The Block Arcade, 280-286 Collins Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
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Total copies: 1
Title:
The Block Arcade, 280-286 Collins Street, Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 102141
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:
Period: Victorian.ASSOCIATED RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER:.VICTORIA HERITAGE REGISTER H0032What is significant?The Block Arcade was developed by financier Benjamin Fink. The Collins Street section of the building was completed in February 1892 and is similar in style to the Milano Galleria Vittorio Arcade in Italy. The new shopping arcade was designed by David. C. Askew of the architectural firm Twentyman and Askew. The cost of erection was £46 233. The bluestone footings for the building came from the original structure on the site, the Briscoe & Company Bulk Store. The site of 96-102 Elizabeth Street was purchased by the City Property Company Ltd in January 1892. Architect David Askew was called upon to continue his style for the arcade and this area was completed in October the following year. The Block Arcade comprises of arcade shops with mezzanine levels above for social rooms and offices, shops to Collins Street, Block Place and Elizabeth Street and four levels of office space above. The arcade forms an L-shape with a polygonal planned space with a glazed roof at the corner of the L. The kink in the plan was due to the shape of the original block subdivision and the location of Block Place, the lane behind. Linking the two spaces is an elaborately patterned mosaic floor of tiles, which were imported from Europe. When the arcade was constructed the Building and Engineering Journal noted that the flooring contained the largest area of mosaics yet laid down in Australia. In 1907, scenic artist Philip Goatcher for the Singer Sewing Machine Company decorated the ceiling of their premises on the east corner of the Collins Street entry to the arcade. The other shop to Collins Street, which housed the first Kodak shop in Melbourne contains an elaborate pressed metal ceiling. The facades to Collins and Elizabeth Street are designed in the Victorian Mannerist style with elaborate stucco decoration. Particular facade elements include; triangular and segmental pediments; rustication and an exaggerated cornice with brackets. Features of the upstairs office spaces include timber joinery around lift entries, tessellated tiles to the lobby spaces, elaborate leadlight windows and decorative plasterwork to arches in the corridors. There is also one surviving communal timber telephone box situated in a corridor.How is it significant?The Block Arcade is of architectural, aesthetic, social and historical importance to the State of Victoria.Why is it significant?The Block Arcade is of architectural and aesthetic importance as an excellent intact example of a shopping arcade. The design draws on early and influential European models and as such is important in its ability to demonstrate the essential and typical qualities of those designs and the continuity of the tradition of covered shopping streets. The Elizabeth and Collins Street facades are fine examples of the Mannerist style demonstrating many of the characteristic elements, such as a combination of triangular and segmental pediments and rustication. The Block Arcade is of architectural and aesthetic significance as it features lavish interior decoration, including an extraordinary mosaic tile floor. Based on the Milan Galleria Vittoria, it has a glass roof over the arcade with a glass dome at is corner. Its internal spaces, with their high quality finishes, have been maintained and the arcade remains a grand and prestigious retailing precinct. Attention to detail has also been carried through to the office spaces on the levels above the arcade.The Block Arcade is of social and historical importance as the grandest and most fashionable amongst what became an extensive network of retail arcades that provided an alternative pedestrian route to Melbourne's major streets. Many of the arcades constructed in Melbourne before the turn of the century have not survived or have been altered considerably. The Block Arcade is important as an essential element in the social institution of doing The Block. This was a friendly expression referring to the stylish shopping trend of the late 19th century which involved starting in Collins Street at Swanston, then moving west to Elizabeth, north to Little Collins Street and back to Swanston. The Block was the place to be seen and those who frequented the popular thoroughfare, its shops and tea houses were often recorded by caricaturists in the city's social pages..GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM cites MURPHY ARCHITECTS, JOHN AND PHYLLIS 1976. HISTORIC BUILDINGS STUDY OF PART OF THE C.B.D. MELBOURNE : { AREA 1} WITH MURPHY, JOCK, FOR HISTORIC BUILDINGS PRESERVATION COUNCIL. https://mls1.spydus.com/spydus#viewRecord?appId=ar&irn=17808238 ; CITY OF MELBOURNE BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATIONS 4531(1890).LEWIS, M- AUSTRALIAN ARCHITECTURE INDEXRecord 74637 Twentyman & Askew; City Property Co Melbourne VIC Office Buildings; Shops McLean, J G - Flinders Lane 1890 07 3 4531, MCC registration no 4531 [Burchett Index]. Fee 37.5.0 The Block' shops, offices etc..NEWSPAPERS (TROVE)The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954) Tue 24 Mar 1891 Page 5 A NEW ARCADE.https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/201455084A NEW ARCADE.One of the most noticeable additions to the many beautiful structures which grace the streets of the Victorian capital will be an arcade, portion of which stands on the site of Messrs. George and George's premises destroyed by fire in 1889. When completed, the building will be the largest of its kind in Melbourne, and also add a novelty in that it will be rectangular in shape, running back from Collins-street on the one side and from Elizabeth-street on the other. The arcade is to have a depth of 208 feet from Collins-street, and 166 feet from the frontage there will be an octagon 34 feet in diameter, from which a wing is to run to Elizabeth-street, a distance of 132 feet. The style of architecture is to be that known as the French Renaissance.At present only the portion fronting on Collins-street is in the hands of the contractor, the wing which is to be built at a right angle not having yet been commenced. The entrance takes up 23 feet 6 inches of the 66 feet frontage, and on either side of it will be a commodious shop. One of these will occupy a space 70 feet by 22 feet, and the other is to be 40 feet by 22 feet, both having rooms connected with them overhead. The shops bordering the gallery will be about 16 feet by 12 feet, and each one, will be let with the room over it on the first floor. Five stories are to be put to the building, together with a basement extending over the whole of the site. The façade will present an imposing appearance, the front wall of the lower story being set off with six piers of polished granite, whilst that of the upper flats will be finished in cement, having rusticated, panelled and enriched pilasters. Figures in high relief are to border the front windows in the top story, and the whole will be surmounted with a bold and striking cornice. The paving of the floor at the entrance is to be set off by four polished piers, and the remainder of the piers in the interior will be finished in Keen's cement highly enriched.The arcade will have variable widths— from 15 to 20 feet—and shops of the usual kind ranged on either side. A gallery continued to the height of the ceiling of the second story will be covered in with semi-circular ornamental iron and glass work, whilst the octagon will be closed overhead with the same materials in the shape of a semi-ellipse. On the second floor a large compartment has been designed for dining rooms, and the remainder of the flat and the upper floors will be divided into offices and rooms.Six lifts are to be placed in various parts of the building, and the convenience of tenants and visitors has been fully studied in regard to staircases and passages. The contractor, Mr. J. M'Lean, commenced operations in July last, and it is anticipated that this portion of the work will be completed by next October.Plans have been prepared and arrangements made for the construction of the wing connecting the main gallery with Elizabeth-street, and its erection is to be proceeded with in June. The new wing will be built on similar lines to the main portion of the arcade, having a gallery of the same width, five stories above ground.Mr. D. C. Askew, the architect for the building, which is to be called "The Block," estimates that it will be opened about August, 1892, and that its total cost will be £87,000.
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1197144
| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 102141 | 1 PDF : 3,546 KB ; A4 | Group of Items (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |