopfront Central shop modernStatement of SignificanceA particularly notable Edwardian/1920s shopfront, though not original to building. It is one of the ‘display case’ style windows supported on a ‘leg’, that are only found in the ‘Paris end’ of Collins Street. The Art Nouveau painted side lights are unique in the CAD..NEWSPAPERS (TROVE)1891https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/241546289At HomeMiss Walter of Austral Buildings Collins Street was at home yesterday afternoon from 3 to 5 p.m..Miss Walter’s lovely rooms had been most artistically arranged by their fair occupier and the guests had an opportunity of viewing some of the splendid work executed by Miss Walter’s pupils, as a number of the pictures stood about on easels draped with silks.Tiny tables supplied with cake daintily cut bread and butter and biscuits were placed about the rooms and tea and coffee was served by number of young ladies pupils of Miss Walter.1891https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/147284898Mr John MatherThis popular artist is well settled down to work in his new studio in the Austral Buildings Collins Street Melbourne where he has established morning and afternoon painting classes. The studio is large and well lit and attractively furnished while it is not over laden with the heterogeneous collection so dear to the heart of the average artist. Mr mather’s room is made to appear what it is- a place for work and study and the number of sketches in it and water colour that adorns the walls proclaim the busy life of the painter who is ever on the watch for fresh subjects.Among his most recent work is a representation of Arthur's Seat at Dromana in which the atmosphere effect is particularly happy ...Among the pupils of Mr Mather the work of Miss Robertson of Kew a daughter of Mr James Robertson deserves to be singled out for praise1892https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/242859656MELBOURNE SHAKESPEARE SOCIETY. The ordinary monthly meeting of the Melbourne Shakespeare Society was held in the Austral Buildings, Collins street, on Friday evening last. The president, Mr Way, occupied the chair, he opened the proceeding by referring to several Shakespearian topics, among which were the sessional proceeding of the new Shakespeare Society, London…1892https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/196893348FINE ARTS. ART NOTES. A painting by Mr. J. Longstaff, which received a mention honourable at the Paris Salon, is now on view at Fletcher's Art Gallery, Austral- buildings, Collins-street. It represents a young mother, seated next to and leaning upon tho couch of her little child….1909https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/242065167An interesting exhibition of household appointments in copper repousse is on view at the studio of Miss Chris Lorimer, Austral Buildings, Collins street. The Australian flora is- cleverly introduced into the reliefs. In a fireside set, consisting of a copper fender, scuttle and screen, the waratah is the principal feature of the design. The clematis is introduced as the main decoration of an artistically designed tray. a landscape panel for a door Is a fine specimen of this class of work. Miss Lorimer also shows some good examples of wood carving, and a small collection -of water color .sketches.1914https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/92040432ART EXHIBITION.Mr. Leslie Wilkie opened on Monday at his studio, Austral-buildings, Collins-street, an exhibition of his paintings, which will be continued until 12th inst.. Portraiture and -landscape constitute the artist's scope of pictorial representation, but it is in dealing with the figure that he achieves his most pronounced successes…https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/242299567MANX SOCIETYManxmen In Melbourne have formed a society for mutual interest A meeting is to be held at Austral Buildings, Collins street, on August 27, when the executive committee will bring lip Its report, and a musical programme will no rendered….1940https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/11290599sale lias been completed by executors of the late Mr Septimus Miller

Names:

City of Melbourne

Topics:

Central Activities District Conservation Study 1985Conservation studiesFederation/Edwardian styleShops

Places:

Melbourne (Vic.)

Form/Genre:

Building Identification Forms (BIFs)

Record types:

Research and reports

Record number:

1191787