Melbourne House, 354-360 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
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Total copies: 1
Title:
Melbourne House, 354-360 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 105874
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.
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RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER 2022:__________________________________________________IMAGES:https://flic.kr/p/2nsjWdPhttps://flic.kr/p/2ns81sp.Period: Inter-WarDATE: 1922-3;ASSOCIATIONS: AG Healing motor and push bike manufacturers;DESIGNER: Sidney Smith Ogg and Serpell;BUILDER: Reinforced Concrete & Monier Pipe Construction Co.CONTEXT (WITH GJM HERITAGE) 2020, HODDLE GRID HERITAGE REVIEWStatement of SignificanceWhat is significant?Melbourne House at 354-360 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne, a six-storey commercial and manufacturing building of reinforced concrete built in 1923.Elements that contribute to the significance of the place include (but are not limited to):• The original building form, materials and detail;• Pattern and size of original fenestration;• External wall surfaces of painted cement render; and• Decoration to the lintel at the base of the first floor.Alterations at the street-level shopfront and replacement of glazing at the principal and side elevations are not significant. They have not resulted in a major adverse impact on the integrity of the place.How it is significant?Melbourne House is of local historical and representative significance to the City of Melbourne.Why it is significant?Melbourne House at 360 Little Bourke Street is historically significant as a relatively intact example of the first wave of tall buildings constructed between World War One and World War Two that replaced the low-scale buildings dating from the nineteenth and early twentieth century. This wave of development evidences the rapid expansion of Melbourne’s business and manufacturing sector. (Criterion A)Melbourne House at 360 Little Bourke Street is historically significant as a purpose-built building for the business A G Healing & Co. Alfred George Healing established a wholesale motorcycle and bicycle trading business in Richmond in 1896, moving to Niagara Lane by 1902 and to 354-360 Post Office Place (the subject site), by 1910. The commissioning of 360 Little Bourke Street in 1923, corresponded with an interstate expansion of the company, which by the 1930s, had made A G Healing & Co into the largest motorcycle manufacturer and retailer in Australia. A G Healing & Co moved from Melbourne House in 1927. (Criterion A)Melbourne House is significant as a relatively intact, competent and representative example of the interwar Chicagoesque style, which demonstrates the exploration of building styles that adapted classical traditions to the new taller forms. The building exhibits a strong vertical emphasis resulting from projecting pilasters and mullions and a substantial cornice. Articulated spandrels at each floor separate the horizontally proportioned windows. In spite of changes to upper level window joinery and glazing the building retains its original pattern of fenestration and the broad character of the original building. Built in 1923 to a design by well-known commercial architects Sydney Smith, Ogg & Serpell, Melbourne House is significant as a modest example of the widespread adoption of reinforced concrete structural frame technology which allowed buildings to be constructed to greater heights, with larger windows and more open floor areas than earlier load bearing building systems allowed. Its use of the patented Monier system of reinforced concrete construction, promoted by the Reinforced Concrete & Monier Pipe Construction Co. from 1905, is a relatively late example. It (Criterion D)Primary sourceHoddle Grid Heritage Review (Context & GJM Heritage, 2020).GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM.VICTORIAN HERITAGE INVENTORY H7822-1267https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/91821839 map - 2 buildings on site (Lot 12). 1855 - "White Hart Hotel" on this site.1880 - 2 storey building(s). 1888 - 1 & 2 storey buildings; Hutchison Ironworks and City Family Hotel1905 - # 354-356: 1 storey, Metters Bros., Foundry # 358-360: 2 storey, Bush Inn Hotel.CONTEXT (WITH GJM HERITAGE) 2020, HODDLE GRID HERITAGE REVIEWHO1345Melbourne House354-360 Little Bourke Street(1923)Architect: Sydney Smith, Ogg & Serpell· Historically significant as evidence of the first wave of the rapid expansion of business and manufacturing in the interwar period and as purpose built for motorcycle manufacturer and retailer, A G Healing & Co.· Significant as representative of the interwar Chicogoesque style, and of reinforced concrete technology which allowed buildings to be constructed to greater heights with larger windows and larger open floor spaces..SITE HISTORYIn 1839, two buildings existed on the subject site, and by 1855 the White Hart Hotel occupied the land. In 1888, a single-storey building on site housed Hutchison ironworkers and a two-storey building, the City Family Hotel; by 1905 a foundry and the Bush Inn Hotel were in operation on the site (Fels, Lavelle & Mider 1993, Inventory no 267). Plans show that in 1910, prior to construction of the current building, the site, then addressed as 354-360 Post Office Place (Post Office Place was a portion of Little Bourke Street between Queen and Elizabeth streets), was occupied by A G Healing, a cycle tyre and plating works company (Mahlsted Map no 13, 1910).A newspaper article of 1922 reported on the planned construction of a four-storey business block for Messrs A G Healing & Co at the corner of Post Office Place and White Hart Lane at a cost of £24,000. With a floor area of 40,000 square feet, the reinforced fire-resistant concrete building was designed by architects Sydney Smith, Ogg & Serpell and constructed by The Reinforced Concrete & Monier Pipe Construction Pty Ltd. Windows utilised fire-resisting glass, fireproof stairs, and fireproof doors. Passenger and goods elevators were included in the design. Messrs Healing planned to occupy the entire ground and first floors, with upper floors let to tenants for warehouse purposes (Herald 13 December 1922:16).The design of the building actually constructed (today’s subject building) differed in a number of ways from the original design (see Figure 1). The building constructed was increased in height from four storeys to six storeys (likely due to a growth in business at the time), some of the more decorative features were removed, and ‘Melbourne House’ was inscribed on the front of the building replacing ‘A G Healing Coy Pty Ltd’.The current six-storey building was constructed in 1923. The construction of a reinforced concrete warehouse had begun by December 1923, and that the warehouse was subdivided in July 1924 (MBAI 6036). By 1929, shop fronts had been constructed (MBAI 10643). The 1925 Mahlstedt plan shows the newly completed building (see Figure 2).Figure 1. An impression of the building constructed for A G Healing & Co Pty Ltd in 1923 at 354-360 Post Office Place (today’s 354-360 Little Bourke Street). The building actually constructed on the subject site differed to the plan shown, most obviously in being built as a six-storey structure, not four-storey and the deletion of the tower as depicted above. (Source: Herald 13 December 1922:16).Figure 2. 354-360 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne. (Source: Mahlsted Map Section no 13, 1925)By 1925, wholesale cycle (motorcycle and bicycle) traders, A G Healing & Co, operated branches in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide (Advertiser 20 November 1925:18). A description of A G Healing Ltd by Museums Victoria states:Alfred George Healing established a business in Bridge Road Richmond in 1896 initially as an agency for the London-based Haddon Cycle Company. By 1902, the A.G. Healing Ltd name appeared with an address in Niagara Lane, Melbourne. The company began importing FN motor cycles in 1903 and also marketed its own motor cycle under the 'Petrel' brand… In 1910, John 'Bert' Rhodes was appointed as Manager and the firm expanded its range of local and imported motor cycle components and engines…By the end of the First World War, Healings had become the largest motor cycle business in Australia. Their Healing bicycle brand was also well-known.By the 1930s the company had diversified into domestic goods, especially household radios, and motor cycle manufacture ceased. Just after World War Two, the company produced a powered version of its bicycle using a 30 c.c Wayco two-stroke engine mounted over the rear wheel. The 'auto cycle' concept was popular in the UK and Europe at the time as cars and motorcycles were expensive and hard to obtain. Petrol rationing also stayed in force until 1949 in Australia. The arrival of cheaper mopeds, scooters and cars in the 1950s soon made the auto cycle hard to sell and it largely disappeared. Healings [then] became a major local manufacturer of television sets and whitegoods (Museums Victoria Collections 2018a). Plans of 360 Little Bourke Street from 1925 indicate that A G Healing & Co, cycle works, occupied a new building on the site, which was constructed for the company in the same year (see Figures 1 and 2) (Mahlsted Map no 13, 1925; Herald 27 April 1927:1). A new factory was built in 1927 for A G Healing Ltd in Franklin Street, Melbourne, to a design by architects Sydney Smith, Ogg & Serpell (Age 27 April 1927:13). The company moved from 354-360 Little Bourke Street to its Franklin Street headquarters in that year. Melbourne House was sold for £68,000 in 1926 and the company closed in the 1970s (Herald 25 November 1926:1).Melbourne directories in 1925 indicate that the building had been named Melbourne House by that year, and that all the floors were occupied by a variety of companies. These companies were almost all manufacturers or importers (S&Mc 1925). This continued to be the case through to 1950, with manufacturers and merchants continuing to be listed at the site (S&Mc 1933, 1938, 1942, 1950).Some businesses maintained their tenancy in the building for long periods of time: for example, by 1950 Robert A Stevens, shoe adjusters had occupied part of the building for 20 years (Argus 21 February 1950:3). The building has not been altered significantly since it was constructed. An electric sign was added to the façade of the building in 1936, and timber staircases were replaced with steel stairs in 1986 (MBAI 16563; 61593). The six-storey building was refurbished in 1986 (MBAI 62155). This coincides with the time period that the building was used by the Leo Cussen Institute of Law; the building permit card indicates that the Institute made further changes in 1988 (MBAI 64638).In 1992, Melbourne House was put up for auction, and purchased by Leo Cussen Institute in 1993. Described as substantial retail premises with five upper floors, the building was let on long leases to Paddy Pallin and the Leo Cussen Institute (see Figure 3) (Age 17 August 1992:26). Leo Cussen Institute of Law, an organisation established in 1972, occupied Melbourne House by 1988 (Age 17 September 1988:246).Leo Cussen Institute of Law, an organisation established in 1972, occupied Melbourne House by 1988 (Age 17 September 1988:246). The Leo Cussen Institute purchased Melbourne House in 1993 and continued to operate from the building until selling it in 2017 (CT:V9759 F125; Sydney Morning Herald 26 September 2017). Today operating as the Leo Cussen Centre for Law, the institute was named after one of the leading figures in Australian legal history, Sir Leo Cussen (Leo Cussen Centre for Law 2018).Sydney Smith, Ogg & Serpell, architectsSydney Wigham Smith (1868-1933) and Charles A Ogg (1867-1932) formed a partnership in 1889. Smith was initially articled to his father, Sydney William Smith, who worked as an engineer and municipal surveyor in suburban Melbourne for some 30 years. Ogg worked for Reed, Henderson & Smart for five years before entering the partnership (Coleman 2012: 676).The firm designed houses, shops, banks, hotels and churches, and their early designs drew on the Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau styles of the United Kingdom. One of the notable examples in the city is Milton House, Flinders Lane (1901). From c1911 to 1914, the firm produced a series of innovative hotel designs, influenced by Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau styles, largely in the inner suburbs, including the Bendigo Hotel, Collingwood (1911); Perseverance Hotel, Fitzroy (1911); and Kilkenny Inn, King Street, Melbourne (1913). Similar characteristics can be seen in their designs for a series of State Savings Banks, including Moonee Ponds (1905), Elsternwick (1907), and Yarraville (1909). All have symmetrical, red-brick façades with various combinations of bay, arched and circular window forms and render, wrought iron and terracotta detailing (Coleman 2012).From the 1920s the work emerging from Sydney Smith, Ogg & Serpell represented some of Melbourne’s largest commercial buildings, and reflected changing stylistic influences, including the commercial palazzo form. Awarded the 1933 Royal Victorian Institute of Architects’ Street Architecture Medal, the Port Authority Building, Market Street, Melbourne (1929-31) is acknowledged as representing a culmination of these changes in stylistic influences. (Coleman 2012: 677) The Port Authority Building is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register (VHR No. H0965).Smith and Ogg both died in the early 1930s; Charles Edward Serpell (1879-1962), who joined the partnership in 1921, continued to practice until he retired in 1956 (Coleman 2012: 676).Reinforced Concrete & Monier Pipe Construction Co, buildersThe Monier system of construction was patented in 1867 by Joseph Monier, a French manufacturer of garden ware who made planter pots of coarse mortar reinforced with a grid of small-diameter iron bars. The technique and patents were gradually extended to cover, amongst other things, arch bridges. Monier appears to have sold his patents in various territories outright and died in poverty in 1906 (John Monash).In Australia in the late 1890s, the Sydney firm of Carter Gummow & Co (later Gummow & Forrest), with their engineer W J Baltzer, held Australian rights to the Monier reinforced concrete system. Professional interest in the new technique was promoted through engineering societies and journals and at exhibitions. The technique was adopted by The Reinforced Concrete and Monier Pipe Construction Co, formed in 1905 in Melbourne. From 1905 to 1914, John Monash was the engineering director of the company. The company engineered and manufactured reinforced concrete bridges, tanks, silos and buildings (John Monash).REFERENCESAdvertiser, as cited.Age, as cited.Argus, as cited.Coleman, Ros ‘Sydney Smith & Ogg’ in Goad, Philip & Willis, Julie (eds.) 2012, The Encyclopedia of Australian Architecture, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, as cited.Context, ’Hoddle Grid Heritage Review Volume 2: Built and Urban Heritage – Assessed places and precincts’, June 2018.Context Pty Ltd 2012, ‘Thematic History: A History of the City of Melbourne’s Urban Environment’, prepared for the City of Melbourne.Dingle, Tony 2008, ‘Manufacturing’ in eMelbourne, School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne, http://www.emelbourne.net.au, accessed 19 December 2018.Fels, M, Lavelle S, and Mider D 1993, ‘Archaeological Management Plan’, prepared for the City of Melbourne.Herald, as cited.John Monash: Engineering enterprise to WW1, http://www.aholgate.com/mainpages/list_main.html, accessed 19 December 2018.Land Victoria, Certificates of Title (CT), as cited.Leo Cussen Centre for Law 2018, ‘About Us: our History’, http://www.leocussen.edu.au, accessed 19 December 2018.Mahlsted’s Pty Ltd 1925 City of Melbourne detail fire survey, Section 1, Mahlsted, Melbourne.Mahlsted’s Pty Ltd 1948, City of Melbourne detail fire survey, Section 1, Mahlsted Pty Ltd, Melbourne.Marsden, Susan 2000, Urban Heritage: the rise and postwar development of Australia’s capital city centres, Australian Council of National Trusts and Australian Heritage Commission, Canberra.Melbourne Building Application Index (MBAI), retrieved from Ancestry.com 2015, Victoria, Australia, Selected Trial Brief and Correspondence Registers and Other Images, 1837-1993 [database online], http/ /ancestry.com.au, accessed online November 2018.Museums Victoria Collections 2018a, https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/397658, accessed 17 December 2018Museums Victoria Collections 2018b, https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/258572, accessed 17 December 2018.Sands & McDougall, Melbourne and Suburban Directories (S&Mc), as cited.Sydney Morning Herald, as cited.
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1253490
| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 105874 | 1 JPEG : 502 KB ; A4 | Single Item (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |