10-22 Spencer Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1984
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Total copies: 1
Title:
10-22 Spencer Street, Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
1984
Search dates:
01 Jan 1984 - 31 Dec 1984
Reference number:
Butler14458
Level of description:
Item from Collection: Heritage Collection (HC)
Type of materials:
Graphic materials
Part of:
Access restrictions:
Unrestricted
Use restrictions:
Unrestricted
General notes:
McCaughan's Coffee Palace, later Great Southern Private Hotel, built 1890-1891Designers: Pitt & D'EbroOwner: McCaughan, Patrick KStatement of Significance -Graeme Butler 1985 Melbourne Central Activities District Conservation Study`HistoryThis was originally a coffee place, built in the mould of the Grand in Spring Street and close to a railway terminus. No doubt it was hoped to share the trade already flooding from the station Spencer Street to the Menzies and Federal, both close by and in Melbourne's traditional boarding house cum immigrant reception precinct, since the immigration depot was initially located in Bourke Street West.Patrick McCaughan, of the Rialto, commissioned his Rialto architect, William Pitt, in conjunction with the adjoining Melbourne Wool Exchange designer, Charles D'Ebro, to prepare a scheme for the proposed palace and at least two shops, adjacent to the Falstaff Cafe and `palace' entrance. William Hearnden, from Princes Hill, was the contractor.Early shopkeepers there were Clement Bourdie a chemist, and Miss Eliza Johnston (conducting a normally male-dominated tobacconist's business). Morris & White conducted the restaurant for at least a generation. There was even a Chinese laundry there in 1895 (Sun On Lee).DescriptionAlthough uncharacteristically (for Pitt or D'Ebro) conservative Classicism below the cornice level, D'Ebro's influence can be still seen on the massive central gabled pediment, with its overblown antefix on the apex.Similar façade compositions may be seen on Angus & Robertson's Building, Elizabeth Street, and George & George's in Collins Street: both are D'Ebro designs, but both employ the central pediment below the parapet line, rather than above it. The use of face brickwork is also a sign of the times.External IntegrityBricks have been painted, signs attached, ground-level altered and a street canopy added.StreetscapeIntegral in scale, general ornament and use to the corner Charles Hotham Hotel which was also designed by Pitt.SignificanceArchitecturally austere, if massive, but given its integrity, it expresses the rise of the railway coffee palace at most busy termini. In Melbourne's case it is the oldest coffee palace to still face the lines which fed it; others such as the Federal having been demolished.'
Location of originals:
\\mcc\groups\comserv\Melbourne Library Service\Community Heritage\Spydus\Butler collection\Butler14458.tif
Related material link:
Record types:
Images, maps and artefacts
Record number:
755336
| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | Butler14458 | 60.1 MB ; 5645 x 3706 px | Single Item (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |