Edward Keep & Co. warehouse , 377-379 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
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Edward Keep & Co. warehouse , 377-379 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
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Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 105704
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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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RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER 2022:__________________________________________________Period: Late VictorianDATE: 1888-9; 1899?ASSOCIATIONS: Keep, Edward & Co.;DESIGNERS: Twentyman & Askew;BUILDERS: Waring & Rowden, of Fitzroy.GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYStatement of SignificanceBuilt in 1888 - 9 for Edward Keep & Co., hardware makers and ironmongers, it was rebuilt after a disastrous fire in 1895 (1899?). The original architects were Twentyman & Askew and the builders, Waring & Rowden, of Fitzroy.Edward Keep, his son and nephew, (Ronald and J. Francis Keep), conducted the business at the time of the fire, a contemporary report giving their tenure in the city as 46 years. Originally established in Elizabeth Street, the firm had spent some 16,000 pounds in building the Lonsdale Street premises, then possessing four floors and a basement, all stocked with general hardware lines (valued at 43,500 pounds). The fire had established the worth of parapets and, what was described in 1899, as an 'unpierced wall' on the eastern side in halting and spread of flame but otherwise, all of the interior was lost, leaving the four walls. A last minute grab for 200 pounds of gun powder, stored in the basement, obviated the store's total destruction, but remaining ammunition and kerosene drums created a pyrotechnic which convinced onlookers they were experiencing war-time conditions.One elderly gentleman close to the flames, when told to stand back, observed quietly that he was 'merely by my own fireside '. This was the firm's founder, Edward Keep. Although the stock was insured and stock supplies guaranteed by other wholesalers, the fire meant an end to the business as it had been, with the retirement of Edward and his son. The nephew, J Francis Keep, and his brother, Albert, were to continue the firm at their 100 Franklin Street address (carriage ironmongery, agricultural implements), recently taken over from Ferguson & Urie.Keep had worked in his father's Birmingham 'factoring' firm (Keep & Hinkley) in the 1840's, but made his fortune in the new Colony during the gold era, with a high demand producing high profit margins for imported hardware. Prefabricated houses, landed at a cost of 25 pounds, were resold at auction for 60 - 70 pounds each, but these margins each, but these margins evaporated in the slump which followed. The 1880s boom had revived the firm and sons and nephews brought young blood to the management, this store being build in the process, The 1890s depression, however, taxed the firm severely, it being only just before the fire that the firm saw some hint of recovery.The store was sold in 1903 and occupied by James Spicer & Sons, paper merchants, rise of the printing industry in the city's north-~est. Spicer &Detmold eventually occupied the building, followed by Rank Xerox in the 1960s. Architects, Carleton carried out renovation work for Spicer & Detmold in the 1940s.DescriptionA four storey cemented warehouse elevation, comprised of bold, tall arched fenestration and unusual attic composition. Divided vertically into three bays, the uppermost attic level is framed within three severe rectangular openings, contrasting with the paired arched windows set within each. Above this is a deeply bracketed and panelled entablature at the main cornice and above that again the parapet raised entablature. The intermediate level facade possesses tall arched openings with stylised Corinthian order capitals and set within each are superposed window openings, the lower of each possessing bracketed flat pediments in an aedicule configuration, whilst the upper windows are simply arched with moulded architraves. The upper piers descent through to the ground level section of the elevation, reaching the ground in a smooth rusticated form.The exposed western wall is austere red faced brick work with basalt rubbing rails and surviving cat-head over the loading doors. This elevation extends some length down Niagara lane, with raised entablature and pediment at an intermediate point. The elevation is strongly composed and impressive in the juxta-positioning of rectangular and arched forms and openings.External IntegrityThe interior and ground level have been renovated, but in a sympathetic manner where ground level glazed screens have been divided with broad verticals and recessed behind the main piers. Colours are sympathetic to the period. The western elevation has been painted, (in part), as have the basalt sills, a grey colour.StreetscapeRelated in scale and finish to the Moderne style on the west, but otherwise isolated in Lonsdale Street, however the Niagara Lane elevation is a strong contribution to an impressive warehouse lane.SignificanceAn architecturally successful and externally near complete warehouse design, which may be identified with two major firms, one a hardware merchant, the other a paper wholesaler, also complementary to the important warehouse streetscape of Niagara Lane..GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM cites source 80 REID, KEITH & JOHN R, 1976, MELBOURNE CBD STUDY AREA 7, page 321377-379 Lonsdale Street1884 The site contained two properties, each containing a weatherboard shop a-med and occupied by Mrs. Gardiner.1885 A two storey brick store was in the course of erection owned by Mixner & Cooper and occupied by them the following year.1888 The property was acquired by Keep and Co.1889 Keep and Co. demolished the two-storey store and constructed the existing four-storey building with basement which they occupied as a store in 1890.ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSISThe facade of the building is monumental in appearance. The heavy cornices, the deeply recessed windows and the two-storey pilasters rising to support the arched openings create a dramatic feeling of depth and a truly imposing façade. The alterations to the ground floor have been a great loss to the building, but even a matching of colour with the upper floors would greatly offset the present accentuation of the groundfloor.VICTORIAN HERITAGE INVENTORY H7822-1278Buildings possibly on site 1839 & 1850. Building shown on site, 1866. 1880 Panorama - single storey building on street frontage. 1884 - 2 weatherboard shops. 1885 - 2 storey brick store. 1888 map - 3 storey building, Carriage Factory. 1889 - building erected by Keep & Co. 1905 map - 4 storey building, Spicer & Sons, Paper Merchants..HERITAGE BRANCH, MINISTRY FOR PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT 1987 CITY OF MELBOURNE CENTRAL CITY NOTABLE BUILDINGS CITATIONSCITATION - NOTABLE BUILDING (AM425): A FOUR STOREY WAREHOUSE BUILT IN 1889 WITH ITS WORKING ASPECT TO NIAGARA LANE BUT ALSO WITH A MONUMENTAL RENDEREDFACADE TO LONSDALE STREET. IT IS NOTABLE FOR THE DESIGN OF ITS FAÇADE AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO THE WAREHOUSES OF NIAGARA LANE..MAHLSTEDT FIRE INSURANCE PLAN SERIESMap 131888 22 Lonsdale St, A G Humby carriage factory, 3 storey masonry, 44' frontage, vacant lot to Lt Bourke St1910 377-381 J Spicer & Sons paper merchants 4 storey and basement, windows and cart dock to Niagara later Ironmongers Lane on west, backs onto 368 Little Bourke1948 Rank Xerox (Aust) at 377-381 4 storey wood columns and beams.LEWIS, M- AUSTRALIAN ARCHITECTURE INDEX:45435 Twentyman & Askew VIC Warehouses 1888 8 28 Twentyman & Askew.Tenderers listed for warehouse in Lonsdale St. west for Edward Keep & Co. T. & A. Tender Book SLV MS138/2(see also 45437 Twentyman & Askew VIC Warehouses 1890 6 28 Tender accepted for erection of four 4-storey warehouses off Lonsdale St. for B.J. Fink Esq.of Melbourne. Building Engineering and Mining Journal 28.6.1890,supplement, p 5 (Lonsdale near off Lonsdale - Tatersalls Lane)Record 74877; Askew, D; Keep, E & Co Melbourne VIC Warehouses Baxter & Boyne - Flinders St 1899 09 26 7668-MCC registration no 7668 [Burchett Index]. Fee 2.10.0 store Little Lonsdale).LOVELL CHEN 2017. GUILDFORD & HARDWARE LANEWAYS PRECINCT - PRECINCT CITATION: 24Across the lane the retail premises at no 377 Lonsdale Street and the warehouse to its rear at nos 28-38 Niagara Lane were built in 1888-9 for Edward Keep & Co., hardware makers and ironmongers. Twentyman & Askew were architects of the original design although the premises were rebuilt after a fire in 1899.City of Melbourne online mapsA four storey rendered brick warehouse. Designed by Twentyman & Askew and built for Edward Keep in 1889 by Waring & Rowden at a cost of £14,000. Mr Keep was the the principal of the iron mongering firm Edward Keep & Co. This firm specialised in the importation of carriage materials and agricultural implements. In October 1899 the interior was destroyed by fire and stock with the value of £40,000 pounds was lost. lost. It was rebuilt later that year. Refurbished and subdivided in 1987..NEWSPAPERS (TROVE)1884https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/262613455TRADE MATTERS.A strike has occurred amongst the laborers engaged in the buildings now in course of construction by Messrs Martin and Peacock, who hare contracted to erect stores for E. Keep and Co., in Flinders lane; also building in Bank place, cn the St. Kilda road. The cause of the strike is the refusal of Messrs Martin and Peacock to accede to thedemand of the men to raise the rate of wages1889 IN INSOLVENCY-estate of Henry Doyle, contractor of Horsham,Liabilities include; E. Keep and Co., £261 12s1897https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/221132126MESSRS E. KEEP AND CO.Messrs Edward Keep and Co., of No. 377 Lonsdale street, Melbourne, are the wholesale agents for Victoria for Sutton and Sons famous seeds for the farm and garden…1899https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/199720410MESSRS. E. KEEP and Co.'s WAREHOUSE GUTTED.£50,000 worth damage.The most serious fire which has occurred in the city since the destruction of Henty's bond took place on Tuesday night, when Messrs. Edward Keep and Co’s warehouse, at the corner of Lonsdale- street and Niagara-lane, was almost-totally-destroyed. Only the four blackened wall's of a building which cost £14,000 to erect are now standing and within there lies a mass of twisted metal that on Tuesday represented a stock of hardware valued at £40,000.At 5 o'clock that evening the premises were locked up, and left in apparently perfect order. Nothing suspicious was seen by the constable on the bear, who passed the store several times during the evening, but, at about 10 minutes past 10 'clock, the watchman at the Congress Tobacco Factory, in Queen-street, noticed a thin coil of smoke rising above Messrs. F. Keep and Co.'s warehouse. Constable Rankin, who was on duty at the Titles Office, saw this at the same moment, and, calling to the watchman, both ran to the Little Bourke-street fire station, and came the alarm. Deputy-officer O'Brien at once turned out with a score of his best men. ….The upper rooms were uncomfortably hot, and ever and again flames would dart across the right-of-way, and curl up the side of the hotel wall. As the roof of the warehouse caved in and one solid mass of fire arose from the four walls, sparks were sprinkled over all the surrounding houses, and wore carried m the wind even as far as Collins-street. Residents of the buildings in the vicinity mounted their roofs with buckets of water to protect their own property, and had it not been for tlie heavy rain which fell in the early part of the evening it is not improbable that a serious conflagration would have followed. The efforts of the fire brigade were concentrated on saving the hotel. The warehouse itself was beyond hope, and the building! on the eastern and southern sides were temporarily safe. Firemen were stationed at the windows of the threatened building, overlooking the lane, and along the parapet, and fought across the opening, to the delight of the excited crowd which gathered in Lonsdale-street…brigade had triumphed, and that the damage outside of Messrs. E. Keep and Co.'s warehouse was comparatively trifling. The isolated spots where the fire had caught the frontages of the buildings in Niagara-lane, at the rear of the hotel, were now completely extinguished, and only a few bright spots of fire showed through the mass of smoke that filled the shell of the warehouse. At midnight the fire was merely smouldering, and Chief Officer Stein began to send his men and appliances back to their respective stations.The building which was destroyed was erected for Messrs. E. Keep and Co. -in 1891, when the firm left its premises in Elizabeth street, and purchased the land in Lonsdale-street for £15,000. It consisted of four stories and a basement, and was a solid structure of brick work and cement, standing on a block of land 40ft. by 160ft. The four walls rose to a uniform height of about 50ft., and terminated in high parapet walls, which had much to do with keeping the fire concentrated The use of the parapet walls was strongly recommended by the board of inquiry which was appointed after the great fire of 1897, and the proof of their value was manifest by the events of the recent fire… See also https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/9033641 and https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2287489011917https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/50948405.DIRECTORIES OF VICTORIA, MELBOURNE-SANDS AND KENNY, SANDS & MCDOUGALL1893351 Keep, E., & Co, wholesale ironmongers & imptrsNiagara la-
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| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 105704 | 1 PDF : 1,037 KB ; A4 | Single Item (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |