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Alley Building, 30-40 Exhibition Street, Melbourne

Butler, Graeme1985

Record details

Title:

Creator:

Butler, Graeme (Name details)

Date of work:

1985

Reference number:

BIF-CITY 103919

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 2021:Period: Inter-WarDESIGNERS: Oakley, Percy A (1923) Oakley & Parkes (1936)DATE: 1923, 1936;ASSOCIATIONS: Alley Brothers Pty Ltd..GRAEME BUTLER & ASSOCIATES 2011, CENTRAL CITY (HODDLE GRID) HERITAGE REVIEWStatement of SignificanceWhat is significant?Preceded by fire in both stages of the Alley Building Flinders Lane and Exhibition Street development, the first stage was a brick and cement rendered building of 4 storeys and Greek Revival in character, as designed by Percy A Oakley, FRVIA. The next was the addition of two floors and a penthouse to the design of Oakley & Parkes, giving the building a new Jazz Moderne styling. Oakley & Parkes were noted for their Moderne architectural landmarks such as Kodak and Yule House, the taxation office in Lonsdale St and others such as Anzac House, Collins St. and the Equity Trustees building. Fire was no doubt a continuing hazard in the rag trade as applied up and down this part of Flinders Lane.The owners, Alley Brothers, were long-term Flinders Lane clothing manufactures and formed part of the dominance of this industry in the immediate locality.The street elevations have a classical order, with a ground level plinth and applied pilasters. The cladding is face brick (since painted) with concrete or cement spandrels and multi-paned steel-framed windows set between pilasters and separated by the spandrels. The Exhibition Street elevation is framed by vertical elements at each end which rise above the parapet in a Modernistic design with applied chevrons and jelly-mould forms. Windows are multi-paned and steel framed. Floors were constructed with hollow terra-cotta blocks as sacrificed formwork and concrete. The entry to upper-levels was from Flinders Lane (75-77) with a cantilevering canopy adorned with Neo-Grec details. The foyer is timber panelled with early brass fittings and a jarrah main stair protected by use of pressed metal sheeting on the soffit.How is it significant?The Alley Building is significant historically and aesthetically to the Melbourne Capital City ZoneWhy is it significant?The Alley Building is significant architecturally as a Modern style warehouse and factory designed by one of the key practitioners of the style, Oakley & Parkes, and historically as a representative building of the clothing trade dominance in this part of the City up until World War Two..RAWORTH, B 2002. REVIEW OF HERITAGE OVERLAY LISTINGS IN THE CBDfor the City of MelbourneHistory and DescriptionThe Alley Building, was constructed c.1925, possibly as a part of the adjacent Herald and Weekly Times complex.' It is a six storey office development occupying a long, narrow block with its principal frontage to Exhibition street. The designer and builder are not known. The building is designed in a stripped Classical mode and draws upon the work of Chicagoan architects such as William Le Baron Jenney and the firm of Holabird & Roche. Key features of the style found here include the division of the facade into a grid with ornamentation limited to the cornice level. Vertical pilasters extend for the full height of the building and contain the largely unadorned spandrel elements. Window openings are generally large with understated framing. This rational, pragmatic, American style was considered appropriate to Australia for commercial buildings not seeking a particularly prestigious image.The brickwork of this building has been painted but it is otherwise in good condition with high degree of integrity to its original state.Statement of SignificanceThe Alley Building is of aesthetic significance at a local level as a good example of a large interwar office development drawing upon Chicagoan antecedents..GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM.City of Melbourne i-Heritage:Central Activities District Conservation Study - Graeme Butler, 1984 Building Identification Form (BIF): Alterations / Recommendations: Colour ( sympathetic - no recommendation) Other Comments Relates to Herald Sun building. Central Activities District Conservation Study 2000 cites Sands & MacDougall, Directory of Victoria, 1924..Building Permit Application5740 VPRS 11200/P1/644 drawings, 4 storeys and Greek Revival character.John Monash papersNotes on Building Projects, Monash and Alley:`Spinks & Alley's Building (enquiry).A memorandum by Fairway dated 12 February 1913 records: 'Mr McColl of Yeo, Crosthwaite & Co called and said he wished to discuss a very confidential matter with me. He then told me that some very old clients and friends of his (Messrs Spinks & Alley) were proposing to erect a building about 5 storeys in height, on land 70' × 30' in Flinders Lane, and anticipated spending at least £7000 on same. Mr McColl told me that in previous similar cases Mr Wm Pitt had been architect and Mr R McDonald contractor, that no matter what tenders were called for, McDonald always managed to secure the work at a very high figure. Messrs Spinks and Alley have a very high opinion of Mr McDonald, and refused to think that he would, under any circumstances, overcharge them, although Mr McColl has, upon occasions, pointed this out to them.' McColl had asked for particulars and an estimate for a reinforced concrete building to press the matter. He wanted no commission and was doing it for the benefit of Spinks & Alley and RCMPC.The estimate was duly prepared, but Pitt was evidently unconvinced and gave McColl his reasons for avoiding reinforced concrete. On 1 March, PTF reported to McColl that RCMPC had tried to get in touch with Mr Pitt, but he had left for New Zealand. 'In regard to his contention that Reinforced Concrete is a slow method, we would like to point out that in no case have we been overtime with our work except where drastic alterations in the building have been made.' RCMPC would be willing to build to a definite 'reasonable time' fixed by the architect, based on other types of construction, and would adhere to it with time penalties. There is no evidence that they were successful.(see http://home.vicnet.net.au/~aholgate/jm/bldgtext/bldgs19.html ).STOREY, ROHAN 2019. HODDLE GRID INTERIORS THEMATIC STUDY (DRAFT): MAY 2019Alley Building30‐40 Exhibition Street, part 1923, part 1935Arranged typically for 1900‐1940 warehouse / office lobby, this space lacks spatial drama or architectural features, nor does it have unusually rich materials or elaboration, and it is not intact. The timber stairs with simple balustrade and pressed metal underside is fairly common amongst warehouse of 1900‐1930, and the timber dado is not extensive nor elaborate and has been painted. The lift door with its leadlight window is rare, but the lift itself is recent. The polished granite flooring is new..NEWSPAPERS (TROVE)Real Estate News Victoria Wednesday, 14 May 2008 : THE art deco Alley Building, on the corner of Exhibition Street and opposite the Collins Place twin towers, has been snapped up by a private investor for $10.25 million. They said the new owner planned to keep the asset, which has 1842 sq m of A-grade office space over five levels and three ground-floor shops, as an investment. The property sold on a low yield of 6.65%.'`The Argus' 28/3/1934 (see also 8 Dec 1933)...SUPREME COURT of VICTORIA -In the Matter of the Companies Act 1928 and In the Matter of ALLEY BUILDING PROPRIETARY LIMITED - Notice Is hereby given, that the order of the Supreme Court of Victoria, dated the seventh day of March, 1934, confirming the reduction of the capital of the above named company from £60 000 to £25,009 and the minute approved by the Court showing with respect to the capital of the company as altered, the several particulars required by the above mentioned act was REGISTERED by the Registrar-General on the twenty-fourth day of March 1934 The above mentioned reduction of capital involves the repayment to shareholders of paid-up capital to the extent of £24,000Dated this twenty-seventh day of March, 1934BULLEN & BURT of Bank of Australasia Building, 304-390 Collins street, Melbourne, solicitors for the company.`The Argus':Friday 20 May 1921`WORK AND WAGES.EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK- Dyers and 'Spotters.'Equal pay for equal work was strongly advocated by female unionists in the Commonwealth Arbitration Court . yesterday in the case of the clothes cleaning section of the Federated Clothing Trades of the Commonwealth against Alley Brothers, R B Lawrence and others claimed that any part of the work could be done quite as by women as by men'.(see also Unions and Arbitration: A Dependent Relationship? Evidence from Historical Case Studiesby Peter Gahan refers to Amalgamated Clothing and Allied Trades Union of Australia and Alley Brothers and ors. (1925) 21 CAR 924.)Wednesday 24 October 1923`FIRE IN FLINDERS LANE.It was stated yesterday that a fire occurred on the second floor of a building in Flinders lane, owned und occupied by Messrs. J. Higson and Sons. The fire, which was noticed about 9 o'clock, was on the third floor, in the rooms of Messrs. Alley Bros., who are tenants of Messrs. J. Higson and Sons.'Tuesday 28 July 1936FIRE IN MANTLE SHOWROOMSCity OutbreakTextile Stocks SavedFiremen saved large stocks of silk, woollen, and rayon goods and manufacturers' supplies after an outbreak of fire In the mantle showrooms of Selby Gowns, in Alley Building, on the south-eastern comer of Flinders lane and Collins place, at 5 45 pm yesterday.The fire was confined to the showrooms on the first floor The premises of G. Doxey, manufactures representative, and R Dudfields Successors, on the Collins place frontage, were slightly damaged by water, and the showrooms and workrooms of Alley Bros Pty Ltd, on the second and third floors, were damaged by smoke and heat…The total damage was estimated at several hundred pounds...'Tuesday 6 February 1945FINISHERS, female (over 45), . required forladies' frocks, coats, &c. Apply Alley Bros. Pty, Ltd., 75 Flinders lane..LEWIS, M- AUSTRALIAN ARCHITECTURE INDEX :Brick warehouses for Messrs.Alley Bros. S.E. Corner, Collins Place & Flinders Lane, Melb.(T.S.E.) Urban Conservation Projects Survey of Architectural DrawingsAdditional storeys in 1936 to warehouse, S.E. Cnr. Collins Place & Flinders Lane, Melbourne.Designed, Oakley, 1923. (TSE) Urban Conservation ProjectsSurvey of Architectural Drawings.Works of Oakley & Parkesarchitect for the building of the Taxation Offices. Lonsdale St., Melbourne.Age 3.8.1933 in RVIA Press Cuttings 1933-4Equity Trustees Co. Building, Bourke St., Melbourne described and illustrated.Royal Victorian Institute of Architects Journal Nov. 1931 pp 116-129Anzac House, Collins St., Melbourne.Royal Victorian Institute of Architects Journal July-Aug. 1938 pp 88-97Kodak P/L., at 252 Collins Street.Age 19.3.1935 in RVIA Press Cuttings 1934-5British Phosphate Commissioners 8 storey office building commencing construction at 515-519 Collins Street .Age 28.2.1939 in Royal Victorian Institute of Architects press cuttings (State Library of Victoria collection:), 1938-9Second place-getters in competition for design of Allied Societies Building.Royal Victorian Institute of Architects Journal May 1925 p 56Yule House, Little Collins Street, Melbourne, illustrated.Royal Victorian Institute of Architects Journal Sept. 1932 p 83remodelling of the Titles Office. Age 3.8.1933 in RVIA PressCuttings 1933-4remodelling & addition of. 2 floors to building for Malcolm Reid & Co. in Bourke St.Age 9.8.1938 in Royal Victorian Institute of Architects press cuttings (State Library of Victoria collection:) 1938-9Woolworths, on site of Britannia Theatre & Bull A Mouth Hotel, Bourke St. (with A. & H.L. Peck )Age 30.5.1933 in Royal Victorian Institute of Architects press cuttings (State Library of Victoria collection:), 1933-Lane's Motors, cnr. Exhibition & Lt. Collins Street. Age, 11.5.1937 in RVIA PressCuttings 1937Canada Cycle & Motor Car (VIC) P/L. at cnr. Queen & A'Beckett Sts.Age 30.8.1938 in Royal Victorian Institute of Architects press cuttings (State Library of Victoria collection:) 1938-9re-modelling of warehouse for H.B. Selby & Co. P/L., at 393 Swanston St.Argus 17.9.1936 in Royal Victorian Institute of Architects press cuttings (State Library of Victoria collection:) 1936..DIRECTORIES OF VICTORIA, MELBOURNE-SANDS AND KENNY, SANDS & MCDOUGALL1939: Alley Buildings etc. as Collins Place corner site 75-77 Flinders laneAlley Bros P/L costume manufacturersPeerless Modes mantle manufs.Cyclax (Aust) P/L toilet preparations importers1935: Alley Buildings etc. as Collins Place1930 (30-40) Alley Buildings as Collins Place1924 no Alley Buildings in Collins Place

Names:

City of Melbourne

Topics:

Central Activities District Conservation Study 1985Conservation studiesInterwar periodOffices

Places:

Melbourne (Vic.)

Form/Genre:

Building Identification Forms (BIFs)

Record types:

Research and reports

Record number:

1208270