Empire Arcade, 264-268 Flinders Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
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Total copies: 1
Title:
Empire Arcade, 264-268 Flinders Street, Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 104010
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.
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UnrestrictedPlease contact City of Melbourne Libraries about obtaining permission to reproduce images.
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RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER 2021:Period: EdwardianDATE: 1905;ASSOCIATIONS: Smith, E E;DESIGNER: Barnet, Nahum;BUILDER: McDonald, R.GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYStatement of SignificanceHistoryNahum Barnet designed this arcade and offices next to the thriving Mutual Store (qv) for one E E Smith in 1905. R McDonald was the builder but the owner's identity remains obscured by the common surname. Possibilities include the bank manager, Edward Smith, of the Collins Street C.B.A.From the collection of tea merchants, tea rooms and a confectioner, previously on the site, emerged a new arcade holding at least 6 shops with three office levels above. Whether Madame Gouge the French cleaner, Miss Minnie Malletts' tea rooms or the Ladies Training College and the Victorian Anglers' Club on the second floor, the tenancies offered seemed to complement in one way or another the new Flinders Street station opposite and the travellers it would yield.By 1920 the occupants took on a more intellectual note with the Melbourne Theosophical Society(qv) and the Health Society sharing one floor and the United Ancient Order of Druids on the third. Old tenants like the anglers and Clota's Cafe were still there along with the Ormond Plant Farm which sat incongruously there on the edge of the city.After twenty years, little had changed: Gracies Tourist Bureau, Minks Cafe and the more obvious Houghton and Byrne, fumigators and pest destroyers, were placed among a plethora of agents, hairdressers and luggage suppliers. Meanwhile the Desgraves Street subway had crossed Flinders Street and surfaced outside the Empire Arcade's giant archway, no doubt adding to business.DescriptionThe giant archway over the arcade entrance and the distinct classical flavour of the details are the elements which separate this from other earlier Barnet designs with similar oriel elements, such as Alston's Building (1904) or the earlier (demolished) Clauscens Furniture Arcade, Bourke Street (1902). The latter also used a giant arch to emphasise the arcade's entrance. A giant Ionic order colonnade, the heavy rustication of the ground level and the broken pediments which crown each oriel, reflect the current English Baroque revival, seen in the new Chapel Street stores, like Moore's. Casting aside the lush medieval or Arts and Crafts ornamentation, the cement detail is sparely applied, alternating from French cartouches along the main entablature to static Romanesque plant details dotted along the spandrels. Subsequent Barnet designs, like the Auditorium were to retain this classical theme either in an English Queen Anne form (Auditorium) or the pure revival mode of the South Yarra Synagogue. A similar Baroque influenced design is Tompkins Centreway Arcade (1913) where two side window bays rise as oriels to an attic level and bracketed cornice. Between are giant order pilasters and below, a giant arch which crowns the arcade entrance. This was the first of this theme in the Tompkins oeuvre although the original form of the first Commercial Travellers Association Building (qv) also used a minor arch to emphasise the office tenancy entrance amongst the flanking shopfronts, as well as a central oriel. This design possesses full Baroque curvature with its oriels bountifully complemented by the arched pediments and the arcade arch.IntegrityShop fronts are new: the arcade has gone.StreetscapeShares similar English Baroque revival with the Mutual Store (qv) and adjoining building to the east.SignificanceAn early neo-Baroque design which precedes other variations on the same theme by its most prolific practitioners, the Tompkins Brothers also a masterly combination of curved line and form, particularly well matched to the similarly styled former Mutual Store adjoining..GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM cites CITY OF MELBOURNE BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATIONS 9559VICTORIAN HERITAGE INVENTORY H7822-1902First land sale 1837, Block 5, JS Hill, A Lingham. Building on site, 1839. 1877 - Synnots Wool Sheds, other buildings and yard. 1888 - three two-storey buildings, one three-storey building; warehouses and shops. Building on site destroyed by fire and replaces by new building in 1891. 1905 - six-storey building, the Mutual Store; four-storey building, Empire Arcade.NATIONAL TRUST OF AUSTRALIA (VIC)This four-storey office and arcade was built in 1906 for an E E Smith. The architect was Nahum Barnet.Designed to capitalise on the pedestrian traffic generated by the growing use of Flinders Street station, it is an interesting neo-Baroque design that complements the adjacent Mutual Store building.Classified: 06/06/1994HERITAGE BRANCH, MINISTRY FOR PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT 1987 CITY OF MELBOURNE CENTRAL CITY NOTABLE BUILDINGS CITATIONSThis four-storey office and arcade was built in 1906 for an E E Smith. The architect was Nahum Barnet. Designed to capitalise on the pedestrian traffic generated by the growing use of Flinders Street station, it is an interesting neo-Baroque design that complements the a djacent Mutual Store building.DIRECTORIES OF VICTORIA, MELBOURNE-SANDS AND KENNY, SANDS & MCDOUGALL1930264-268 THE EMPIRE ARCADE-264-268 Clotas Cafe Royal264-268 Lewin, Thomas, hairdressei & tobacconist264-268 Kewley, Wm. D., tailor264-268 Empire Dry Cleaners & Art Dyers Pty Ltd264-268 Ormond Plant Farm Pt y Ltd, nurserymen234-268 Turnbull, Mrs J. R., poultry requisites254-268 Davies, Edward C., chemist264-268 Treleaven, G., sandwich shop264-268 Manson, W. P., & Co, tailors264-268 Harris, S., financier264-268 Miles, E. J., mnfrs' agent (knitting mchns)264-268 Turnley, R. G., & Son, hrdrsrs' requisites264-268 Bruce, J., Pty Ltd, estate agent264-268 Smith & Marshall, manufacturers' agents264-268 Morley, R. G., estate agent264-268 Pearce, Sami., manfacturers' agent264-268 Sydes, A. 0., manufacturers' agent264-268 Haslam, H. R., mnfr Masonic regalia264-268 Murton, Mrs C., infants' draper264-268 West, A. R., shipping agent264-268 Hay & Robertson, linen manufacturers264-268 Heap Bros, manufacturers' agents264-268 Harrison, Vivian, tailor264-268 Joseph, M. & M., work rooms264-268 Sheppard, Ben, sports depot264-268 Marita, Madame. work rooms268 Jackson, T. C., & Co Pty Ltd, trunk & Ithr gds268aDickens Bros, confrs & frtrs
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| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 104010 | 1 PDF : 1,217 KB ; A4 | Group of Items (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |