Western House, 460-462 Collins Street & 77-89 William Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
Archives
Total copies: 1
Title:
Western House, 460-462 Collins Street & 77-89 William Street, Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 102121
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:
Style: Neo-RenaissancePeriod: Inter-WarConstruction date: 1938-1939Notable features: 1. Stone facing, friezes.ASSOCIATED RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER:.GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYStatement of SignificanceHistoryFor a long period the business domain of parliamentarian cum merchant James Services' Company, this site was also the property of the St James Anglican Church Trustees. The church was near the Service warehouse's north west corner. R J Alcock, one of Service and Company's three principals was the surviving partner and vendor of the site to the National Banking Company of Australasia in the late 1930s. St James Church had already been removed in 1914 and the leaseholds surrounding its former site converted to freehold. The bank's erection to the design of Meldrum and Noad, was heralded as the advent of limit-height office blocks to the old commercial centre of the western hill, although post dating Temple Court (qv) by over ten years. Another product of the building by-laws was the stepped rear elevation which allowed a glimpse of a regulation-sized patch of sky from a window, somewhere below at street level. Sydney's Hawksbury sand-stone and Melbourne's Green Dromana granite mingled happily on the upper and basement storeys, respectively, whilst inside the thin stone veneer lurked a solid steel frame braced by concrete floors and the north wall. This lesser northern facade was dressed in even thinner terra-cotta faience over its cause concrete sheer walls. Completed as a branch bank and leased offices by the end of 1939, the architects had achieved a design compromise between the bank's directors' revivalist wishes and the onslaught of Modernism. The formality of 1930s banking is evident in the 18 feet high 3 tonne bronze door which slid noiselessly from sight each morning, matching the far from intimate banking chamber inside. Collins Street, as always, was the desired address for this entrance, leaving a vast expressionless facade to face William Street. Nevertheless the designers achieved critical success here in clearly representing the great events inside by the tall pilaster bays and vertical window strips on the outside. Yet Modern simplicity was the keynote.DescriptionAlmost a squared off version of the contemporary Royal Banking Chambers, here a traditional neo-Grec (or neo-Egyptian) podium base supports a refined Modern Renaissance "tower". Cornice and string mouldings, the Tuscan pilaster row and three tonne bronze door all hint at by-gone styles and stretch the limit achievable in height and its related aesthetic treatment. By implication the lower facade, although almost unrelated to the upper, coincides with the storey heights and general arrangement of its former northern neighbours, perhaps in an act of gentlemanly design. W C Bowles' bas-relief over the entrance is a sign of how far reaching was the American Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project. Although a finely finished and detailed facade, stylistically this bank completes an era begun by the first RVIA award winner, Francis House in 1929.Statement of SignificanceA dominant, finely finished and formal revivalist design which reflects the traditional conservatism of banking companies as modified by the new international Modern movement also an RVIA medal winner..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.HERITAGE BRANCH, MINISTRY FOR PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT 1987 CITY OF MELBOURNE CENTRAL CITY NOTABLE BUILDINGS CITATIONSThe National Bank's Western Branch was built in 1939-39 to a design by the influential modernist architects, Meldrum and Noad. The building is highly reflective of the conservatism of banking in this era and is an exceptional example of substantial, restrained modernism. It was the winner of the Victorian Institute of Architects Street Architecture Medal in 1942.,National Trust of Australia (Vic)460 Collins Street, MELBOURNE VIC 3000 - Property No B4070A nine-storey bank of 1938-39 designed by Meldrum & Noad; representing one of the last uses of the classical revival style traditionally associated with banks in the 1930s, here exemplified in a restrained form on the two street facades of sandstone over a granite plinth and within the main banking chamber. The classification extends to the banking chamber and street facades.Classified: 09/02/1978and77 - 89 William Street,, MELBOURNE VIC 3000 - Property No B4076The National Bank's Western Branch was built in 1939-39 to a design by the influential modernist architects, Meldrum and Noad. The building is highly reflective of the conservatism of banking in this era and is an exceptional example of substantial, restrained modernism. It was the winner of the Victorian Intstitute of Architects Street Architecture Medal in 1942.Classified: 06/06/1994
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Research and reports
Record number:
1195731
| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 102121 | 1 PDF : 1,700 KB ; A4 | Group of Items (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |