State Savings Bank of Victoria, 233-243 Queen Street and 433 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
Archives
Total copies: 1
Title:
State Savings Bank of Victoria, 233-243 Queen Street and 433 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 108080
Level of description:
Item from Collection: Heritage Collection (HC)
Type of materials:
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 2022:__________________________________________________DATE: 1968;ASSOCIATIONS: State Savings Bank of Victoria;DESIGNER: Godfrey & Spowers, Hughes Mewton and Lobb;Period: Post Second-War.CONTEXT (WITH GJM HERITAGE) 2020, HODDLE GRID HERITAGE REVIEWStatement of SignificanceWhat is significant?The Former State Savings Bank of Victoria, 233-243 Queen Street, a multi-storey office building constructed in 1967-1968.Elements that contribute to the significance of the place include (but are not limited to):• The building’s original external form, materials and detailing• The building’s high level of integrity to its original design.Later alterations made to the street level facades are not significant.How it is significant?The Former State Savings Bank of Victoria at 233-243 Queen Street is of historical and representative significance to the City of Melbourne.Why it is significant?Constructed in 1967-1968 to a design by Godfrey & Spowers Hughes, Mewton and Lobb, the Former State Savings Bank of Victora building has a clear association with the postwar building boom which transformed central Melbourne into a modern high-rise city. The design of these commercial buildings from the late 1950s to the mid-1970s – many of which were architect designed – was driven by the commercial demands and status afforded by a dominant city presence (Criterion A).The Former State Savings Bank of Victoria building is a fine and highly intact representative example of a Post-War Modernist commercial building. The building strongly reflects the style which was popular in the 1960s to the mid 1970s, particularly in central Melbourne. Constructed as a 10-storey building, the Former State Savings Bank of Victoria building clearly demonstrates typical characteristics of a 1960s to mid 1970s structure, including solid grid-like curtain wall facades of regularly spaced, frameless glazed openings set in plain dark brick facades and a highly prominent, contrasting podium base. These demonstrate important aspects of the Post-War Modernist style (Criterion D).Primary sourceHoddle Grid Heritage Review (Context P/L & GJM Heritage, 2020).GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM 433 Lonsdale Street & 235-243 Queen Street, Melbourne_________________________________________City of Melbourne online mapsAn eleven storey brick clad concrete office building with a basement and ground level retail. Built in 1968._________________________________________CONTEXT (WITH GJM HERITAGE) 2020, HODDLE GRID HERITAGE REVIEWSUMMARYThe multi-storey office building on the south-west corner of Queen and Lonsdale streets was designed by architects and engineers, Godfrey & Spowers Hughes, Mewton and Lobb to house the titles office branch of the State Savings Bank of Victoria. The building was constructed in 1967-1968._________________________________________SITE HISTORYThe multi-storey office building on the south-west corner of Queen and Lonsdale streets was designed by architects and engineers, Godfrey & Spowers Hughes, Mewton and Lobb for the State Savings Bank of Victoria (BAP), and constructed in 1967-1968.The origins of the State Savings Bank of Victoria can be traced back to 1842 when it was founded in Melbourne as the Port Phillip Savings Bank under New South Wales’ legislation. Branches of the Bank were subsequently established in other parts of the colony. Owned by the State of Victoria from 1852, from 1853 each bank branch was made a separate and independent institution with its own trustees and officers.Between 1896 and 1912 the independent Savings Banks of Victoria merged to become a single institution, formalised by legislation in 1912. By 1929 deposits with the Bank accounted for almost two thirds of deposits across all banks in Victoria (Merrett 2008; Trove 2009).The bank took a keen interest in social welfare and contributed to the construction of housing. In the 1920s the State Savings Bank created a housing estate in Port Melbourne, one of a number of initiatives to encourage home ownership in the early to mid-twentieth century. After World War Two the Bank began lending on overdraft to the co-operative housing societies. By June 1954 some 51 societies had received overdraft facilities from the State Savings Bank, amounting to £15.7 million. (Merrett 2008) The State Savings Bank was sold to the Commonwealth Bank in 1990 (Trove 2009).The State Savings Bank of Victoria had occupied an earlier building at 241-243 Queen Street from 1958 (Progress, Feb 1968:2; S&Mc), before constructing the present building. Architectural drawings dated January 1967 show the key elevation and floor plans of the new building. The plans showed the banking chamber entrance off Lonsdale Street (which had a two-storey ceiling height), and entrances to a lettable space and the lift lobby off Queen Street (Figure 1 - Figure 3). The City of Melbourne received a building permit application for the multi-storey office building in September 1967 (with an estimated total cost of £1,074,097) (BAI).The February 1968 edition of the State Savings Bank of Victoria staff magazine Progress published an illustration of the building on its cover (Figure 4) and reported that the 11-storey building, that would house the bank’s titles office branch (which had occupied the earlier building on the site), would be completed by the end of 1968. The article continued… the fully air conditioned building, designed by Godfrey and Spowers, Hughes, Mewton and Lobb, under the direction of our Chief Architect, Mr R Cousland, is based on the use of steel sections from the new BHP mills at Whyalla, South Australia. The frame using this metal is lighter and more economical than has previously been possible with Australian steel.The bank was to occupy part of the ground and first floors, with the remainder of the building available to let. This was the second multi-storey building the bank erected in the post-war period (Progress, Feb 1968:2).In 1970 the second to seventh floors were occupied by the Town and Country Planning Board and seventh to tenth floors by the Valuer-General’s Office (S&Mc, 1970). In 2019 the building is called Melbourne Chambers (CoMMaps)..Godfrey & Spowers Hughes, Mewton and Lobb, architectsGodfrey and Spowers was established in c 1901 by architects, William Scott Purves Godfrey and Henry Howard Spowers. The firm designed a large number of houses, warehouses and institutional buildings and was best known for its designs for bank buildings.Godfrey’s son, William Purves Race Godfrey, joined the practice in 1931 as a student. Spowers died the following year and Race Godfrey was made partner in c 1934 The firm was suspended in 1941 as a direct result of World War II, during which time Race Godfrey worked with the RAAF as a civilian architect in Melbourne and Sydney and his father, William Godfrey carried out commissions for air-raid shelters. Race Godfrey recommenced practice late in 1944. His father did not continue with the new firm, and retired from practice in the same year.By the early 1950s, Race Godfrey expanded the firm to include new partners, Eric Hughes, Geoffrey Mewton and John Lobb, becoming Godfrey Spowers, Hughes Mewton and Lobb. The expanded firm specialised in large office and institutional buildings. Notable commissions within central Melbourne included the Allans Building at 278 Collins Street (1959), the Bank of Adelaide Building, 265-69 Collins Street (1959-60), the AMP Building, 344-50 Collins Street (1966-68) and the State Savings Bank of Victoria, 233-43 Queen Street (1967-68). The National Mutual Building, Collins Street, Melbourne (1962-5, demolished 2015) was a key work for the firm during this period.Figure 1. North elevation to Lonsdale Street. Drawing by Godfrey & Spowers Hughes, Mewton and Lobb, dated January 1967 (BAP).Figure 2. East elevation to Queen Street. Drawing by Godfrey & Spowers Hughes, Mewton and Lobb, dated January 1967 (BAP)..REFERENCESContextual History references contained within City of Melbourne Hoddle Grid Heritage Review: Postwar Thematic Environmental History 1945-1975Building Application Index (BAI), City of Melbourne.Building Application Plans (BAP), City of Melbourne.City of Melbourne Libraries online Heritage Collection, reference nos. as cited.City of Melbourne Maps (CoMMaps), Site Details.Goad, Phillip, Ed. (2003), Judging Architecture, Royal Australian Institute of Architects (Victoria).Murphy, Guy & Bryce Raworth (2012), ‘Godfrey & Spowers’ in Philip Goad & Julie Willis’s (Eds.) (2012), The Encyclopedia of Australian Architecture, Port Melbourne.Progress, State Savings Bank of Victoria Staff Magazine, via StateBank of Victoria Social Networking Site, <http://www.statebankvictoria.org/?page_id=3698>, accessed November 2019.Sands & McDougall Directories (S&McConville, 2021:).
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| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 108080 | 1 JPEG : 465 KB ; A4 | Single Item (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |