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McDonald & Co. Ltd Building, 165 Flinders Lane, Melbourne

Butler, Graeme1985

Record details

Title:

Creator:

Butler, Graeme (Name details)

Date of work:

1985

Reference number:

BIF-CITY 103933

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 2021:Style: Neo-RenaissancePeriod: Inter-WarConstruction date: 1921Notable features: Austere/ eclectic design.ASSOCIATIONS: McDonald & Co Ltd.;DESIGNER: Robertson & Marks;BUILDER: Trussed Reinforced Concrete Co.IMAGE: https://flic.kr/p/2mf5nHq.GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYStatement of SignificanceHistorySydney architects, Robertson & Marks, designed this austere Renaissance revival building in 1921 for the soft goods importers and manufacturers' agents, McDonald & Co Ltd. Grander designs, such as the similarly Renaissance inspired Bank of New South Wales, George Street, Sydney (1927-32) and the Moderne styled AWA Building, York Street (1939), were from the same architects, created with others over a long practice period which spanned from at least early this century until World War Two. The Trussed Reinforced Concrete SteelCompany Ltd of Sydney the reinforced concrete carcass and structure whilst local engineering and architecture firm, H J Wagstaff, presumably supervised its erection and designed the structure. Early tenants in the building included S G Blanton, clothing manufacturers, Claud Creed and Co mantle makers, Howard & Davies into made trimmings for tailors, Thomas Davies Pty Ltd bootmakers and manufacturers' agents, John Hardie & Son. Occupancy type continued to reflect the Lane's long association with clothing importation and manufacture.Robertson & Marks (with Lipson & McCredie) designed Red Cross House, Clarence Street, Sydney, in the modern style, (1939).DescriptionCement render over six inch reinforced concrete was an austere finish but typical for the purposeful architecture of the Lane. Ground and seven upper levels gives a 20th Century height on a 19th Century, narrow-fronted subdivision, creating a slender tower-like form with sparsely applied ornament centred multi-pane windows provide little glass onto the Lane, serving a stairway and elevator lobby. The rest of the building is lit from Hosier Lane but nevertheless the 'punched' windows inherited from the chosen style prevail. Shutter-like panels, placed either side of each window lend wit to the main facade by their two-dimensional simulation of period detail but their intended use, along with similar panels either side of the entrance, was for advertising.Other details derive from Greek sources, including the key pattern frieze at ground level, whilst the overall form is that of the Italian Renaissance palazzo with podium and attic ends to the main fenestration. Stylistically, the design's detailing belongs in the Neo-Grec or Greek revival period of the early 1920s, precursing the Renaissance and Georgian revivals by its forms. Unpainted stucco adds to the generally high integrity.McDonald & Co may be compared with a large number of near intact buildings from the early 1920s, including grander Neo-Grec works like the State Savings Bank 615-23 Collins Street (1923) but in its context (Flinders Lane) and given its witty foreshadowing of the coming Renaissance revival and high integrity, the building has architectural merit.External IntegrityGenerally externally original, given the addition of a sympathetically designed top level.SignificanceA distinctively designed, almost untouched, warehouse building of the immediate post-war period, which displays a degree of austerity, in the application of eclectic detail, that foreshadows both the neo-Georgian period (yet to arrive) and the minimalism of the modernist era..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 -DATES AS 1921 Trussed Concrete Co.(engineers).MURPHY ARCHITECTS, JOHN AND PHYLLIS 1976. HISTORIC BUILDINGS STUDY OF PART OF THE C.B.D. MELBOURNE : { AREA 1} WITH MURPHY, JOCK, FOR HISTORIC BUILDINGS PRESERVATION COUNCIL7.58 165 Flinders Lane - McDonald House.Construction Date : 1924Further information to be supplied by H.B.P.C.VICTORIAN HERITAGE INVENTORY H7822-19103rd land sale 1838, Block 6, Allotment 9, Henry Smyth. 1866 - building on site.1877 - 3 storey building, Rowlands Hotel, shed & yard.1888 - same; Hen & Chickens Hotel.1905 - 3 storey building..NATIONAL TRUST OF AUSTRALIA (VIC)This building was developed by a clothing manufacturer and agent to serve their industry in the area regarded until comparatively recently as the national capital of that industry. It was built in 1921. Constructed in reinforced concrete, it is embellished with minimal classical detail. Apart from the striking ratio between its height and narrow width, two details give it an idiosyncratic quality generally absent from this architecturally rich but conventional precinct; one in ornament, the other in plan. Residual louvered shutters, in pressed cement, flank each centre square window on the street elevation. Those windows serve the main staircase, the front of the building being given over to this stair alone. This is probably the only example of such a space allocation in a commercial building in Melbourne. The austere facade fenestration contrasts strongly with the generous window to wall ratio on the building's only other exposed elevation (the western exposure to Hosier Lane). The building's architects, Robertson & Marks, were responsible for, inter alia, the landmark AWA Building (1938) in their native Sydney.Classified: 23/07/1981Revised: 30/11/1989.MELBOURNE BACKLOG STUDY. PREPARED FOR THE AUSTRALIAN HERITAGE COMMISSION. JANUARY 1997.THE MCDONALD AND CO. BUILDING, BUILT IN 1921 TO A DESIGN BY SYDNEY ARCHITECTS ROBERTSON AND MARKS, IS SIGNIFICANT AS A DISTINCTIVELY DESIGNED WAREHOUSEBUILDING OF THE IMMEDIATE POST-WAR PERIOD DISPLAYING A DEGREE OF AUSTERITY AND AN APPLICATION OF ECLECTIC DETAIL THAT FORESHADOWED BOTH THE NEO-GEORGIANPERIOD AND THE MINIMALISM OF THE MODERNIST ERA. (CRITERION D.2).CITY OF MELBOURNE BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATIONShttps://www.ancestry.com.au/imageviewer/collections/60672/images/44777_349577-002701921 Jan ₤15000 Erection of warehouse.STOREY, ROHAN 2019. HODDLE GRID INTERIORS THEMATIC STUDY (DRAFT): MAY 2019McDonald & Co, 165 Flinders Lane, 1924Notable Greek‐key motif in the mosaic floor, unusual deep blue tiles, but with loss of rear wall and items like directories it is not intact, and there is no spatial drama or architectural elaboration.NEWSPAPERS (TROVE)The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957)Wednesday 2 March 1921 - Page 9https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/1738651FIRE IN WAREHOUSE.Outbreak in Flinders lane.Fire broke out late 'last night in the stock on the top floor til Ute premises occupiedby Messrs. McDonald and Co., softgoods warehousemen, at 183-185 Flinders lane.1936 NEW COMPANIES.https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/161227112Harfill Amalgamated Importing Co. Pty., Ltd., importers, indenters, warehousemen, etc. Capital: £10,000. Regd.office: 165 Flinders Lane, Melbourne.Directors: Philip Voet and Hartog Voet..DIRECTORIES OF VICTORIA, MELBOURNE-SANDS AND KENNY, SANDS & MCDOUGALL1925165 McDONALD HOUSEBasement, Ground, 1st & 2nd floors—McDonald & Co Ltd, mfrs' agnts & imptrs ofsoft goodsThird floor—Howard, Stuart M., corset wrehsemnFourth floor—Howard & Davies Ltd, Ors' trimings whsFifth floor—Extensive Trading Coy Pty Ltd. imptrsSixth floor—Howard, Stuart M., corset wrhse1930165 McDONALD HOUSE-165 McDonald & Co Ltd, mnfrs' agnts & imprtrs ofsoft goods165 Blanton, S. G., Ltd, clothing mnirs165 Creed, Claude & Co Pt y Ltd, mntle mnfrs165 Howard & Davies Ltd, tailors' trimmings165 Hardie, John, & Son, mnfrs' agnts165 Davies, Thos., Pty Ltd, boot mnfrs

Names:

City of Melbourne

Topics:

Central Activities District Conservation Study 1985Conservation studiesNeo-Renaissance styleInterwar periodWarehouses1920-1929

Places:

Melbourne (Vic.)

Form/Genre:

Building Identification Forms (BIFs)

Record types:

Research and reports

Record number:

1208450