Kent's factory, 34-36 Little La Trobe Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
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Total copies: 1
Title:
Kent's factory, 34-36 Little La Trobe Street, Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 105988
Level of description:
Item from Collection: Heritage Collection (HC)
Type of materials:
Graphic materialsTextual material
Part of:
Series: Central City (BIF-CITY)
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UnrestrictedOpen access.
Use restrictions:
UnrestrictedPlease contact City of Melbourne Libraries about obtaining permission to reproduce images.
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RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER 2022:__________________________________________________DATE: 1928-9;ASSOCIATIONS: P J Kent; Nason & Pollard 34; Simpson, C. H., & Co Pty Ltd, 36DESIGNER: ROBERT B. HAMILTON;BUILDER: A T OrmePeriod: Inter-War.CONTEXT (WITH GJM HERITAGE) 2020, HODDLE GRID HERITAGE REVIEWStatement of SignificanceWhat is significant?34-36 Little Latrobe Street, Melbourne, a two-storey former factory and warehouse built in 1928-29.Elements that contribute to the significance of the place include (but are not limited to):· The original building form and scale;· The original face brick walls and original fabric including parapets, continuous painted renderlintels, pattern of window openings and central doorway;· The original steel frame windows; and· original details including the original timber bifold garage doors.Later alterations including the insertion of an aluminium framed shopfront to the street level façadeare not significant.How it is significant?34-36 Little La Trobe Street, Melbourne is of local historic and representative significance to the Cityof Melbourne.Why it is significant?34-36 Little La Trobe Street, Melbourne, a brick factory and warehouse built in 1928-29, is historically significant for its association with the industrial expansion in central Melbourne during the interwar period, and for the evidence it provides of the former conglomeration of businesses providing services to the fledgling motor vehicle industry. These businesses characterised and came to dominate Little La Trobe Street in the 1920s and 1930s, with the first such business established in Little La TrobeStreet in 1905. The site was associated with the motor vehicle industry until 1965. Among its tenants were long-standing occupants Nason & Pollard, engineers (later Central Motor Engineers) who ran their small engine reconditioning business from 34-36 Little La Trobe Street from 1930-65, initially manufacturing difficult to find parts for motorcycles. (Criterion A)34-36 Little La Trobe Street is significant as a highly intact example of an early interwar warehouse/factory building, constructed in 1928-29 to a design by architect Robert Bell Hamilton (1892-1948). It is representative of the many low scale warehouse/factory buildings in central Melbourne of a simple utilitarian character, utilising loadbearing face brick external walls with either a steel post and beam or reinforced concrete internal structure. These building are frequently located in minor streets and laneways with rear lane access to facilitate the movement of goods and materials in and out of them It is located within a context that retains a number of low scale factory warehousebuildings, and which, in the early twentieth century, comprised a conglomeration of businesses providing services to the fledgling motor car industry. It is distinguished by its retention of the original fenestration pattern, upper floor steel framed windows, large central opening for motor vehicle access,and the original timber bifold garage doors. (Criterion D)Primary sourceHoddle Grid Heritage Review (Context & GJM Heritage, 2020).GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM__________________________________________________CITY OF MELBOURNE BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATIONSIndex cardhttps://www.ancestry.com.au/imageviewer/collections/60672/images/44777_349574-01083?lang=en-AU&pId=8559351928 Nov 11101 ₤1638 Erection of building1938 alts to factory…__________________________________________________CONTEXT (WITH GJM HERITAGE) 2020, HODDLE GRID HERITAGE REVIEWHO1356Warehouse 34-36 Little La Trobe Street (1928-1929) Architect: Robert Bell HamiltonSummary· Historically significant as evidence of the conglomeration of businesses which served the fledgling 1920s-30s motor car industry.· Significant as representative of a simple utilitarian interwar warehouse/factory retaining the large central opening for motor vehicle access and original timber bifold garage doors.see https://www.planning.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/490254/Melbourne-C386melb-Warehouse-Statement-of-Significance-34-36-Little-La-Trobe-Street,-Melbourne,-July2020.pdfSITE HISTORYThe subject site forms part of Crown Allotment 17, Block 37, which was sold to Ozanne and Payne in 1837 (CoMMaps). The subject site first appears in plans from 1866, and again in 1888. By 1906, the site was occupied by two-single storey buildings (Fels, Lavelle & Mider 1993, Inventory no 2141). The buildings at 34 and 36 Little La Trobe Street were advertised for sale in 1925 as two cottages, on a site, which was described as ‘highly suited for the erection of a factory, store or workshop’ (Herald 7 October 1925: 13).Tenders were invited by architect Robert Bell Hamilton in November of 1928 for the erection of a two-storey brick factory on the subject site (Argus 10 November 1928:24). Construction started that year, with an estimated cost of £1638 (MBAI 11101).Records indicate that the site was constructed for a P J Kent (PROV VPRS 11201/P1 unit 137), though he does not appear to have occupied the building at any time. The builder was A T Orme (PROV VPRS 11201/P1 unit 137).The site housed multiple tenants, many of which were associated with motor vehicle businesses, which were concentrated in Little La Trobe Street at the time, the first such business appearing in 1905. In 1930, one floor of the building was occupied by Nason & Pollard, engineers (S&Mc 1930).Nason & Pollard (later operating as Polson Motor Parts Co Ltd and Central Motor Engineers) occupied the subject property for 35 years from 1930 to 1965.Edward Roy Nason, an accountant, founded his motorcycle parts manufacturing business with Herbert Pollard in 1927 (AAAA 2016:70). This is reflected in the name of the company when it first occupied the building at 34-36 Little La Trobe Street in 1930: Nason & Pollard. The pair purchased a small engine reconditioning business, and set about manufacturing parts for motorcycles that were difficult to find (AAAA 2016:70). Herbert Pollard died in 1936, at which point Pollard’s widow, as executor, dissolved the partnership, leaving the company solely to Nason (Age 28 September 1936). The wives of Nason and Pollard were both listed as partners in Polson Motor Parts Co Ltd in 1936 (Polson is presumably a combination of the two surnames) (Age 28 September 1936). During World War Two, the company used their new Maidstone factory to produce pistons (AAAA 2016:70).The company soon after became known as Central Motor Engineers. By 1947, Nason’s business pursuits had grown to directing three motor engineering companies: E R Nason & Co Ltd., Central Motor Engineers, and Polson Motor Parts Co Ltd (Age 10 April 1947).The company E R Nason & Co Ltd was founded in 1947 as a machine shop concentrating on the wholesale supply of parts and reconditioned engines (presumably playing a specific role in the broader network of Nason’s companies), and it is this company that continues to operate as Nason Engine Parts today (AAAA 2016:70).C H Simpson & Co, manufacturers’ agents, occupied the site by 1935 and remained until 1965 after which the building was used as a store and a hat factory named Material Hats Pty Ltd until at least 1974 (S&Mc 1935, 1960, 1965, 1974). The site operated briefly as a jazz café called The Metropolitan in the late 1990s before it was auctioned in 1998 (see Figure 1) (Age 26 June 1996:22, 24 March 2000: 68).The subject building was converted into a retail space and has been occupied by Melbourne Artists’store was opened in Hampton East, Melbourne, in 1975, with the second store opened at 34-36 Little La Trobe Street in c2000. Today, its central city position makes it popular with art, design and architecture students. Melbourne Artists’ Supplies continues to be run by the Gardner family, who have recently opened another store at Brunswick, making a total of three stores (Elder 2016).No notable alterations have been made to the building, and the façade closely resembles the original architect’s drawings, though it has since been painted (see Figure 2) (MBAI).Figure 1. Showing the subject building in a sale advertisement in 1998. (Source: Age 4 March 1998:20)Figure 2. The original façade drawings by RB Hamilton. (Source: PROV VPRS 11200/P1 unit 1368)Robert Bell Hamilton, architectRobert Bell Hamilton (1892-1948) was educated at Scotch College, before being articled by R B Whitaker for four years. Hamilton then moved to the practice of Klingender & Alsop as their chief draftsman, before seeing service in the AIF (Raworth 2012:313). Hamilton later studied at the Architectural Association in London, before being qualified as an associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects and joining the Bombay Government (India) as an assistant architect (Raworth 2012:314). Hamilton returned to Melbourne in 1921, and re-joined F L Klingender, whom he had worked under at Klingender & Alsop, as a partner. This partnership lasted until 1925, during which time Hamilton’s reputation as a domestic architect was established (Raworth 2012:314). By the late 1920s, Hamilton was one of the most prolific architects of the Tudor Revival style in Melbourne, with a strong emphasis on Arts & Crafts details. Many of his works, including flats, houses and shops, are still extant in areas such as South Yarra, Malvern and Toorak. Also, a figure in the public life of Victoria, Hamilton was elected as the MLA for Toorak in 1945, and served variously as a councillor for Prahran and Mornington Shire (Raworth 2012:314).__________________________________________________NEWSPAPERS (TROVE)1925LOT 2-34 36 LITTLE LATROBE STREET Close Elizabeth Street LAND 20ft x 60ft to 20ftRoad with 2 Brick Cottages, party WallSPLENDID birt for FACTORY STORE, or WORKSHOP.1928https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/3968159/465263ROBERT B. HAMILTON, ARIBA. London,A R.V.I.A.,Architect, 89 Queen Street, .Invites TENDERS for the erection ofTWO-STORY BRICK FACTORY PREMISES,34-36 Little Latrobe Street, city.Deposit, £15.Tenders Close Monday, 15th November, 12 Noon.Tel. Cent 4527..1931NEW COMPANIES.VICTORIA.A.S.A. Equipment Co. Pty., Ltd., radio and wireless company. — Capital: £5000. Subscribers: W. M. Sweeney, D. Arguello and E. A. Austin(36 Little Latrobe St., Melbourne, 17/3/31).DIRECTORIES OF VICTORIA, MELBOURNE-SANDS AND KENNY, SANDS & MCDOUGALL_________________________________________________1930(18-20 Auto Welders & Engineers)34 Nason & Pollard, mtr engnrs36 Vacant(38 Sterling & Douglas..)193534 Nason & Pollard, mtr engnrs36 Simpson, C. H., & Co Pty Ltd, mnfrs' agents194234 Central Motor Engineers. nitr engnrs36 Simpson Agencies Py Ld, mnfrs agnts
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1257299
| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 105988 | 1 JPEG : 505 KB ; A4 | Single Item (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |