Dillingham Estates House, 114-118 William Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
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Title:
Dillingham Estates House, 114-118 William Street, Melbourne
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Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 110147
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Item from Collection: Heritage Collection (HC)
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Graphic materialsTextual material
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Series: Central City (BIF-CITY)
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UnrestrictedOpen access.
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RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER 2024:__________________________________________________DATE: 1973-1976;ASSOCIATIONS: Dillingham Corporation of Australia Ltd.;DESIGNER: Yuncken Freeman Architects Pty. Ltd.;Period: Post Second-War.GRAEME BUTLER & ASSOCIATES 2011, CENTRAL CITY (HODDLE GRID) HERITAGE REVIEWStatement of SignificanceWhat is significant?As with the visually similar and highly significant Eagle Star Insurance Co. Ltd. building (1971) in Bourke Street, Yuncken Freeman Architects Pty Ltd., were also the designers of this 24 storey office building in the 1970s. The partner in charge was Barry Patten and the design architect, Llew Morgan.The building, titled then as Dillingham Estates House, was photographed near completion in 1975 by the eminent photographer, Wolfgang Sievers. Dillingham Corporation of Australia Ltd. was a group of companies involved in building construction, engineering, dredging, ship building, mining, real estate, property development, earth moving, road building , quarrying and cattle stations. This building and the neighbouring BHP House were products of the 1960s, early 1970s mineral and energy boom of the time.Unlike Eagle Star and like its black neighbour, the former BHP Building (1973), placement of the service core centrally maximised the extent of full height glass windows on all four façades. This in turn allowed full expression of the archetypal commercial glass box but unlike the 1950s predecessors (such as 100 Collins Street), this was a `skin' building that was not transparent and did not reveal its structure except as implied on the external walls. The windows were set in aluminium clad panels on a strict module, placing the aluminium and glass surfaces, seemingly into one gleaming plane or skin. There was no reference to a traditional window as a framed wall opening except for the chair or vertigo rail.Fire separation between floors was achieved by turning the fire wall down, below the floor level, so rentable floor measurement was taken from the chair rail and not the typically thicker spandrel or fire wall which fell within the false ceiling space below. This achieved spectacular floor to ceiling glazing at dizzy heights over the street below. Unlike the naturally ventilated early 1950s glass boxes there was now a service chamber above the ceiling housing air-conditioning ducts. This chamber was, in turn, reflected on the external elevation as horizontal bands of aluminium and served to obscure part of the structure (floor slab) and, in effect, took its place. Hence the façade presents the impression of a structural grid rather than the transparent façade of the 1950s, revealing the structure behind.Estates House is located in a paved and landscaped plaza of the same era shared with its architectural mentor, BHP House, to provide an unequalled grouping of this style of office block in its original plaza setting. A six-level parking block to the east is in a related minimalist style while a shuttered ramp leads to basement parking under Estates House itself. The ground level interior has changed with minor external additions and limited unrelated corporate signageThis form of highly sophisticated International Modernism commenced in Melbourne with the 1960 aluminium clad Shell House (since demolished, Buchan Laird & Buchan with Skidmore Owings & Merrill) and reached its culmination with the Broken Hill Propriety Ltd (BHP) Building which has been described within the national context by architectural critics as follows:`Australia's finest building in this idiom…This classical steel building, with a flush, black frame and dark glass, shows the minimal detailing, precision of jointing and the simplicity of line, typical of mature examples in the United States..'.Other predecessors included Yuncken Freeman's own offices (1968) at 411 King Street, Melbourne and, in North America, buildings such as General Life Insurance, Connecticut (1957) and the Pepsi-Cola Company Offices, New York (1959).The precursor to Estates House, Eagle Star was also described as follows, with attributes that also apply to Estates House:`…The significance the building however goes beyond its aesthetic qualities. Eagle House is one of the finest examples of the curtain wall in Australian Architecture thanks to its highly sophisticated skin. Green tinted glass and flush aluminium create a taught wrapping of the façade. The building also depicts one of the first examples of floor to ceiling glazing, unique of its time. Eagle Houses' refined level of detail has earned it a place of the Victorian Heritage Register.'Although Estates House was superficially a clone of Eagle Star and part of the Barry Patten stable of Mies Van der Rohe architectural inspirations, it nevertheless has the qualities of all of these buildings while having the advantage of a free standing site, like BHP, that displayed fully the shining glass and aluminium skin wrapped on a simple rectangular shaft. Yuncken Freeman had an unequalled national reputation for superb architectural detailing and classically simple forms that had prevailed over the comparatively featurist architecture of their contemporaries in Melbourne and Sydney. This building is well-preserved and a very good example of a distinct and valuable body of work within the commercial architectural idiom that has no equal in Victoria.Estates House is one of a group of highly significant Modernist office designs in this part of the finance district of the Capital City Zone, including many by Yuncken Freeman: they include Royal Insurance Group Building, BHP Building, Eagle Star, the AMP tower and St. James building complex by Skidmore Owings and Merrill.How is it significant?Estates House is significant aesthetically to the Melbourne Capital City Zone and Victoria.Why is it significant?Estates House s is significant aesthetically as one of the three superb Yuncken Freeman International Modern styled multi-storeyed office buildings within the Capital City Zone which is distinguished by its flush aluminium and glass façade displayed to full effect on an island corner site within the financial centre of the Capital City Zone. The building is also part of a highly significant International Modern styled office group._________________________________________GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM cites Keith and John Reid, CBD Study Area 7 Historic Buildings Preservation Council, 1976: page 139;_________________________________________City of Melbourne i-Heritage:Central Activities District Conservation Study - Graeme Butler, 1984 Notable features include - clone of Eagle Star without its fine proportions. Other Comments CBD study: retention essential._________________________________________Graeme Butler, 1982-3, Twentieth Century Architecture Register of Royal Australian Institute of Architects:cites Keith and John Reid, CBD Study Area 7; lists structural engineer as Irwin Johnston & Partners P/L; mechanical Lobley Treidel & Partners; designer Barry Patten for YFA._________________________________________CITY OF MELBOURNE BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATIONSMarch 1973, 43622 $6,700,000 24 storey office building (followed by many fit-out applications)1990, 68563 refurbish ground level_________________________________________Taylor, J`Australian Architecture since 1960': 22_________________________________________State Library of Victoria collection:Wolfgang Sievers, `Dillingham Estates House by Yuncken Freeman Architects, William Street, Melbourne', 1975 [2] [pictures] also model, etc._________________________________________`Business Who's who of Australia' 1974: 229Dillingham Corporation of Australia Ltd: group of companies involved in building construction, engineering, dredging, ship building, mining, real estate, property development, earth moving, road building , quarrying and cattle stations._________________________________________International Directory of Company Histories | 1988 |:Dillingham Corporation (copy held)_________________________________________Victorian Heritage Register:Eagle Star473 BOURKE STREET MELBOURNE, Melbourne CityVictorian Heritage Register (Victorian Heritage Register) NumberH1807 Heritage Overlay Number HO901`Statement of SignificanceWhat is significant?Eagle House was built in 1970-71, and was designed by the noted Melbourne firm of Yuncken Freeman Bros. Architects, as the headquarters for the local branch of the London based Eagle Star Insurance Co. The completed building was highly regarded by the architectural community, winning the RAIA Award of Merit in 1972 as 'one of the most elegant and attractive office buildings in Australia', as well as the inaugural Alcoa Australia Award for aluminium use in 1973. The green tinted glass and natural finished aluminium curtain wall is delicately detailed, and flush, forming a taut skin over the simple rectangular volume of the projecting front section of the 12 storey office tower. The service core, a simple aluminium clad volume, is located towards the rear of the site, allowing the curtain wall section to appear free-standing.How is it significant?Eagle House is of architectural significance to the State of Victoria.Why is it significant?Eagle House is of architectural significance as one of the finest examples of the curtain wall phase of Australian commercial architecture. The walling is particularly sophisticated, representing the ultimate refinement of the sheer skin-like qualities of earlier examples, such as Gilbert Court and ICI House. The green tinted glass and natural finished aluminium are detailed to be absolutely flush, and form a tight 'skin' wrapping around the front tower-like portion of the building. The curtain wall is finely resolved and detailed, incorporating one of the first examples of floor to ceiling glazing, with vertigo rail, and thick horizontal bands of the aluminium cladding, covering the ceiling space. The elegance of the design is enhanced by the slim vertical mullions, which create a fine grid, and by cantilevering the whole first bay of the building, minimising the visibility of the structural concrete columns within. Eagle House is notable for its use of colour and materials and slick modern presentation, while its modest scale and fine proportions allow the building to retain a human scale. Its qualities were recognised by the RAIA, which gave the building the Award of Merit in 1972.Eagle House is also part of a nationally important precinct of post-war commercial office towers, including the highly significant (former) BHP building, the adjacent (former) Estates House, both by Yuncken Freeman, and the AMP tower and St. James building complex by Skidmore Owings and Merrill.'Victorian Heritage Register130-148 WILLIAM STREET and 503-523 BOURKE STREET MELBOURNE, Melbourne CityVictorian Heritage Register (Victorian Heritage Register) Number H1699Heritage Overlay Number HO767What is significant?The former BHP House was constructed from 1969 to 1972 as the national headquarters of the Broken Hill Proprietary (BHP) Company. The architects of the forty-one storey steel, concrete and glass building, Yuncken Freeman Architects, worked closely with engineers Irwin Johnson and Partners to design a fine engineering structure, the tallest building in the city at the time. In developing the design for the tower, project architect Barry Patten and his team sought assistance from architects and engineers at the Chicago office of Skidmore Owings and Merrill, spending ten weeks there in 1968.What is significant?The former BHP House is of architectural, scientific (technological) and historical significance to the State of Victoria.How is it significant?The former BHP House is of architectural significance as one of the landmark high-risebuildings in the State, demonstrating the principal characteristics of early 1970s multi-storey office buildings. When constructed, BHP House was a landmark in both the physical and historical development of multi storeyed office design. It heralded a new aesthetic in high-rise buildings, with the replacement of 1950s and 1960s banded curtain walls and externally- expressed service cores with a new all-embracing sheer glazed curtain wall. BHP House was designed, like similar earlier buildings of Mies van der Rohe, to be viewed as a three dimensional sculptural monument separate from the surrounding cityscape. The open plan, fully glazed, ground floor plaza, which raises the bulk of the building to the first floor level, increases the sense of distinction. The building is an outstanding architectural expression of corporate image, especially through its innovative and extensive use of BHP's steel technology. The building was also distinguished by high quality and co-ordinated interior design, furniture and artwork, all now unfortunately removed.The former BHP House is of architectural significance as one of the most noteworthy buildings designed by the Melbourne firm Yuncken Freeman Architects , who designed many multi- storey office buildings in the Melbourne CBD from the 1950s through to the 1970s. Other significant Yuncken and Freeman buildings include Estates House (1976), next door to BHP House, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, and La Trobe University.The former BHP House is of scientific (technological) significance for its innovative structural application of steel and concrete. New techniques were employed for the foundations, which were comprised of a concrete raft poured in a single continuous action. The composition of the floor structure, which was of steel decking and lightweight concrete over steel beams encased in asbestos rather than concrete to reduce weight, was also innovative. This flooring acted as a stiffening element in the overall structural design of the building, along with the cap and belt trusses, allowing the structural loads to be carried down through the outer skin of steel and the central services core. This produced open floor plans, devoid of internal columns and increasing the flexibility of internal space. Many of the fundamental ideas informing the layout and arrangement of BHP House were retained as standard features of high rise office buildings in subsequent decades. The building was also innovative in its adoption of a new energy efficient 'total energy system', generating its own electricity using BHP natural gas. Unfortunately, this has now been completely removed.The Former BHP Building is of historical significance as a symbol of major changes occurring within Melbourne in the last several decades of the 20th century. As an isolated sculptural monument, isolated from the traditional streetscape, it reflected the transformation of Melbourne's CBD into a corporate and government core, as retailing, industrial and warehousing functions followed the city's population to the spreading suburbs. The building was part of a trend towards much larger projects on consolidated blocks that was to change the face of the city forever. Like the ICI Building a decade previously, the construction of BHP House heralded changes to Melbourne town planning codes allowing further increases in height and floor area. The corporate image of money and power is clearly expressed in this shining monolith, which was also a reflection of the prosperity of resource companies at a time when there was great optimism about the potential for resource-led economic growth in Australia._________________________________________Yuncken Freeman From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia,accessed 2011Yuncken Freeman Architects began as a practice when Rob Yuncken and John Freeman left their positions as senior associates in A & K Henderson. Their departure was accompanied by Tom Freeman and Balcombe Griffiths, also employees at A & K Henderson. Roy Simpson was later recruited into the firm by recommendation of a fellow student, during his time at the School of Design in Melbourne University. Yuncken Freeman is an abbreviation of an original longer name. Their office was located in the same Henderson Building, near the Mitre Tavern and its area was a social hub for a community of architectural firms, fellow students and friends from the Architectural Students' Society including Leslie M Perrott, Marcus Barlow, Bates Smart & McCutcheon and others.By the 1940s the operations of the firm was disrupted by WWII, which unavoidably grew to be a much serious threat than before. Rob Yuncken and Roy Simpson eventually enlisted into service, providing planning and design services to the U.S. Army Engineers Corps, for territory reclaimed by General MacArthur’s campaign. When the dust settled in 1946, Yuncken and Simpson returned to Melbourne. Only to find the members of the original group scattered. They did however reunite to continue their practice.In 1947, Yuncken Freeman was appointed by the Victorian Government to initiate an emergency housing project in London. Simpson, who had experience during his days in the U.S. Army, headed the project where he provided designs for pre-built housing that could be assembled by unskilled labour. Fifty years later, these homes are stilled occupied. He was awarded the Gold Medal by the Royal Australia Institute of Architects (RAIA) for his significant contribution.Roy Simpson being the youngest of the original group and the sole survivor of the five original partners subsequently added Barry Patten and John Gates, John Yuncken, Robert Peck and Jamie Learmonth and others. Yuncken Freeman has grown steadily over the years particularly from the economic boom from the 1950s to 1980s to be a sizeable firm in Australia. Yuncken Freeman has branch offices in Hong Kong as well as other parts of south-east Asia.YFA Examples:AON Centre (Royal Insurance Group Building) 430 - 444 Collins Street, Melbourne, Australia, 1964Scottish Amicable Building 128 - 146 Queen Street, Melbourne, Australia 1966Flagstaff House 411 - 415 King Street, Melbourne, Australia 1968, Yuncken Freeman officeTypical of the Yuncken Freeman works lead by Patten, Flagstaff house is very characteristic of the Chicago Modern. The building uses a simple ribbed steel cage structural system and sits low in Melbourne's skyline. Designed to serve as offices, this building became home to the Yuncken Freeman firm in 1970.BHP House 140 William Street, Melbourne, Australia 1967 - 1972Another heritage listed building; BHP House, received the RVIA Victorian Architects award in 1975. Barry Patten took his team to Chicago to work closely with Fazlur Khan and Hal Iyengar in order to develop the first concepts for the project. This took place in the offices of Skidmore Owings & Merrill. A belt truss system was used for the framing of BHP house, but what made it unique was it's external expression of structure. Whilst many buildings in America had previously expressed this idea it had only ever served as a means of decoration. BHP House's exterior expression was in fact structural.Eagle House 473 - 481 Bourke Street, Melbourne, Australia 1971 - 1972Built as headquarters for the local branch of London's Eagle Star Insurance Company, Eagle House won the RAIA Award of Merit in 1972 and the Alcoa Australia Award for its use of aluminium in 1973. The building was regarded as one of Australia's most 'elegant and attractive' office buildings. The significance of the building however goes beyond its aesthetic qualities. Eagle House is one of the finest examples of the curtain wall in Australian Architecture thanks to its highly sophisticated skin. Green tinted glass and flush aluminium create a taught wrapping of the façade. The building also depicts one of the first examples of floor to ceiling glazing, unique of its time. Eagle Houses' refined level of detail has earnt it a place of the Victorian Heritage Register.Estates House 114 - 128 William Street, Melbourne, Australia 1974 - 1976State Government Offices 1 Treasury Place, Melbourne, AustraliaEagle Star Insurance Building 28 Grenfell Street, Adelaide, AustraliaTypical of Yuncken Freeman's buildings of this period, Eagle Star Insurance Building processes a very modest display. But more important is perhaps the buildings implementation of the curtain wall. ESI Building has been recognized as 'a highly refined u'e of cur'ain-wall construc'ion' in its 'minimalist design'.References cited:* http://www.architecture.com.au/i-cms_file?page=/1/17/51/1997_Roy…PDF* http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A090265b.htm%20(A%20&%20K%20Henderson)* http://www.walkingmelbourne.com/name_search.html?architects=Yuncken+Freeman&order=built* www.theartscentre.com.au* http://www.archmedia.com.au/aa/aaissue.php?issueid=200307&article=16&typeon=3* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiTefVF8Y7c* http://vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au/places/heritage/4698_________________________________________Barry Patten-From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaBarry Beauchamp Patten (July 11, 1927 – March 13, 2003) was an Australian architect and Olympic alpine skier.He was born in McKinnon, Victoria. Educated at Caulfield Grammar School, he studied architecture first at Melbourne Technical College before completing his degree at the University of Melbourne in 1951. In 1952 he competed for Australia at the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo as a skier.Patten joined the architecture firm of Yuncken Freeman Brothers Griffiths & Simpson, and in 1957 submitted a design for the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne. His design was chosen for the Bowl, and he worked as the project architect. Patten designed three buildings in Victoria that are now on the Victorian Heritage Register: the Myer Music Bowl, BHP House, and the Victoria State Offices.References* Architecture Australia (2005). OBITUARY: BARRY PATTEN. Retrieved March 11, 2006.* Olympic profile_________________________________________Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA )Mining Booms and the Australian EconomyRic Battellino, Deputy GovernorAddress to The Sydney Institute Sydney - 23 February 2010`(c) The 1960s/early 1970s boomThe third boom was that in the 1960s/early 1970s. This boom was quite broadly based, but the key parts were sharp increases in mining of coal and iron ore, and the development of oil and bauxite discoveries.The background to this boom was that both the global and domestic economies were becoming increasingly stretched, with rising commodity prices and rising inflation more generally. Particularly important for Australia during this period was the economic development of Japan. As well as adding to the global demand for resources, this had particular significance for Australia because Japan’s proximity lowered transport costs and made certain mineral discoveries economically viable.This boom differed from the episodes in the 19th century in that it was more capital intensive. Partly this reflected supply factors, as global capital markets had developed significantly since the turn of the century. Partly it was also technological, as some of the resources could only be developed with large-scale investment. Mining investment rose from about ½ per cent of GDP in 1960 to a peak of almost 3 per cent in the early 1970s.Export prices rose strongly, particularly in the early 1970s, resulting in a large swing in income towards exporters. The current account of the balance of payments moved to surplus, an outcome that has not been repeated since.Employment grew strongly in the second half of the 1960s, by close to 3 per cent per annum, due to large-scale immigration and increased female participation. Wages rose strongly, and the centralised wage fixing system spread the increases widely through the community.The nominal exchange rate remained relatively fixed until towards the end of the boom, the eventual appreciation of the exchange rate in the early 1970s coming too late to benefit the economy. Money supply growth picked up to over 20 per cent per annum in the early 1970s and fiscal policy also became expansionary. Inflation rose sharply.Tariff cuts were introduced in 1973 to help control inflation, but the benefit of this was later offset by the imposition of import quotas to try to protect manufacturing jobs.By the mid 1970s, both the Australian economy and the global economy were experiencing severe difficulties, primarily flowing from the adverse consequences of very high inflation. The boom therefore ended; mining investment fell to low levels, and commodity prices stagnated. '_______________________________DIRECTORIES OF VICTORIA, MELBOURNE-SANDS AND KENNY, SANDS & MCDOUGALL1974: 114-128 rebuilding (last Directory of Victoria)______________________________________________________________________CONTEXT (WITH GJM HERITAGE) 2022, HODDLE GRID HERITAGE REVIEWStatement of SignificanceWhat is significant?The former Dillingham Estates House, later Estates House, at 114-128 William Street, Melbourne, completed in 1976 and designed by Yuncken Freeman.Elements that contribute to the significance of the place include (but are not limited to):• The building’s original external form, materials and detailing• The building’s high level of integrity to its original design.Later alterations, particularly at street level, are not significant.How it is significant?The former Dillingham Estates House at 114-128 William Street is of historical, representative, aesthetic and technical significance to the City of Melbourne.Why it is significant?The former Dillingham Estates House is historically significant for its association with the financial investment driven by the mineral and energy boom that fuelled office building in the city. It also demonstrates the lessening of the importance of British and American capital in favour of large Australian companies during the 1970s. (Criterion A)The former Dillingham Estates House is a significant example of a late Post-War Modernist office tower and of the work of influential modernist architects Yuncken Freeman who played a significant role in re-shaping the city from the 1960s and 70s. Yuncken Freeman had an unequalled national reputation for superb architectural detailing and classically simple forms. The building is also part of a highly significant office group located around the corner of William and Bourke Streets and including BHP House and Eagle House, that was the precursor to the former Dillingham Estates House. (Criterion D)The former Dillingham Estates House is aesthetically significant for its clarity of architectural expression and the sophistication of its curtain wall with windows set in aluminium clad panels on a strict module. (Criterion E)The former Dillingham Estates House is technically significant for its design that achieved floor to ceiling glazing and fire separation between floors, as well as the central service core that allowed the cladding of the building to be expressed on all four sides. (Criterion F)Primary sourceHoddle Grid Heritage Review (Context & GJM Heritage, 2020) (updated March 2022)
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| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
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| Original | 110147 | 1 JPEG : 691 KB ; A4 | Single Item (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |