Royal Insurance Building, 430-444 Collins Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
Archives
Total copies: 1
Title:
Royal Insurance Building, 430-444 Collins Street, Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 102124
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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Period: Post-WarConstruction date: 1962-1965Materials: Pre-cast concrete windows, façade units, tinted glassNotable features: Victorian Architecture Award - 1967 General Building.ASSOCIATED RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER:.GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYStatement of SignificanceHistoryContemporary observers waited with trepidation as the now familiar 18 storey `black stump' rose from the ground: `...this large dark shaft', they wrote, `could turn out to be rather grim- looking'. With some relief they found that now, almost complete, the Royal is realised as an architecture playing it so cool that it makes every other city building in Melbourne look like an over-dressed juke-box'. Bates Smart and McCutcheon's South British Building (1960-2) had already demonstrated the use of pre-cast concrete façade elements, suffering some criticism, however, for its semi-decorative treatment. The State Insurance Building, 480-490 Collins Street, had been a more bland use of the medium but the Royal's façade showed more of theconcern for external `structural' expression than either. The Royal Insurance Company Ltd. had sprung to Melbourne from England in the 19th Century, having been established there in 1845. They had built up national head offices and a host of branches and subsidiaries by the 1960s, all under the watchful eye of old England. The Melbourne head office designers were Yuncken Freeman Architects Pty. Ltd., E.A. Watts Pty. Ltd. the builder and sub-consultants which included structural engineer, Frank C. Dixon; mechanical, Roderick Ross & Associates; and electrical, Lincolne Demaine & Scott. The total cost was estimated at 3 million pounds. When the RAIA gave it, the General Buildings Award for 1967 Cross- Section remarked that popular opinion had disagreed noting, however, that `?formal dress is worn by aristocrats as well as undertakers?'DescriptionReconstructed black granite gave the tower its characteristic dark profile but here the stone grains are cast into pre-glazed concrete panels with structural ribs at the vertical joints. The effect is not unlike the more refined among the past neo-Gothic designs, like Shell Corner (qv) which used decorative terra cotta in traditional but pseudo structural ribbing. However, at the Royal Insurance Building, the separation of each component, by detailing, follows the Modern principle of the building as an evident assembly of functional parts rather than a decorated monolith. Although here, the dark concrete cladding could easily have been mistaken for one.Hence, although curtain walls were discarded in the 1960s, the two seemingly different approaches were seen to have evolved from a common source. Because the façade's intermediate ribs did not continue to the ground and hence did not perform as primary structure, was no reason for concern: they were still needed for the lateral strength of each panel and enabled panel thickness to be reduced to the required fire rating's minimum. Neither was the building free of the podium principle, used in the city since the Renaissance revival of the mid 19th century, although the giant colonnades at the Royal were detailed as smooth transitions from the main façade. Internally, however, the lofty space created was used skilfully to accommodate a mezzanine.External integrityGenerally original externally.StreetscapeIsolated and set-back.SignificanceThe most elegant, early pre-cast concrete clad International Modern office design in the city, providing a massive prelude to the similarly black-clad commercial designs by the same firm..Central City Heritage Study Review 1993: appendix 4`Statement of SignificanceDesigned in 1962 by Yuncken Freeman Architects and completed in 1965 the Royal Insurance Group Building is of state significance as architecturally being the most elegant early pre-cast concrete clad International Modern office designs in central Melbourne. The building was awarded the 1967 Victorian Architectural Medal and was the Prelude to a series of significant black clad commercial buildings designed by the same architectural firm.'`History & Description:The Royal insurance Group Building at 430-444 Collins Street was designed by Yuncken Freeman Architects in 19621 and completed in 19652 The '8 storey building was to be the Australian headquarters of the Royal insurance Group and was to be located on a site once occupied in 1837 by the Lamb inn. Melbourne's first licensed premises 3 The builders were E A Watts Ply Ltd Associated consultants included Frank C Dixon, Structural Engineer. Roderick Ross and Associates. Mechanical Engineers, Lincolne Demaine and Scott. Electrical and Lift Engineers, and Rider Hunt. Quantity Surveyors.4 The total cost was estimated at £3 millionSet back from the street, a gesture which gave the simple black form of the building significant presence, Royal Insurance was noticeable for its complete cladding in pre-cast concrete panels finished in highly polished reconstructed black granite, pre-glazed before erection with dark thermal tinted glass. Each panel was double glazed and the glass so fitted that it was replaceable from within the building and no frame was visible externally Though Bates Smart and McCutcheon's South British Building, 155-161 Queen Street, 1960-62 and McKay and Potter's State Insurance Building, 480-490 Collins Street, 1965 had both employed pre-cast concrete facade elements, each was architecturally undistinguished by comparison with the Royal Insurance Group Building's severe black-ribbed facade which implied a more rigorous structural rationale to its divisions. Although the intermediate ribs of each panel did not continue to the ground and hence did not perform as primary structure, they were still required for the lateral strength of each panel and enabled thickness to be reduced to the required fire-rating minimum.6 Inside, escalators relieved the burden of the lifts and were planned to carry 8,000 people an hour from the ground floor to the main insurance chamber on the mezzanine level. Externally this feature of the interior was expressed in a completely transparent piano noble level contrasting with the sombre black tower hovering above. On a typical floor, all floor finishes, lighting grids with their innovative Perspex diffusers7, and partitions were conscientiously inter-related to result in a disciplined Miesian formality similar in many respects to the office interior designs of the contemporary doyens of U S commercial office buildings, the architects Skidmore Owings and Merrill.Critical reaction to the building was mixed. In 1965, Cross Section noted that the Royal Insurance Building , despite appearing rather grim during construction, was "realised as an architecture playing it so cool that it makes every other city building in Melbourne look like an overdressed juke box.'8 By 1967, popular opinion as Cross Section then noted. "does not seem to favour the Royal. Its blackness conjures up unfavourable analogies in non-architectural minds, who fail to realise that its grimness is only skin deep, and that formal dress is worn by aristocrats as well as undertakers ". 9 Professional recognition prevailed when the Royal Insurance Group Building was awarded the 1967 Victorian Architectural Medal in the category of General Building. 10Footnotes`1. MCC Building File No 357202 "Skyscraper on Historic Ground Melbourne s first pub site serves insurance"Building Lighting Engineering June 1966 pp 19-203. lbid p 19. "Head Office Collins Street, Melbourne Victoria for Royal insurance CompanyLimited" Architecture in Australia. February 1967 p 884 Cross Section. No. 48 February 19655 Ibid.6 Graeme Butler Central Activities District Conservation Study - Graeme Butler, 1984, Citations 1991. p 667 "Artificial Lighting" Architecture Today February 1966 p 198 Cross Section. No. 48 February 19659 Cross Section No.75. May 196710 Ibid "Victorian Architectural Medal Awards" Architect March-April 1967, pp20-21 andMay-June 1967 p?? Architecture and Arts May 1967 pp 8-9'..GRAEME BUTLER & ASSOCIATES 2011, CENTRAL CITY (HODDLE GRID) HERITAGE REVIEWStatement of SignificanceWhat is significant?Contemporary observers waited with trepidation as the now familiar 18 storey `black stump' rose from the ground: `...this large dark shaft', they wrote, `could turn out to be rather grim- looking'. With some relief they found that,?' now, almost complete, the Royal is realised as an architecture playing it so cool that it makes every other city building in Melbourne look like an over-dressed juke-box'. Bates Smart and McCutcheon's South British Building (1960-2) had already demonstrated the use of pre-cast concrete façade elements, suffering some criticism, however, for its semi-decorative treatment. The State Insurance Building, 480-490 Collins Street, had been a more bland use of the medium but the Royal's façade showed more of the concern for external `structural' expression than either. The Royal Insurance Company Ltd. had sprung to Melbourne from England in the 19th Century, having been established there in 1845. They had built up national head offices and a host of branches and subsidiaries by the 1960s, all under the watchful eye of old England. The Melbourne head office designers were Yuncken Freeman Architects Pty. Ltd., E.A. Watts Pty. Ltd. the builder and sub-consultants which included structuralengineer, Frank C. Dixon; mechanical, Roderick Ross & Associates; and electrical, Lincolne Demaine & Scott. The total cost was estimated at 3 million pounds.When the RAIA gave it, the General Buildings Award for 1967 Cross- Section remarked that popular opinion had disagreed noting, however, that `?formal dress is worn by aristocrats as well as undertakers?'. This was an era of reaction against corporate International Modern among some influential members of the architectural profession as well as the student population who saw the work of Jackson & Walker, among others, as the future direction of architecture.Reconstructed black granite gave the tower its characteristic dark profile but here the stone grains are cast into pre-glazed concrete panels with structural ribs at the vertical joints. The effect is not unlike the more refined among the past neo-Gothic designs, like Shell Corner (qv) which used decorative terra cotta in traditional but pseudo structural ribbing. However, at the Royal Insurance Building, the separation of each component, by detailing, follows the Modern principle of the building as an evident assembly of functional parts rather than a decorated monolith. Although here, the dark concretecladding could easily have been mistaken for one.Hence, although curtain walls were discarded in the 1960s, the two seemingly different approaches were seen to have evolved from a common source. Because the façade's intermediate ribs did not continue to the ground and hence did not perform as primary structure, was no reason for concern: they were still needed for the lateral strength of each panel and enabled panel thickness to be reduced to the required fire rating's minimum. Neither was the building free of the podium principle, used in the city since the Renaissance revival of the mid 19th century, although the giant colonnades at the Royal were detailed as smooth transitions from the main façade. Internally, however, the lofty space created was used skilfully to accommodate a mezzanine.How is it significant?The Royal Insurance building is significant historically and aesthetically to the Melbourne Capital City Zone.Why is it significant?The Royal Insurance building is significant aesthetically as the most elegant, early pre-cast concrete clad International Modern office design in the city, providing a massive prelude to the similarly black-clad commercial designs by the same firm.Historically and socially, the building was awarded the 1967 RAIA (Vic) Victorian Architectural Medal as an indication of high regard by architectural peers and the community..CONTEXT (WITH GJM HERITAGE) 2020, HODDLE GRID HERITAGE REVIEWSTATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCEWHAT IS SIGNIFICANTThe Royal Insurance Group building at 430-442 Collins Street completed in 1966 and designed by Yuncken Freeman architects is significant.HOW IT IS SIGNIFICANT430-442 Collins Street is of local historic and aesthetic significance to the City of Melbourne. It is also a representative modern office building.WHY IT IS SIGNIFICANTThe Royal Insurance Group 430-442 Collins Street is historically significant as a part of the post-war development the rapid growth of the insurance architecture of the 1950s-1960s, continuing the expansion of large companies opting for construction and naming rights of new city office buildings as a form of promotion and fund investment, and cementing Melbourne's pre-eminent role in the state for financial institutions. The Royal Insurance Group is significant historically as a good reflection of the growth of insurance and assurance companies in Victoria during the 1950s-60s resulting in many company named buildings erected. It is historically significant as part of the expression of architectural style through a structural approach to the façade replacing the glazed curtain wall or combination of glazing and solid spandrels. (Criterion A)430-442 Collins Street is amongst a group of late Modern office towers, many of which were designed by Yuncken Freeman during the 1960s that used a standardised and repetitive nature of the construction system to create aesthetic effects and individuality. These efforts were continually awarded by the then Royal Australian Institute of architects throughout this time. The Royal Insurance Group building is a fine example in its class, having retained most of its external integrity. (Criterion D)430-442 Collins Street is aesthetically significant for its attributes that include the black granite preglazed concrete panels that are expressed in the façade as component parts, its podium level expressed in tall glazing in front of a mezzanine level and carried on pilotis. The aesthetic value of the building is expressed through its highly repetitive façade reflecting the construction system but exploiting this through refined detailing of the jointing design. (Criterion E)..Keith and John Reid, CBD Study Area 7 Historic Buildings Preservation Council, 1976:.Graeme Butler, 1982-3, Twentieth Century Architecture Register of Royal Australian Institute of Architects:architects as Yuncken Freeman Architects P/L; RAIA (Vic) medal 1967 General Building; Building Permit Application 17/8/1962, 35720; 9/2/1965 for signs indicating open; RAIA (vice) Library of Works card; H. Weston, Summary of.Awards for Architecture, report to the R.A.I.A (Victoria) on awards given by the R.A.I.A. (Vic.) and R.V.I.A., (unpublished):4; periodical articles 1/2/1965 (illus.), 1/5/1967.Est. Cost ?1,690,000; Roderick Ross & Associates consulting mechanical engineers; Frank C Dixon structural engineer; Lincolne Demaine Scott as electrical engineers; Rider Hunt & Partners QS. Panels have reconstructed black granite finish; typical floor area 12,036 square feet; flor to floor 12'..State Library of Victoria collection:Royal Insurance Group office building, 440 Collins Street, Melbourne] [picture]* Author/Creator: Wolfgang Sievers 1913-2007 ;* Contributor(s): Yuncken Freeman Architects ;* Date(s): 1965part of a series showing immaculate interiors, furnishings and spaces.`Victorian Year Book' (VYB) 1972: 662`Life insuranceThe first purely mutual life office with headquarters in Victoria wasestablished in 1869, although branches of other Australian and overseasinsurance offices were operating in the Colony before this time. In 1969there were forty-seven companies transacting life business in Victoria,compared with twenty in 1946, with assets throughout Australia of morethan $4,90Om.'.National Trust of Australia (Vic):430-444 Collins Street, MELBOURNE, Melbourne CityFile NumberB6854Level: StateStatement of Significance`The Royal Insurance Group Building, designed by Yuncken Freeman Architects, and completed in 1965, is of architectural, aesthetic and historical importance at the State level.Architecturally and aesthetically, it is one of the most elegant of Melbourne's post war skyscrapers. The pre-cast concrete cladding panels are executed in a sombre black polished granite, relieved by vertical ribs which provide a restrained yet textured skin to the large box-like volume. The small set back from the street and the position on the corner of a lane allow the building to appear free-standing, aloof from but not dominating the surrounding Collins Street commercial development. The ground and first floor are clad in larger versions of the panels, lending a lightness and transparency at ground level, the mass of the main building hovering above.Historically, Royal Insurance was the most accomplished of the early pre-cast concrete clad office blocks, leading the field away from the light-weight curtain wall facades in Melbourne of the previous seven years. It was also first notable central city office block by the firm of Yuncken Freeman and was a prelude to a number of important black modernist commercial designs by the firm (heavily influenced by the work of US firm Skidmore Owings & Merrill), and who were also responsible for a number of the city's best skyscrapers, most importantly BHP House.The Royal Insurance Group Building, designed by Yuncken Freeman Architects, and completed in 1965, is of architectural, aesthetic and historical importance at the State level.'Classified: 25/06/07Group: Commercial.CITY OF MELBOURNE BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATIONSBuilding Permit Applications 430-444 Collins St1923- previous Scotts Hotel, etc17/8/1962 35720 ?1,690,000 New Building; partitions etc 1968- 1980s1985 60113 $235,000 Ground level alterations-1992 more partitions, VPRO card ends..Cross-sectionsee images:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1f_6k-DvstACJxLX8oYO9bJ856s7WGEX0/view?usp=sharinghttps://drive.google.com/file/d/1fYlk5g_5tGaIDqWo194NYSSo0CUHXMnr/view?usp=sharing perspective.Feb 1, 1965This is the 18-storey Australian headquarters for the Royal Insurance Group, in Collins Street, Melbourne. The buildingis noticeable for its complete cladding in reconstructed black granite panels, preglazed before erection with dark tintedthermal glass. As the building rose there was some apprehension that this large dark shaft could turn out to berather grim-looking. But now, almost complete, the Royal is realised as an architecture playing it so cool that it makesevery other city building in Melbourne look like an overdressed juke-box. Yuncken Freeman, archts; Frank C. Dixon,s+r. engr; Roderick Ross & Associates, mech. Engr; Lincolne Demaine & Scott, elec. & lifts; Rider Hunt & Partners, q.surveyors; E. A. Watts, bldr. Cost £3 million.CONTEXT (WITH GJM HERITAGE) 2020, HODDLE GRID HERITAGE REVIEWSITE HISTORYEdward Scott purchased the Clarendon Hotel in 1860 and constructed the much grander Scott's Hotelon the site. After being purchased by the Royal Insurance Co. in 1961, Scott's was demolished thefollowing year to make way for the current office tower (Spycer, eMelbourne, accessed 21 June2017). The Royal Insurance Company Ltd. had established in Melbourne from England in the 19thCentury, having been established there in 1845. They had built up national head offices, branchesand subsidiaries by the 1960sThe Melbourne head office designers were Yuncken Freeman Architects Pty. Ltd., and the buildersE.A. Watts Pty. Ltd. The builder and sub-consultants which included structural engineer, Frank C.Dixon; mechanical, Roderick Ross & Associates; and electrical, Lincolne Demaine & Scott. The totalcost was estimated at 3 million pounds.Contemporary observers waited with trepidation as the now familiar 18 storey `black stump' rose fromthe ground: `...this large dark shaft', they wrote, `could turn out to be rather grim- looking'. With somerelief they found that,' now, almost complete, the Royal is realised as an architecture playing it so coolthat it makes every other city building in Melbourne look like an over-dressed juke-box'. When theRAIA gave it, the General Buildings Award for 1967, Cross- section remarked that popular opinionhad disagreed noting, however, that `?formal dress is worn by aristocrats as well as undertakers?'.430-442 Collins Street was awarded the Victorian Architecture Medal in 1967 for Yuncken Freemanand is included on the Australian Institute of Architects Twentieth Century Buildings Register.Yuncken FreemanIn the 1960s Melbourne based Yuncken Freeman were one of the largest in Australia, with areputation for modernism, high quality design and meticulous detailing. The firm originated in 1933with Otto Abrecht Yuncken 1903-1951) and brothers John (1898-1962) and Tom Freeman (1904-1971) set up practice. In the 1930s the firms work concentrated on hospital design and high qualityresidential work. The commercial and corporate side of the business was built by Barry Patten (1927-2003) and John Gates (1924-1996), when they joined the firm as partners in 1951. Yuncken Freemanwere the most successful and prolific architects during the 1960s and 70s, designing many award winningoffice buildings in the city. These included Eagle House 473 Bourke Street, in 1971,(VHR1807, HO901) and the BHP tower, 130-148 William Street (VHR1699, HO767) and the RoyalInsurance building at 430-442 Collins Street (1965). Yuncken Freeman had an unequalled nationalreputation for superb architectural detailing and classically simple forms that had prevailed over thefeaturist architecture of their contemporaries in Melbourne and Sydney. The firm continued until thelate 1980s, completing a work for Melbourne University, amongst many large institutional andcorporate clients (Goad & Willis eds., 2012:781-2).Figure 170. Royal Insurance Group building, 1967 (Source: SLV, Lyle Fowler photographer, H92.20/79742).REFERENCESThe following sources and data were used for this assessment:Cited in Graeme Butler, 2011General sourcesHistoric Buildings Preservation Council reports on the Melbourne Central Business District from the1970s;Melbourne City Council on-line i-Heritage database;Mahlstedt fire insurance map series held in the State Library of Victoria collection and MelbourneUniversity Archives;Australian Architecture Index (AAI), prepared by Professor Miles Lewis and others;Melbourne City Council building application drawings and files held at Melbourne City Council and theVictorian Public Records Office.Historic Buildings Preservation CouncilKeith and John Reid, CBD Study Area 7 Historic Buildings Preservation Council, 1976.State Library of Victoria collectionRoyal Insurance Group office building, 430-442 Collins Street, Melbourne [picture]* Author/Creator: Wolfgang Sievers 1913-2007;* Contributor(s): Yuncken Freeman Architects;* Date(s): 1965Part of a series showing immaculate interiors, furnishings and spaces.Twentieth Century Architecture RegisterGraeme Butler, 1982-3, Twentieth Century Architecture Register of Royal Australian Institute ofArchitects: architects as Yuncken Freeman Architects Pty. Ltd.; RAIA (Vic) medal 1967 GeneralBuilding; Building Permit Application 17/8/1962, 35720; 9/2/1965 for signs indicating open; RAIA(vice) Library of Works card; H. Weston, Summary of Awards for Architecture, report to the R.A.I.A(Victoria) on awards given by the R.A.I.A. (Vic.) and R.V.I.A., (unpublished): 4; periodical articles1/2/1965 (illus.), 1/5/1967. Est. Cost ?1,690,000; Roderick Ross & Associates consulting mechanicalengineers; Frank C Dixon structural engineer; Lincolne Demaine Scott as electrical engineers; RiderHunt & Partners QS. Panels have reconstructed black granite finish; typical floor area 12,036 squarefeet; floor to floor 12'..Victorian Year Book (VYB) 1972: 662.National Trust of Australia (Vic):430-444 Collins Street, MELBOURNE, Melbourne CityFile Number: B6854.Sands & McDougall Melbourne or Victorian DirectoriesWhere required directory extracts were obtained chiefly from Sands & McDougall Melbourne orVictorian Directories dating from the 1850s to 1974.(D1961 430-444 Scott?s Hotel, Gullifer, Miss H confectioner, Mitchell's Dry Cleaning, W Parke Shoerepair, D.J. Buchanan)Other sourcesGoad, P., 1999 Melbourne ArchitectureGoad, P. & Willis, J.(eds.), 2012, An Encyclopedia of Australian Architecture, Cambridge UniversityPressMarsden, Susan 2000, Urban Heritage: the rise and post-war development of Australia?s capital citycentres, Australian Council of National Trusts and Australian Heritage Commission, Canberra.National Trust of Victoria, Australia, 2014, Melbourne?s Marvellous Modernism, A ComparativeAnalysis of Post-War Modern Architecture in Melbourne?s CBD, 1955 -1975.NEWSPAPERS (TROVE)1940 openinghttps://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/243231515
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