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Cohen Brothers & Co. Warehouse, Showrooms, 107-111 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne

Graeme Butler and Associates01/07/1989
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Title:
Cohen Brothers & Co. Warehouse, Showrooms, 107-111 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Creator:
Graeme Butler and Associates
Date of work:
01/07/1989
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 105674
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:__________________________________________________Period: Late Victorian era 1876-1899DATE: 1890, c1920 changes;ASSOCIATIONS: Cohen Brothers and Company;DESIGNER: Sydney Smith & Ogg?;BUILDER: Hannaford, John.GRAEME BUTLER 1989, LITTLE BOURKE STREET PRECINCT CONSERVATION STUDYStatement of SignificanceHistoryCohen Brothers five-level brick furniture warehouse was built here in 1890, following construction of the four-Ievel brick warehouse at 22 Cohen Place (now Chinese Australian History Museum), earlier in the same year. 1Both were built by John Hannaford of Fitzroy, but no architect is cited.2 A drainage plan of 1900 shows that the two buildings, each with cellar under, were then owned by Scottish Amicable Life Assurance Society (of Glasgow). Plumbing and associated work in that year was supervised by architects, Sydney Smith & Ogg.3J. Hickman & Sons, picture frame and moulding manufacturers, were the next to occupy the buildings, the ownership having already passed from Cohen Brothers by c1900.4 John and Frank Tait. Theatrical entrepreneurs, owned it from cI910.5 The front building was also used as a motor garage in 1927 but the long term owner was Caversham House, Pty. Ltd., from c1935 onwards, when the Arrow Printery Pty. Ltd. and commercial photographer, Max Jeppeson, among others, were constant tenants.6 In Cohen Place, J.C. Williamson's property stores set the scene for occupancies linked with the theatre, such as Filmads Pty Ltd in c1950.7DescriptionAn austere three-bay cemented three-storey Lonsdale Street elevation designed in a conservative Renaissance revival manner, apparently greatly modified by the removal of at least two Upper levels when it was rebuilt in 1920.8 It is probable that this work also entailed either new stucco work or stripping of existing cement delail.9The rear warehouse: is on four levels and face brick presumably in a similar manner to the original Lonsdale Street showroom's wall finish.The Lonsdale Street fenestration pattern is comprised of three small windows on the side bays and one large Window centrally. The ground level is new but the piers are assumed to be, in part, original. The c1906 Mahlstedt plan shows two windows either side of a large central doorway.External integrityLonsdale Street:Upper levels removed, new stucco(?), new recessed unsympathetic ground-level with assumed retained main piers, and new fixed-pane (sashless) reflective glazing.Cohen Place:Generally original, some sympathetic changes to the entry but windows bricked up on rear elevations.StreetscapeContributing to a late 19th, early 20th century warehouse/factory streetscape in Lonsdale Street and part of a similar face-brick domain. in Cohen Place.SignificanceThe Lonsdale Street frontage is so externally altered as to be representative only of the original building and its uses but the rear warehouse, now the Australian Chinese History Museum, remains internally and externally expressive of 19th century light industry and warehousing and contributes to a now depleted streetscape.Contributes to precinct, 107-11 Lonsdale Street as streetscape only..GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBuilding Identification Form.Victorian Heritage Inventory H7822-13831880 - 2 storey building. 5 level brick warehouse constructed for Cohen Bros., 1890. VTO Vol. 4735 Folio 999.GRAEME BUTLER 1989, LITTLE BOURKE STREET PRECINCT CONSERVATION STUDY V3: 29and Building Identification Formcites1 CITY OF MELBOURNE BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATION (BA) 4462.16/5/1890: BA 4225 10/12/18892 ibid.3 DP 18540 (MMBW Drainage Plan)4 RB1900,601: RB1895,6425 RB1910,5496 BA 9350: RBI950,334f; RB1945,344f: RBI940,.337f'7 DI9S0 (DIRECTORIES OF VICTORIA, MELBOURNE-SANDS AND KENNY, SANDS & MCDOUGALL )8 BA 2692 15.5.1920; Mahlstedt c1906, 5 levels shown9 To be confirmed by Bas (i.e. Viewing drawings)
Related material link:
107-111 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne (Butler14217\\)107-111 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne (Butler14218\\)
Names:
City of Melbourne
Topics:
Little Bourke Historic Precinct StudyConservation studiesMid-late Victorian period (1875-1900)Warehouses1890-1899
Places:
Melbourne (Vic.)
Form/Genre:
Building Identification Forms (BIFs)
Record types:
Research and reports
Record number:
1249612
Bookmark link:
https://librarysearch.melbourne.vic.gov.au/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/OPAC/ARCENQ?SETLVL=&RNI=1249612
TypeReference No.ExtentStatus/Desc
Original1056741 PDF : 865 KB ; A4Group of Items (May not be issued, may not be reproduced)
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