Farrants Building, 387 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
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Total copies: 1
Title:
Farrants Building, 387 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 105850
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 2022:__________________________________________________DATE: 1926;ASSOCIATIONS: Farrant, Theo G;DESIGNER: Wood, James A;BUILDER: Rispin Brothers.GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM.VICTORIAN HERITAGE INVENTORY H7822-1463https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/93781839 - building on Lot 4 either this site or No.385. 1880 -one storey building. 1888and 1905 -one storey building..CITY OF MELBOURNE BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATIONS1926 July 8713 ₤3700 Erection of new buildingSep 8959 shopfront1930shelter shedetc to 1990.LOVELL CHEN 2017. GUILDFORD & HARDWARE LANEWAYS PRECINCT387 Little Bourke Street Farrant’s Building C Significant Three storey interwar retail/manufacturing building - - Also significant to Hardware Lane.3.5.4 Farrant’s Building, 387 Little Bourke StreetThis property is known as Farrant’s Building, at 387 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne. It was previously graded C.What is Significant?HistoryFarrant’s Building was constructed in 1926 for saddle manufacturer Farrant’s, a firm which had been in operation since the late 1880s.Figure 48).80 The building was constructed after the closure and demolition of Kirks Horse Bazaar, although the company had occupied a small shop on the site from the mid-1890s.81 The business was one of many selling horse-related products and providing horse-related services, which were associated with this area of Melbourne and its proximity to the horse bazaars. The company advertised that it sold ‘riding saddles, bridles, harness [and] collars’, with ‘no factory made goods’ (82With the subdivision and sale of land after the closure of the horse bazaar in 1925-1926, Farrant’s applied to the City of Melbourne to construct a three-storey building at the Little Bourke Street site, to the corner of Hardware Lane, to a value of £3,700.83 The building incorporated two ground floor shops fronting the newly created extension to Hardware Lane. Farrant’s remained at the site at least until the early 1950s, although parts of the building were variously occupied by other businesses including a leather goods merchant, manufacturers’ agents and embroiders.84DescriptionConstructed in 1926, the three-storey Farrant’s Building comprises three-storey retail and manufacturing premises. Presumed to be of masonry construction, it is rendered to produce an understated interwar classical expression with corners realised as stylised columns rising to abstracted capitals below a shallow parapet and triangular pediment. The name, Farrant’s Building, is in realised rendered lettering at second floor level. At ground floor level, the forms of a canted corner entry (with the upper storeys forming a short cantilever) and of early shopfronts survive. However, original window joinery has typically been lost at ground floor level. At the upper levels, original window arrangements survive throughout and incorporate unusual and decorative arrangements of fixed and casement windows providing light and air to the manufacturing spaces. Despite alterations at ground floor level and overpainting more broadly, the form and character of Farrant’s Building survives.How is it Significant?Farrant’s Building at 387 Little Bourke Street, was constructed in 1926 for saddle manufacturer Farrant’s, and is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance.Why is it Significant?The building is historically significant for its association with the commercial horse-related products and services businesses which were concentrated in this area of the precinct. These businesses evolved in connection with the local horse bazaars, particularly in the nineteenth century. Unusually, Farrant’s opted to construct this building towards the end of that period, and subsequently maintained their operation into the 1950s. Together with Hardware House across Little Bourke Street, Farrant’s Building also illustrates the redevelopment of this area of the precinct after the closure of Kirk’s Horse Bazaar. Aesthetically, the building is a substantially externally intact and well-resolved corner commercial building. Its large original windows to the upper levels, with unusual and decorative arrangements of fixed and casement windows, were designed to provide light and air into the original manufacturing spaces. While it has an understated interwar classical expression, details of note include corners realised as stylised columns rising to abstracted capitals below a shallow parapet and triangular pediment, the rendering of the name ‘Farrant’s Building’ at second floor level, and the canted corner entry..Figure 48 Advertisement for Farrant’s, 387 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne, 1928Source: Weekly Times, 15 September 1928, p. 90.NOTESCites City of Melbourne Building Application Index, 387 Little Bourke Street, BA 8713, 10 October 1927, held by Lovell Chen..
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Research and reports
Record number:
1252806
| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 105850 | 1 JPEG : 469 KB ; A4 | Single Item (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |