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Gilbert Court or Equitable Building, 100-104 Collins Street, Melbourne

Butler, Graeme1985

Record details

Title:

Creator:

Butler, Graeme (Name details)

Date of work:

1985

Reference number:

BIF-CITY 102156

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:

ASSOCIATED RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER:.DATE: 1953-1955;ASSOCIATIONS: Gilbert Court Pty. Ltd.;DESIGNER: La Gerche, J A;BUILDER: Watts, EANotable aspects: 1st 'glass box' commercial building in Victoria and Australia.______________________________GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYStatement of SignificanceHistoryCessation of government control over the supply of building materials began in 1953 and with it a move to boost city development after 14 years of stagnation. Planning for the 1956 Olympic Games was in train and the Melbourne Board of Works had released its master plan for the metropolis. Among the rash of projects announced during this local renaissance, Gilbert Court was the first to finish.It was to be built to limit-height, cooperatively owned, the contract was for 243,459 pounds and the construction timea sizzling 10 months. The builder, E.A. Watts was already busy on Hosie's Hotel and the Commonwealth Centre whilst, the designer, John A. La Gerche, son of the SEC Chief Architect, had another glass box planned for 18-22 Collins Street (1957-9). `Cross-Section' commented on the uniformity of purpose behind the new projects which had been simmering in small suburban commissions since the war's end. `...At least one project indicates heavily the New York influence: a box of glass here doing its best to ignore the regulation set- backs which were once affected as a "sky-scraper" silhouette...' Nevertheless the glass facades were pronounced `Australian- looking' and although close to being yet another imported style...'sounder than any popular movement of the past'.Ironically it had been industrial buildings such as the APM Boiler House, Alphington (1954) which had first tested the multi-storey all- glass curtains. They had combined the prevailing obsession with absolute utility of the envelope with the desire for transparency and visible structure. Gilbert Court appears to be the first multi-storey structure to embody all of these principles in Australia, three years behind New York's Lever House.DescriptionAluminium and glass curtain walls on two sides and sheer walls on the others are determined by the corner site and land-locked north and west boundaries. The service core occupies one of these walls. Two lifts and a stair within the core serve 13 reinforced concrete floors and an alternative escape stair shaft terminates the glazing at the north-east corner. Practical hopper sashes set in the curtain wall provide alternative ventilationto the only mechanical air-service available and obscured glazing at knee height lends modesty to the otherwise transparent sheeting. The absence of false ceilings meant there was nothing to hide and, although this was typical in most contemporary buildings, Gilbert Court was the only one not to use opaque spandrel panels. The simplicity and transparency of the facade is continued in the butt- glazed shopfronts, style-less lobby doors and the street number balances successfully over the entry.External IntegrityResulting from the original provision of mechanical ventilation only, fans, evaporative coolers and air-conditioning units protrude on the facade. Otherwise alterations are minor.StreetscapeRelates to its western neighbour but otherwise not contributive to the prevailing Collins Street character.SignificanceSymbolic of the recovery in commercial building after World War Two and probably the first true `glass box' in Australia, expressive of the new international aesthetic..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 ;.National Trust of Australia (Vic)Designed by J A La Gerche and erected in 1954-5, Gilbert Court is symbolic of the recovery in commercial building after World War Two and the onset of Olympic Games preparation. It provided a novel form of building development in its co-operative ownership and appears to be the first true multi-storey commercial "glass box" built in Australia. Receiving much national publicity, it was the first Australian commercial building to fully express the new international Modern aesthetic then epitomized by New York's Lever House.Classified: 16/11/1989.Newspapers:The Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954)Friday 18 September 1953 - Page 10https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/249244740 illust.Plans for new city officesLIMIT -HEIGHT GLASS BLOCKA limit-height blue glass and aluminium building is to be erected at the corner of Collins Street and Alfred Place, one of the most commanding and exclusive sites in any Australian capital. This is the last vacant block in Collins Street, west of William Street. The site is only 60 ft. square but the building for which tenders are being called will provide 504 squares or 50,400 square ft. of office and club space —a very welcome addition to city floorage. Two floors will be j occupied by the University Club. Most of the remaining space has already been snapped up.The building will be erected by Gilbert Court i Pty. Ltd. on a co-operative basis which means that ; space will be available to shareholders in proportion , to the shares held in the company. It is the first co-operative office enterprise launched in Melbourne. This method of financing new office building has had a spectacular vogue in the United States.Erection is scheduled to begin In December, and completion is expected before the end of 1954. The site possesses the priceless economic advantage of receiving natural light on three sides. No light courts will be needed- enabling the whole of the interior space to be sold.Construction will be in reinforced concrete, faced with pale blue wired glass from pavement to roof on the Collins Street and Alfred Place facades. There will be a vitreous- enamel-covered pier on the corner and a blank wall on the West.1000 WINDOWSThe glass walls will be composed of more than 1000 windows set in anodised aluminium frames without any visible columns or masonry, giving effect of an enormous glass screen. The concrete floor slabs will be cantilevered 3 ft. beyond the structural frame. Central heating by warmed air diffused under forced draught, mechanical ventilation, fluorescent lighting and flush acoustic ceilings will be provided. Anodised aluminium will be used extensively — in addition to windows — for doors, lift cars, and wall tiling. This material requires no maintenance.The building will com prise basement, ground floor with two shops, and 12 upper floors all self- contained with staff canteens, toilets and garbage disposers. The architect is Mr J. A La Gerche of 46 Elizabeth Street.Managing Agents are CJ and T. Ham of Collins Street..Construction (Sydney, NSW : 1938 - 1954) Wed 30 Sep 1953 Page 9 OPPORTUNITIES FOR BUSINESShttps://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/222898724?searchTerm=Melbourne%20Collins%20Street%20%20Coates%20Building%20%22La%20Gerche%22Gilbert Court Pty. Ltd. is to erect a limit height blue glass and aluminium bldg. of 13 floors at the cnr. of Collins St. and Alfred PI., Melbourne.Const, will be of rein, con., faced with pale blue wired glass from pavement to roof on two facades. Erect., on a co-op. basis, is scheduled to begin in Dec. Tend, are being called. Arch. is J. A. La Gerche.The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954)Saturday 17 October 1953 - Page 6New Company Gilbert Court Ltd., with nominal capital of £200,000, was registered yesterday. The company will purchase 100 Collins Street, Melbourne, and on the site erect offices and shops.The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954)Saturday 20 February 1954 - Page 3https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/206084163£291,000 Building for Collins StreetMelbourne's first "Own your own offices" building, Gilbert Court, will be completed by the end of the year.It will be a 12-floor limit height building, ' with a frontage of 58 feet, 6 inches to Collins Street and a depth of 85 feet along Alfred Place. - The directors of Gilbert Court Pty. Ltd. have let; the construction contract to E. A. Watts Pty. Ltd., and work, will begin on March 1.Contract .price for the building, the first to be erected in Collins Street since the beginning, of the war, is £291,000. It will be the first in Australia to have full glass- construction on both frontages. Two ultra-modern shops will be on the ground floor. The building is designed for use -as offices and professional suites. . Two floors have yet to be sold.More,, than 75 per cent, of the money required- for completion of the project has -been subscribed. Mr. John la Gerche is the architect, and the managing agents - are Andrew Sutherland and Co., of Collins Street..The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957)Thursday 11 March 1954 - Page 1https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/26595775New building for Collins st.Construction of a 12-storey office building began yester- day when Cr. Solly, Lord Mayor, turned the first sod on the site in Collins st., at the corner of Alfred pl. Faced with prefabricated aluminium and heat-resisting glass, the building will follow the design of the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The £291.000 building will be known as Gilbert Court and owned on a co-operative share basis by the ten- ants. It is expected to be completed within 12 months..The Sydney Morning Herald April 1954 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/18420092Fourteen Buildings Begun In MelbourneAfter almost 14 years without a major new building, Melbourne now has begun constructing 14 major buildings.…..The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957)Thursday 21 July 1955 - Page 11https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/71668896Name lives on in city skyscraperTO passers-by, the 13-storey "Glass House" now being built in Collins st., is Melbourne's version of the United Nations' building in New York. But to one Melbourne business woman it means more than just a miny-win-lowed (many windowed?) skyscraper. For her it will perpetuate her husband's memory in its name-Gilbert Court.In 1950, Mr. Gilbert Walsh purchased the site with the idea of erecting a 12-storeyed building. The upper floors were to be used as a private hotel and the ground floor as shops, one of which would have been reserved for his wife's millinery business. Building was to begin in December, 1951, but in October of that year Mr. Walsh died suddenly. Thus faced with many difficulties, Mrs. Walsh sold the land on condition that the building would be named after her husband. Now, four years later, Mrs. Walsh is chairman of directors for Gilbert Court Pty. Ltd., and owns the ground floor shops, to one of which she will transfer her Russell st. business, when Gilbert Court is opened.Being a top executive has not made Mrs. Walsh a top-geared careerist, surrounded by telephones, dictaphones, and ledger books. She is essentially feminine, petite, and slim of figure, with pretty features and a friendly, chatty manner. It is not surprising to find that hats are the big business of her life. A flare for millinery - she never had any training - combined with business sense enabled her to establish a flourishing millinery concern. One of her clients was the star actress, Vivien Leigh, when she visited here some years ago.“Designing hats for her was a particular thrill as she has the type of face that can wear any style," said Mrs. Walsh. Vivien Leigh preferred strictly tailored hats for day wear, switching to feminine hats of flowers and beads at night. Actually, hats were not originally intended to be Mrs. Walsh's career. Instead she had stage aspirations, but waived these when at 16 she married the then manager of the King's Theatre.

Names:

City of MelbourneLa Gerche, John A, 1907-1992

Topics:

Central Activities District Conservation Study 1985Conservation studiesPostwar periodOffices1950-1959Twentieth Century Architecture Register (RAIA)

Places:

Melbourne (Vic.)

Form/Genre:

Building Identification Forms (BIFs)

Record types:

Research and reports

Record number:

1197291