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12 Holroyd Street
12 Holroyd Street KEW, Boroondara City
Yarra Boulevard Precinct, Kew - HO530

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Boroondara City
Review of B Graded Buildings in Kew, Camberwell & Hawthorn
Review of B Graded Buildings in Kew, Camberwell & Hawthorn
Review of B Graded Buildings in Kew, Camberwell & Hawthorn
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Statement of Significance

 

What is significant?

 
The Yarra Boulevard precinct in the north-west of Kew was subdivided in phases between the 1880s and the mid-twentieth century. The earlier subdivisions generally failed due to the remoteness of the area and the lack of transportation links, but later subdivisions were more successful following the construction of the Yarra Boulevard in the 1930s. However, during World War II the prohibition on civilian building generally halted construction within the new subdivisions, and as a result it was not until the postwar period that the precinct area was more fully developed. This has resulted in the precinct having an unusually high concentration of postwar Modernist dwellings, many of them architect-designed. This valued Modernist residential development distinguishes the area today, including within metropolitan Melbourne. The hilly topography, combined with subdivision in stages, also produced a more curvilinear and cul-de-sac streetscape pattern, with often irregular building allotments, in contrast to the grid-based or rectilinear subdivision patterns and more conventionally shaped allotments of other areas of Kew.The precinct contains numerous individually significant and contributory buildings of the postwar period, as well as a number from the interwar period and late 1960s-1970s. Specific buildings of individual and contributory significance which are important to the precinct are identified in the attached schedule.
 

How is it significant?

 
The Yarra Boulevard precinct is historically and architecturally significant to the City of Boroondara, and the wider metropolitan region.
 

Why is it significant?

 
Historically, the precinct is significant for its association with a phase of Modernist and architect designed residential development, which occurred largely between the 1940s and 1960s, complemented by some residential development dating from the earlier interwar period and the late 1960s-1970s. During these years, the precinct was closely developed with houses that adapted to the natural setting and hilly topography. The move towards the simplified Modernist mode of dwelling, and in some cases experimental approach, also represented a move away from the more conservative house designs found elsewhere in the municipality. This aspect of the precinct's history reflected both the period of development, and also the willingness of property owners to embrace new and innovative residential design, a trend which has continued into more recent times. The precinct is accordingly also important for its association with many prominent architects and architectural practices of the postwar era; these include, but are not limited to, Theodore Berman, Chancellor and Patrick, Ernest Fooks, Anatol Kagan, McGlashan and Everist, Romberg and Boyd, and Bernard Slawik.A number of houses on the outer edges of the precinct which date from the interwar period, and precede the predominant postwar development are also significant in that they help demonstrate the gradual subdivision of the area. In addition, the precinct has historical significance for its association with the sustenance employment schemes of the Great Depression, which resulted in the construction of the Yarra Boulevard.Architecturally, the Yarra Boulevard precinct is significant for its high concentration, richness and diversity of Modernist residential dwellings, complemented by examples of interwar and late 1960s-1970s residential development, set within an irregular, median-strip divided curvilinear street layout. The overall intactness of the more visible components of the dwellings is comparatively high, and alterations generally adopt a sympathetic approach. Many of the residences also display a high degree of sensitivity to site and topography, and ingenuity in their architectural approach, including to the design and orientation of buildings. This has created a distinctive aesthetic character for residential development within this area of the municipality. The concentration of well-preserved postwar Modernist houses is also arguably distinctive in the wider metropolitan context.The landscaped character of the precinct is significant. This is demonstrated in the garden settings to many of the houses which were often sympathetic to the Modernist architecture and reflected a contemporary response to the area's topography and natural setting, as well as site-sensitive planting schemes and approach. Noted landscape designers, such as Ellis Stones, are also believed to have been involved in some of the residential developments. The adaptation of street layout and house siting to the unusually hilly Melbourne terrain is additionally significant, including the irregular, median-strip divided curvilinear street layout.
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    • Physical Description 1

      12 Holroyd Street - Physical Description 1

      The house at 12 Holroyd Street, Kew, comprises a double-storey interwar Old English style house of clinker brick construction and asymmetrical planning and massing. Glazed terracotta tiles clad the steeply-pitched gabled roof which is punctuated by corbelled brick chimneys and the brickwork extends up to infill the gable ends with corbelled eaves. A single-storey wing contains a small dormer window and window opening set within the end gable. With a prominent corner siting, the house is arranged on an L-shaped plan to address both frontages and an undercroft parking area adjacent to the main entrance is located beneath the apsidal wing. Recent alterations have included the demolition of a smaller garage wing which projected towards the road from the single-storey wing. The main entrance is obscured by a wrought iron screen door; however other door openings on the north elevation (possibly non-original or altered) contain glazed multi-paned timber-framed doors. Fenestration is irregularly placed, yet original windows generally contain timber-framed casement sashes with diaper leadlight glazing. An exception is a small canted bay window adjacent to the main entrance which contains multi-paned timber-framed double-hung sashes and appears possibly to be non-original.

      The fence along the Holroyd Street frontage and part of the Studley Avenue frontage is a low ti-tree fence with wrought iron gates, whereas the remaining boundary has been recently re-fenced with timber palings. Variations in the brickwork and council records suggest other alterations have been carried out, however the extent and nature of these remains largely unclear. As recorded, these changes include a verandah (1945), brick additions (1947), a timber fence (1964), a television mast (1978) a swimming pool (1983) and a verandah (1989).[i]

      As noted above, more recently, the clinker brick garage visible in the Kew Conservation Study 1988 photograph has been removed from the south side of the single-storey wing, with the end wall reconstructed and a pair of timber-framed casement sash windows installed, and a new garage has been constructed in the north-east corner of the property.

      [i] City of Kew Building Index, #237, dated 2 February 1945; #158, dated 15 June 1947; #393, dated 9 November 1964; #2536, dated 15 September 1978; #828, dated 15 December 1983; and #4290, dated 29 March 1989.

      Heritage Study and Grading

      Heritage Study and Grading

      Boroondara - Kew Heritage Precincts Study

      Author: Lovell Chen
      Year: 2012
      Grading: Contributory

      Boroondara - Review of B Graded Buildings in Kew, Camberwell and Hawthorn

      Author: Lovell Chen Architects & Heritage Consultants
      Year: 2006
      Grading: C

      Boroondara - City of Kew Urban Conservation Study

      Author: Pru Sanderson Design Pty Ltd
      Year: 1988
      Grading: C


Public contributions

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