Allan's' Music Warehouse, 276-278 Collins Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
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Total copies: 1
Title:
Allan's' Music Warehouse, 276-278 Collins Street, Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 102142
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:
Period: Post-WarConstruction date: 1956-1957.ASSOCIATED RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER:.GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYStatement of SignificanceHistoryAllan & Co made these claims in 1887 'it was the)... 'oldest establishment of its kind in these colonies... from itsinception... the representative of some of the most renowned European and American houses... its rooms have been the fashionable resort of the musical world of Melbourne, and the rendezvous of almost every operatic, musical, or lyric artist of celebrity who has made the professional tour... during the last 38 years'. Starting in 1850 as just Joseph Wilkie, the firm progressed to Wilkie Webster & Co. in 1862 and Wilkie Webster & Allan (with George Allan) in 1863. By 1875 Allan, a former singing instructor, controlled the business, erecting a grand Gothic revival edifice in a similar location to this building.The post-war revival of Melbourne's Commercial Centre, hastened by the 1956 Olympic Games, had commenced with the former Graham Hotel (1954) and La Gerche's Gilbert Court offices (1955). Allan's was the first retail-based glass tower to emerge in this city revival, following the then five-storey Federation Insurance Ltd. (1955), Sun Alliance Insurance (1956) and a smattering of public buildings, largely designed pre-war. Allan's, `The Home of Music', were on ground and first floor, topped by some music related tenants such as Televox Pty. Ltd. radio wholesalers, Australian Music and Dance Magazine also L Collins, Miss Evans, Miss Ford, G McFewan and other music teachers. The Tourist Development Authority was on the 5th floor, Timber Development Association on the 6th and British Paints Ltd. on the 7th - perhaps an indication of the building's modernity. Dunlop spoke of their vinyl tiles, used throughout the building, as ideal for the wear and tear of a retail store also pointing to the top floor, noted as `...devoted to music practice rooms and silence...', where the new tiles were '...the obvious choiceunder the circumstances'.Allan's had six Victorian branches, two Tasmanian and one in in Adelaide by the early 1970s, employing over 250 persons and boasting a London office under the care of Priscilla Smith. G H Allan was one of the four directors also serving on the board of Planned Music Melbourne Pty. Ltd.Allan's was built to the prescribed `limit height' of 132 feet by Hansen & Yuncken for an estimated 341,000 pounds.DescriptionAs illustrated for the trade periodicals, Allan's was (and is) a slim-framed rectangular concrete and masonry box, with one side filled-in by austere chequer-pattern glazing. Its only adornment was the firm's name, in tall metal sans-serif letters, set onto a band which halted the downward progress of the glass curtain, to give way for the bland shopfront treatment below. Following the tradition of many 20th and late 19th Century buildings, facing south in Melbourne, Allan's initially had no verandah. he same Melbourne periodicals illustrated the similarly austere tower of the United Nations Building, New York, setting the marque for many towers to come, including Allan's. Anothercontemporary, the demolished Felt & Textiles Building, Nicholson Street, went one step further, with the curtainwall providing, perhaps, the first free-standing glass-walled commercial building in Victoria with a centralcore. Other superior examples include former Alliance Insurance, Collins Street, (1956), and Gilbert Court, (1955).External IntegrityUpper level intact, except for added air-units, with an added (but sympathetic) canopy and new shop fronts at ground level.StreetscapeRelates to the Modernistic Australia Hotel and former Tasmanian Tourist Bureau, but contrasts greatly with theadjoining high Victorian period architecture.SignificanceOne of the early glass curtain walled office and retail buildings in the CAD..GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM cites GRAEME BUTLER 1982-3, ROYAL AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS (VIC) 20TH CENTURY ARCHITECTURE SURVEY and 20th CENTURY BUILDINGS REGISTER.NEWSPAPERS (TROVE)The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Sat 23 Apr 1955 Page 7 (illust)https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/71878271Fire that stopped the heart of the cityAllan's Music Warehouse, Collins st., was burned to the ground yesterday in a spectacular £350,000 blaze. The fire, which swept through the 105- year-old building in less than two hours, at one stage threatened the entire Block Arcade, the Government Tourist Bureau and Hotel Australia. Valuable musical instruments of every description, sheet; music, and records were all destroyed within minutes. Flames and smoke billowed hundreds of feet in the air as the most famous music house in Australia was reduced to ashes. Firemen, using six high ex- tension ladders and every available hose, fought like heroes as a crowd of more than 10,000 watched in Collins st. Staff members of Allan's at first thought that the original manuscript of "Waltzing Matilda" had been lost in the fire, but it was found undamaged. Cat saved Most of the valuable and historic documents were all locked in safes. Those that were lost nearly all had duplicates which are intact. The fire is believed to have started shortly before 7 a.m. after a short circuit in the electrical wiring set off a shower of sparks in the lift well. Four women cleaners had a near escape as flames leapt up the lift well to every floor, and turned the build- ing into a blazing inferno within minutes. "Whisky," the office cat, and a number of valuable records were saved as the building started blazing from end to end. By the time the fire brigade rushed 16 appliances and 54 men to fight the fire, the building was beyond saving.Smoke and burning pieces of music manuscript clouded over the entire city, and the column of smoke and flames could be seen from as far away as North Bal- wyn and Upper Ferntree Gully. Peak hour traffic was congested as police closed Collins and Little Collins sts. Trams in Collins st., travelling to Spencer st., were banked up from Swanston st. to Russell st. The fire was first noticed by cleaner Alf Rankin. He said later: "I opened the door on the ground floor about 6.40 a.m., and switched on all the lights so that the cleaners could start work. Trapped "As I walked to open the delivery doors at the rear of the store I heard women screaming out in the lift. "I rushed back and found four women cleaners trying to wrench open the lift door. "I pulled open the door as flames shot up the lift well. "Had the lift started, the women would have been trapped. "The lift ropes were well alight, and it would have crashed to the basement."Two of the cleaners, Mrs. M. Ryan and Miss E. Reid, risked their lives to save "Whisky," the cat. They ran back into the building and found the terrified cat on the steps near the manager's office. The Australia Cinema, in the basement next to Allan's,The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Sat 5 May 1956Page 3 A 'new look' Allan's soonA BUILDING contract will be let next week for the erection of a building with 11 floors and basement in Collins st. to replace Allan's' Music Warehouse which was destroyed by fire. The 132ft., £400,000 building will have a 30ft. frontage, and is expected to be completed by October text year. The firm plans, to occupy the basement, ground, first and second floors by Christmas. Mr. G. Allan, Allan's manager, said yesterday the new building would be the most modern music store in the world. The front of the building will be faced with aluminium panels between aluminium windows. The ground and first floor will have a full glass front. It will include acoustically treated ceilings, heating, a giant piano showroom and television display centre.All the floors above the second will be available for letting. The architects are Godfrey and Spowers, Hughes, Mewton and Lobb, and Mr. C. N. Hollinshed.
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Research and reports
Record number:
1197154
| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 102142 | 1 PDF : 1,463 KB ; A4 | Group of Items (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |