State Bank Building, 231-235 Swanston Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
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Total copies: 1
Title:
State Bank Building, 231-235 Swanston Street, Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 109289
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 2023:__________________________________________________DATE: 1961;ASSOCIATIONS: State Savings Bank;DESIGNER: Meldrum & Partners, with R Cousland;BUILDER: McDougal and IrelandPeriod: Post-WarNotable features 1985: Stone cladding, modular window placement: uncommon combination determined by corner site and public status.____________________________________GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM cites RAIA 20th century Architecture Register_______________________________________City of Melbourne online mapsFormerly the State Savings Bank of Victoria Centre. A twelve storey concrete and curtain-walled office building with basement and ground level retail. Designed by Meldrum & Partners and Robert Cousland and built in 1961. Sub-divided into twelve units in 2002._______________________________________Cross-section108 Oct 1961 image Sutcliffe P/LThis is the 'Savings Bank Centre', cnr Swanston St. & Post Office Place, Melb. Basement & ground floor are occupied by the Bank, remaining upper II floors are for lease. The two projecting windows on the Dromana granite-faced east elevation are for display use by the 1st floor lessee. South facing curtain wall is glass & aluminium. Construction, steel frame. Meldrum & Ptners, archts in conjunction with Mr. R. Cousland, chief arch+ for the State Savings Bank of Vic; J.L. & E.M. Daly, str engrs; W.E. Bassett & Assoc; mech engrs; McDougal & Ireland, bldrs.109 Nov 1961 Mark StrizicImage`C-S Oct I, 1961 showed the dignified south & east elevations of the new Vic State Savings Bank bldg in Swanston St, Melb. This photo shows the north & east. The north elevn is a pretty casual arch'I composition hopefully awaiting obliteration by an adjacent multi-storey bldg, but in the meantime displaying this banal parody on the bank's facilities. It is difficult to conceive why any institution should so wilfully deface its own property and the city sky-line with such a naively-conceived, crudely-executed & scale-less piece of advertising. In these sophisticated days, when the admen speak of 'projecting a desirable company imagethrough appropriate symbolism'', the thumbs-down sign seems an unfriendly gesture to be associated with a banking house.'_______________________________________heritage ALLIANCE, 2008, 266Job 2008-07 Survey of Post-War Built Heritage in Victoria: 040-007https://www.heritage.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/61501/Post_war_study_Stage1_Vol2_PubArt.pdfSignificance Architectural; aestheticThis multi-storey curtain-walled office building, virtually unchanged since its completion, is probably one of the most intact examples of its type remaining in the Melbourne CBD. Included on the RAIA Twentieth Century Buildings RegisterReferences: Clay Products Journal of Aus, Aug 1959, p 27
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Record types:
Research and reports
Record number:
1264249
| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 109289 | 1 PDF : 1,039 KB ; A4 | Group of Items (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |