P.N. Hong Nam Building, 272-274 (268-270) Exhibition Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
Archives
Total copies: 1
Title:
P.N. Hong Nam Building, 272-274 (268-270) Exhibition Street, Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 103618 4
Level of description:
Item from Collection: Heritage Collection (HC)
Type of materials:
Graphic materialsTextual material
Part of:
Series: Central City (BIF-CITY)
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UnrestrictedOpen access.
Use restrictions:
UnrestrictedPlease contact City of Melbourne Libraries about obtaining permission to reproduce images.
General notes:
RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER 2021:Period: EdwardianDATE: 1910-11;ASSOCIATIONS:Ng Hong Nam,Peter. Lim S., & Co, furniture mfr.,Hop Lee, cabinetmaker,Collins, Maurice, tmbr brkr & mfrs' agtDESIGNER: Webb, R G,BUILDER: Picot, WNotable features: oculus/parapet treatment also unusual segment..GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYStatement of SignificanceHistoryThe architect, R. G. Webb, carried out many commissions for the Chinese community late last and early this Century. This factory was erected 1910-11 by W. Picot and added to in late 1911 by J. J. Oliver. The owner's name, Peter Ng Hong Nam, was emblazoned across the building facade in the process. Early uses for the building were reputedly for baby carriage manufacture, cabinet making and export agents. Hop Lee (cabinet maker), Maurice Coldas (a manufacturer's agent) and Hep Loong Brothers (cabinet makers) were among the 1920s tenants. By the Second War, the Central Mission Goodwill Industries tenancy complemented the mission'soccupancy of the former Family Hotel to the north. Twenty years later, the Cyprian Philanthropic Society of Victoria had replaced the Mission.This was the `back slums' where the city's ethnic minorities traded their wares among Melbourne's outcasts and poor. As the cheapest housing available within the city, it was a refuge for this section of the population and from the 1870s was tended by various mission groups. Reaching a peek in the early 20th century, the Chinese and others were slowly displaced at the east end of Little Bourke Street with a gradual factory-warehouse encroachment with the rise of the local manufacturing industry after Federation. Hong Nam'sbuilding embodies all of these themes: a factory built for and occupied by the Chinese, also by the second wave of Missions who sought to aid the slum dwellers, materially and spiritually.DescriptionA three-storey brick and stucco facade, with intact ground level shopfronts and glazed tiles. The parapet adopts an Elizabethan manner, with segment-arched profiles and acroterion at the central bay. The facade elements of the parapet suggest oculi vents strategically placed above segment-arched highlights which cap the centre window element of each of the two major facade bays. Each facade bay is divided into three, by simple pilasters which stem from a string mould at the first floor line and terminate on the main cornice with distinctive inverted consoles capped with foliation. The cemented banner crosses from one element to another at the centre parapet,bearing the name P. N. Hong Nam. Similar, but smaller banners, bear the date, 1910, on the secondary parapetgables. Although of an English derivation, aspects of the building's ornamentation suggest a Chinese influence (the banner, inverted consoles, parapet form).External IntegrityMuch of the ground level shop front remains, except for new doors to 272 (refer 268) and new top light glazing to 272. Also, glazed tiles have been painted on 272. Upper level timber framed casement windows have been generally sheeted over, as have the ground-level showcase windows.StreetscapeRelates well to 266 and obliquely to the altered row to the south, also to the classical revival elements of the cornerformer Hotel.SignificanceOf all of Webb's commissions for the Chinese, this possesses the most Chinese architectural character, as well as the building name itself. As an intact factory-showroom it expresses its origin, its original use and subsequent mission-factory occupation..GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM cites source 77, p100; PPt.;Building Permit Application 2203;LEWIS, M- AUSTRALIAN ARCHITECTURE INDEX75386 Webb, R; Hong, Nam Melbourne VIC Factories Picot, W - 478 High St Prahran 1910 09 26 2203-MCC registration no 2203 [Burchett Index]. Fee 2.2.0 three-storey brick factory, ExhibitionDARYL JACKSON EVAN WALKER ARCHITECTS PTY. LTD 1976 FOR HISTORIC BUILDINGS PRESERVATION COUNCIL; MELBOURNE: THE AREA BOUNDED BY VICTORIA, SPRING, LONSDALE AND SWANSTON STS (source 77):101- as 2681 HistoricalFirst occupied by the owner, P.N. Hong Nam in 1913 (1), although the building bears the year 1910.2 Architectural2.1 Replaced an earlier single storey building on No. 272 (No. 268 was vacant) (2).2.2 A 3 storey warehouse building. Two identical frontages with shopfronts at the first level and 3 bays of windows to the upper levels, united by a name plate with the nameP.N. Hong Nam and the year 1910. Plaster window heads and sills, and sparse plaster decoration to parapet.Footnotes(1) M.C.C. Rate Book, Gipps Ward, No. 1439, 1913.(2)Mahlstedt 1910 map..DIRECTORIES OF VICTORIA, MELBOURNE-SANDS AND KENNY, SANDS & MCDOUGALL1915268-270 Lim S., & Co, furniture mfr.1920268-270 Hop Lee, cabinetmaker268-270 Collins, Maurice, tmbr brkr & mfrs' agt1930268-270 Vacant272 Esperia Club
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1207925
| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 103618 4 | 1 PDF : 797 KB ; A4 | Group of Items (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |