Alfred Shaw and Company, later Currie and Richards Building, 79-81 Franklin Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
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Total copies: 1
Title:
Alfred Shaw and Company, later Currie and Richards Building, 79-81 Franklin Street, Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 104079
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.
General notes:
RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER 2021:Period: Early VictorianDATE: 1875;ASSOCIATIONS: Alfred Shaw & Company;DESIGNER: Thomas Watts?;BUILDER: Martin & Peacock.VICTORIA HERITAGE REGISTER H0440Statement of SignificanceWhat is significant?The Currie and Richards Warehouse was erected in 1875 as a three storey brick workshop/warehouse for Alfred Shaw and Co., tinware manufacturers. The building features a stucco facade, and is regularly fenestrated with a rusticated ground floor, prominent string courses and Tuscan cornice entablature. The architect is unknown. The 1869 date on the parapet refers to the foundation of Currie and Richards' business, not the date of the building' erection.How is it significant?The Currie and Richards Warehouse is of architectural and historical significance to the State of Victoria.Why is it significant?The Currie and Richards Warehouse is of architectural significance as a fine example of a 19th century warehouse in Melbourne and a distinctive example of the Renaissance Revival style applied to such a building. The clear derivation from the Italian palazzi mode, evident in the Tuscan cornice entablature and rusticated ground floor, is a notable quality of this building. The substantial character of the building, with its restrained but dignified facade, and choice of architectural style reflect the growth of Melbourne as a prosperous city in the aftermath of the gold rushes.The Currie and Richards Warehouse is of historical significance as a reminder of the character of the 19th century city, in which residential, commercial and industrial uses existed in close proximity. Although the building no longer performs an industrial function, the side lane hoist arrangement remains as tangible evidence of its original purpose. There are now few remaining traces of central Melbourne' industrial past, giving the warehouse added importance..GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM cites 83,p9; CITY OF MELBOURNE BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATIONS 6044: A graded building in a Level 2 streetscape,.LEWIS, M- AUSTRALIAN ARCHITECTURE INDEX:Record 71378 Shaw, Alfred & Co Melbourne VIC Warehouses Martin & Peacock - 202 Spencer St 1874 09 1 6044.VICTORIA HERITAGE REGISTERContextual History:History of Place:The original owner of the land on which the warehouse stands was William Leney Brodie, who acquired it in January 1850. There were several other owners before Currie and Richards purchased it in 1907. Prior to 1875 the site was used as a timber yard..VICTORIAN HERITAGE INVENTORY H7822-2078Prior to existing structure the site was used as a timber yard.1866 map shows vacant land with small building in centre.1880 Panorama shows 3 storey building.NATIONAL TRUST OF AUSTRALIA (VIC)Built in 1875 for Alfred Shaw & Co., tinwear manufacturers, this well-disciplined "Italianate" design in brick and stucco is well-proportioned with restrained detail.Classified: 10/11/1977.HERITAGE BRANCH, MINISTRY FOR PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT 1987 CITY OF MELBOURNE CENTRAL CITY NOTABLE BUILDINGS CITATIONSA three-storey brick building with a rendered Italianate facade, it was erected as workshops for Alfred Shaw and Company, Block Tinware Manufacturers, in 1875. It was acquired by Currie and Richards, also sheet metal workers, in 1904. The building is notable for the design of its exterior and as a survivor of the small manufacturing establishments that once populated the northern fringe of the city..NEWSPAPERS (TROVE)1871https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/60448577 illust.ALFRED SHAW AND CO'S. NEW WAREHOUSE.This firm, which commenced business in Melbourne in 1853, and which has branches at Birmingham and New Zealand, has lately erected in Little Collins-street west new and commodious premises suit able for their extensive trade as whole sale ironmongers. It is erected on .the . site of buildings traded in for many years by Messrs. Gill, Fowler, and Co. In length it occupies 127 feet, it is 40 feet in width, and is three stories in height. The ground floor is 17 . feet high, the front portion being de voted to the usual offices of a mercantile {establishment. Behind busy hands are packing every description of builders' and furnishing ironmongery it is possible to conceive. At the rear the ground floor is asphalted, with a pitched cart-way, by which drays are enabled to enter the store and load or unload without obstructing the right of way. The first floor is 14 ft. in height, and here is stowed away ' a very extensive and assorted stock. The second floor is 13 ft. in height, and this floor is chiefly used for the storage of bulk stock, while the large, commodious and cool cellars are devoted to the storage of heavy goods. A hydraulic lift of very simple construction raises and lowers goods to the first and second floors, and to the cellar. This lift will very easily raise or lower a weight of 25 cwt. The average value (if stock kept on the premises is about £41,000. Messrs. Shaw and Co. are the sole agents for Australia of Messrs Hobbs, Hart aid Co.'s Patent Bullion Protector Safes. The method hitherto usually employed in the construction of safes is that of connecting the sides together by means of rivets binding them to angle-irons, sometimes with the addition of ordinary tenon connection The strength thus obtained, although considerable, is simply the holding power of the countersink of the rivets employed, , which holding power is utterly inadequate to resist the application of the wedge, and is therefore useless as a protection for bullion. To supply this deficiency in strength a method has been revised by which the angles of the same, that is to say the joinings of the top, bottom, sides, back, and door-frames, are rendered even stronger than the straining powers of tho metal plates of which they are com posed ; . that is to say, the joinings are actually stronger than the plates of metal joined. These perfect joinings are effected ' by dove* tailing the edges of the plates together inside a tube, which tube is then filled with molten metal, thus rendering the angles perfectly solid and absolutely inseparable.The building itself is substantially erected of bluestone with slate roof, the front being of brick and cemented, with rusticated basement, sub-cornice, &c, and the facade crowned with a bold dentilled cornice. The two upper floors are carried by cast-iron columns. The architect was Mr. Thomas Watts, and the contractor Mr. George Cornwall. The total cost was about £8000..1881https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/201294560THE MELBOURNE EXHIBITION.By Cosmopolitan....One of the exhibits in the Victoria Court, viz., that of Alfred Shaw and Co., Australian Stamping Works, Franklin-street, affords decisive evidence of the progress Victoria is making in manufactures. Here, and in the factory, where seventy or eighty men are employed, we see a number of important articles of commercial and domestic use, all of which, until six years ago, had to be imported from England, now manufactured with equal excellence and economy at home. ...And on the ground floor devoted to machinery we saw plates, candlesticks, dishes, etc., being stamped out by the gross, by means of huge stamps, one of which was made on the premises, for Messrs Alfred Shaw and Co make all the best of their own machinery themselves, the machinery they possess being employed to make other machinery, not for sale, but for their own manufactures...Messrs Alfred Shaw and Company, have obtained two awards at the Exhibition, a first award and a first prize for dairy utensils, which is well deserved, if only for their excellent copper and brass fruit preserve-pans made from one piece of metal. The firm is at present engaged in the preparation of tins for exporting butter to Europe.
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| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
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| Original | 104079 | 1 PDF : 1,041 KB ; A4 | Group of Items (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |