Taxi Cab Co. Pty Ltd, 117-121 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Graeme Butler and Associates01/07/1989
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Total copies: 1
Title:
Taxi Cab Co. Pty Ltd, 117-121 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
01/07/1989
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 105677
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:
RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER 2022:__________________________________________________Edwardian Period: c1900-1915DATE: 1911;ASSOCIATIONS: Taxi Cab Company Pty Ltd;DESIGNER: Pitt, William;BUILDER: Henningsen, H - Victoria Rd Hawthorn.GRAEME BUTLER 1989, LITTLE BOURKE STREET PRECINCT CONSERVATION STUDYStatement of SignificanceTaxi Cab Company Pty. Ltd. Motor Garage117-121 Lonsdale StreetHistoryBuilt: 1911-12The Taxi Cab Company Pty. Ltd. commissioned noted theatre architect, William Pitt, to design what was termed as 'a brick garage' late in 1911. H. Henningsen, of Hawthorn, was the builder and the 'brick garage' was on three Ievels.2The Taxi Cab Co. departed in the early 1920s (remaining as owner to at least c1.930), replaced by Male Motors Pty. Ltd., Overland Victoria and Devon Motors Pty. Ltd., (agents), before and after wartime occupation by the Defence Department.3 City Motor Services Ltd. was the owner after c1930 4 and, as the corollary of its beginnings, King's Parking Co. P/L, had it in the 1970s.5Motor (taxi) cabs had mushroomed in numbers, from zero to over 1000 in London, in the brief period cl906-8, and the same was predicted for Melbourne.6 A syndicate had been formed to install Renault taxi cabs in Melbourne, the most popular of Europe's cabs. Its novel 'taximeter' recorded faithfully the taxi charge and avoided the traditional bargaining with the horse cab driver. The Taxi Cab Corporation (TCC on the drivers' metal badges) was the first to bring green taxis (Renault) to Australia, in 1909, apparently linked with C B Kellow, who was to establish a large business nearby in Russell Street.7 By the middle of that year, the popularity of taxis was such that 'working girls and boys' clubbed together to afford the charge (about 2/- per kilometre) 8 and experienced motoring for the first lime. Sydney followed in 1910, as did Adelaide, later in 1909.DescriptionEdwardian Baroque achieved with moulded cement detailing, the elevation freely mixes traditional with reinterpreted traditional motifs. The central broken pediment and large arched openings provide for visual dynamism where the extent or the void challenges the solidity of the elevation. Above the pediment, an in verted ox-bow arch between two pylon-like piers is counterpoint to the more predictable geometry or the sharply angled pediment and archways below. French cartouche-like detailing in the tympanum is subtly employed with the more abstracted bas-relief trellis on piers and spandrels, as contrasting detail to the broad wall planes and bold mouldings elsewhere. Another unusual touch is the ox-bow arch used in the centre upper window arch.External IntegrityParapet walls gone from centre piers; shop front replaced with surviving rusticated basalt base to piers at either end of facade; air-exhaust fans inserted Into window top-lights and some painted brickwork.Streetscape(as 115)SignificanceArchitecturally, a sophisticated elevation using the Edwardian Baroque style, itself a minority style in Edwardian commercial architecture (see Bates Peebles & Smart) by a noted architect, William Pitt. (see Spencer Street hotel designs).Historically, designed by an architect whose Edwardian commissions seemed to centre on this block (see Her Majesty's, Hoyts De Luxe) and for a use which might be associated with theatre patronage in the area built as the headquarters of Australia's first taxi cab company, and aligned with later motor car developments nearby (Kellow's), is at least at the beginning of building for the commercial motor trade.Contributes to precinct.GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBuilding Identification Form.Victorian Heritage Inventory H7822-13861880 - 1 storey building. 1888 and 1905 maps - site vacant.1911-12 - brick garage on three levels built for the Taxi Cab Co Pty Ltd, occupiers into 1920s. Subsequent motor trade uses. Brief use by Defence Dept, WWII. VTO Vol. 9488 Folio 475.GRAEME BUTLER 1989, LITTLE BOURKE STREET PRECINCT CONSERVATION STUDYBuilding Identification Formcites:1 BA (CITY OF MELBOURNE BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATION ) 2924,. 7/10/19112 RB1915,5233 RB1925, 4676; RB1930, 447; RB1940,343: RB1950,341; RB1945,350;4 ibid5 MMBW6 Australian Motorist 15/9/1908, quoted by Brian Carroll, p.1157 ibid8 op.cit. p.116.Lewis, M. Australian Architecture Index:76392 Pitt, W; Taxi Cab Prop. Co. Melbourne VIC Garages Henningsen, H - Victoria Rd Hawthorn 1911 10 7 2924, MCC registration no 2924 [Burchett Index]. Fee 6.0.0-brick garage 117-121 Lonsdale.i-Heritage, City of Melbourne117 TO 121 LONSDALE STREET MELBOURNE 3000Heritage GradingsBuilding Grading Streetscape Level Laneway LevelB 2Conservation Study Study Date StatusLittle Bourke Precinct Study - Graeme Butler, no date AdoptedPeriod 1900-15 - EdwardianIntegrity FairCondition FairOriginal Building Type Offices/garageNotable features include details - cement, finishes - bricks (side), design and interior. Car lift in side lane.Recommendations/ AlterationsGround level new ( inappropriate - reinstate original design or sympathetic alternative).NEWSPAPERS:Punch (Melbourne, Vic. : 1900 - 1918; 1925)Thursday 7 September 1911 - Page 39https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/177532767The Taxi Cab Co. has purchased a fine block of land in Lonsdale-street. Melbourne, from Mr, L. F. Collin, music warehouseman, of Swanston - street, upon which the company will build a new and handsome garage. The land has a frontage to Lonsdale-street of 40 feet by a depth of about 185 feet. The company now possess a fleet of some seventy cars, mostly two-cylinder Renaults, and the want of accommodation in the present premises in Exhibition-street has forced them out to seek more space to pack the cars for a growing business.The mascot of the Taxi Cab Co. of Melbourne is a black cat with very deep yellow eyes that lives on the company's premises and enjoys a motoring - life. Puss never wants for warmth, and never needs to seek a fireside for it. She settles herself down upon the bonnet of a taxi which has just come in from a run, and which is usually as warm as toast. Occasionally she will perch upon the radiator, but is most careful to test the heat of it first. Notwithstanding her liking for warmth, puss is a very cool cat so far as motors are concerned, for as often as not she will settle down on the garage floor quite heedless of the cars that pass over her as they run in and out.She is pretty canny, though, and when on the floor is always careful to select the centre seat out of the track of the wheels. The drivers know and care for their black mascot, and consequently take care never to injure her.
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| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 105677 | 1 PDF : 920 KB ; A4 | Group of Items (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |