Scottish House, 90-98 William Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
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Total copies: 1
Title:
Scottish House, 90-98 William Street, Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 110149
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 2024:__________________________________________________DATE: 1908;ASSOCIATIONS: McIlwraith, McEacharn Ltd.;DESIGNER: D Ebro, Charles A.;BUILDER: Baxter, JamesPeriod: EdwardianNotable features: Stone facing_______________________________VICTORIA HERITAGE REGISTER H0606Statement of SignificanceLast Updated: 10/02/2000What is significant?Scottish House was designed as an office block for the prominent shipping agents McIlwraith McEacharn Ltd in 1907 by architect Charles D'Ebro. The six storey building has a light well in the centre and the construction is a steel frame with masonry walls and composite reinforced concrete and timber floors. The floors are six inches (150mm) thick, possibly with coke-breeze aggregate and expanded steel as reinforcement. The front facade, in a restrained English Renaissance style is faced with sandstone and has a rusticated base with plain arched openings. The slightly projecting central bay is crowned with a pediment. The architraves are minimal. The interior was considerably altered in the 1950s, entailing major alterations to walls, toilets and lifts, and original finishes and details were lost. The columned main chamber and the stair forming a ring around the central light court form notable spaces.How is it significant?Scottish House is of architectural and historical significance to the State of Victoria.Why is it significant?Scottish House is architecturally significant as an office building that expresses both in style and structure the commercial values and status of a leading Australian company. The building is significant for its fine stonework. The subdued elegance of the design ideally displays the cut sandstone of the main facade. The ground floor is equally elegant for its bluestone arcade with carved keystones and red granite columns. The use of reinforced concrete floors is an early example of this structural system in a city building. The building is unusual for the dual entries which lead separately to the main ground floor chamber or to the lift and staircase which serves the upper floors.Scottish House is historically significant as the head office for more than seventy years of the mercantile agents and shipowners, McIlwraith McEacharn & Co. The construction of Scottish House confirmed their position as a leading Australian coastal shipping firm. During the latter decades of the nineteenth century the firm helped pioneer the export of frozen meat, making them one of the most innovative and important shipping company’s of the period.____________________GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM cites source 80,REID, KEITH & JOHN R, 1976, MELBOURNE CBD STUDY AREA 7 (source 80); 87-HISTORICAL ANALYSISThe architect, Charles A. d '£bro, was articled to engineers in London prior to accepting appointment as assistant to the South Australian Railways in 1876. He commenced his practice in Melbourne in 1881 and owing to the lack of opportunities in engineering, he concentrated on architecture. He was president of the R.V.I.A. 1905-6 and his other works include the Grandstand at the Melbourne Cricket Club; the Equity Trustee's Building and Adelaide S.S. Building, Collins Street.Architectural ANALYSISBuilt for a well known firm of early shipping agents, the building is a good, subdued example of English Renaissance The facade has a rusticated base with plain arched opening glazed to two fl=rs, fine stone detailing to floors above with minimal architraves; all capped by a central with rusticated towers at each end. The cornice line entablatures line with those of the adjacent Aus Club building and its beige =louring harmonises with the Queensland building._______________________________________HERITAGE BRANCH, MINISTRY FOR PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT 1987 CITY OF MELBOURNE CENTRAL CITY NOTABLE BUILDINGS CITATIONSSTATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCEA five-storey office bUilding constructed in 1907-8 for McIlwraith McEacharn Ltd, shipping agents and designed by Charles d'Ebro. Scottish House is a Significant example of d'Ebro's work, an important reflection of the conservative approach to mercantile buildings early in the 20th century and has important associations with Austrlia's export/import economy._______________________________________VICTORIA HERITAGE DATABASEhttps://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/65873NATIONAL TRUST OF AUSTRALIA (VIC)Statement of SignificanceLast Updated: 08/12/2004The former Scottish House was designed for the prominent shipping agents McIlwraith McEacharn Ltd in 1907 by CharlesA D'Ebro. It is a stone faced building in a restrained revived Renaissance manner with fine detailing in the masonry of the facade and unusual for the dual entries which lead separately to the main ground floor chamber or to the lift and staircase which serves the upper floors. The interior is an important example of office planning which impressively fits its original brief. The columned main chamber and the stair forming a ring around the central light court form notable spaces. The building forms part of a considered and sympathetic streetscape.Classified: 'Local' 12/06/1975Revised: 'Regional' 24/02/1989Revised: 03/08/1998File Note 2013: Floors above ground level rebuilt. Lightwell and central stair removed in 1988._______________________________________VICTORIAN HERITAGE INVENTORY H7822-1710First land sale, part of Allotment 1, Block 14, purchased by Wilson & Eyre.1877 - 1 & 2 storey buildings, yard & sheds. M Egan, W Tucker, Offices.1888 - 2 storey buildings & yard. 1905 - 2 storey building & yard, Hitzler, Carpenter.cites HISTORIC BUILDINGS COUNCIL - STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE.BUILT IN 1907-1908 TO THE DESIGN OF ARCHITECT CHARLES D'EBRO. SCOTTISH HOUSE IS A VERY INTERESTINGLY PLANNED EARLY OFFICE BUILDING. THE DUAL ENTRANCES LEAD SEPARATELY TO EITHER THE MAIN GROUND FLOOR CHAMBER WITH ITS IMPRESSIVE COLUMNS AND COFFERED CEILING, OR TO THE LIFT AND STAIRCASE WHICH SERVES THE UPPER OFFICE FLOORS. THIS STAIR FORMS A RING AROUND THE CENTRAL LIGHT COURT. THE CLARITY OF THE GROUND FLOOR PLAN HAS BEEN OBLITERATED BY THE RECENT REMODELLING OF THE OFFICE SPACE. THE DUAL ENTRANCES ARE DEFTLY HANDLED WITH A SIMPLE GEORGIAN FACADE TREATMENT, THIS FACADE IS UNIFIED BY A CENTRAL TOP PEDIMENT. THE FACADE OF SCOTTISH HOUSE EXISTS AS A RESTRAINED CONTRAST TO THE RICH GLOOM OF THE ADJACENT AUSTRALIAN CLUB. THE ARING AND CORNICE ONCE MET, PRODUCING AN EXCELLENT PIECE OF STREET ARCHITECTURE. THE BUILDING IS INCLUDED AS ONE OF A GROUP OF BUILDINGS WHICH ARE SIGNIFICANT IN THE STREETSCAPE OF WILLIAM STREET. IT HAS BEEN PROPOSED BY A NUMBER OF STUDIES THAT THE STREETSCAPE UNDER CONSIDERATION BE PRESERVED._______________________________________LEWIS, M- AUSTRALIAN ARCHITECTURE INDEX:Records33630 D'Ebro, Charles A; VIC Office Buildings 1907 Charles D'ebro, architect ofScottish House.Royal Victorian Institute of Architects Journal July 1920 pp 78-8033631 D'Ebro, Charles A; VIC Office Buildings 1907 Charles A. d'Ebro.'Scottish House', 90-96 William St, built for McIlwraith McEachern by Charles A. D'Ebro.Trust Newsletter, August 1913, p 7.75437 D'Ebro, C; McIlwraith, McEachain & Co Melbourne VIC Office Buildings Baxter, James - Flinders St 1907 03 1 368-MCC registration no 368 [Burchett Index]. Fee 12.0.0office building33632 D'Ebro, Charles A; VIC Office Buildings 1908 C.A. D'Ebro.Drawings shown at RVIA exhibition of alternative to accepted design for McIlwraith McEachern & Co's building in William St. Melbourne, currently being constructed.Royal Victorian Institute of Architects Journal Jan 1908, p 177_______________________________________NEWSPAPERS (TROVE)1908The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954)Friday 17 July 1908 - Page 4https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/197355483cost ₤50,000 four stories and a basement, Constructed of Sydney sandstone with large, granite pillars in the .granite having been, imported from Peterhead, Aberdeen; M'lllwraith, M'Eacharn and Co. are occupying the basement and ground floor; firm occupied premises in Collins-street, near the Olderfleet for very many years..1926Sydney Scottish House, designed by Messrs. Spain and Coshhttps://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/16322020
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| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 110149 | 1 PDF : 1,194 KB ; A4 | Group of Items (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |