HARTWELL HILL SHOPS

112-128 Fordham Avenue CAMBERWELL, BOROONDARA CITY

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Boroondara City

Fordham Avenue, 112-128 Hartwell Hill Shops

Statement of Significance

• Additional Place Information

  • Physical Description 1

    HARTWELL HILL SHOPS - Physical Description 1

    112-128 Fordham Avenue is in that part of Camberwell bordered by Kalang Road to the north, Wattle Valley Road to the east, Hartwell Hill Road to the south and Fordham Avenue to the west. The shops front Fordham Avenue to the east. Vehicle access to the rear of the respective properties is from Fordham Avenue (Nos. 112-114), via a right of way bordering No. 112, and Hartwell Hill Road (Nos. 116-128). The remainder of the property is bordered to the north by 110 Fordham Avenue and 2 Kalang Road, and 1 Hartwell Hill Road to the east. The property overlooks Hartwell Station Reserve, on the opposite side of Fordham Avenue.

    The 1927 and 1931 section of the terrace consists of a two-storey built-form with hipped roofs concealed behind a parapet facade, facing Fordham Avenue and Hartwell Hill Road, with a single-storey skillion roofed section at the rear. The principal facade of the terrace faces Fordham Avenue while the elevation facing Hartwell Hill Road is the lesser elevation of the two which is evident in its level of detail. Above canopy level, the facade is conservative in its architectural aspiration, exhibiting simple architectural principles and stripped back detailing, typical of the interwar period, in its decoration. Broken up by a series of semi-engaged cantilevered pilasters that extend above the parapet, the parapet and pilasters are topped with overpainted cement capping; two simple arched pediments also form part of the parapet detail. The wall treatment to the facade at first floor level is an expressed brick base with a section of roughcast cement render over; the whole has been overpainted. Given the meander at this part of Fordham Avenue, a result of the reserve located outside Hartwell station, the subsequent construction of the terrace to the relevant property boundaries has resulted in a faceted built form that interprets this meander in elevation; thereby creating two facades: one facing south-west, the second west. The west elevation has a second facet that responds to the meander, resulting in an additional elevation facing south-west. The south-west and west elevations are both triple fronted, the arched pediments centred on the elevations. This subsequently results in two symmetrical facades, each oriented toward the respective vistas toward the terrace along Fordham Avenue in either direction. The parapet of the 1931 building also incorporates an arched pediment provided as a bookend to the terrace. The side elevation, facing Hartwell Hill Road, also incorporates a parapet, however, it is devoid of capping. The 1940 & 1945 section of the terrace consists of an altogether different detail, when compared with the remainder of the building, lacking the finesse of the early structures. This includes a discernible former castellated parapet, over which a concrete beam has been laid to support the largely brickwork construction of the first floor.

    The shopfronts dating from 1927 section retain early features, including copper framed display windows with tile surrounds, ingo entrances, stained glass top lights and spandrel glazing. Some spandrel details retain an early silver backing behind to heighten the colours of the stained glass while obscuring the masonry structure of the building behind, others have been overpainted. Nos. 126-128 are original in their entirety, retaining early 'Federal' shopfitters (of Brunswick Street, Fitzroy) copper shopfronts with glazed mottled mauve tile surrounds. The tile surrounds include glazed pink and black chequerboard string course patterns with glazed vents, below the shop windows, and glazed black and white tile stringcourses higher up. The ingo entrances to the shops retain original tessellated tile floors with marble thresholds; early timber entrance doors also remain. The shopfronts of Nos. 116-124 largely accord with this detail; however, the tile surrounds have been replaced by later 1960s (No. 122) and modern tile patterns (No. 116-120). Despite this, early pink glazed vent tiles remain evident indicating that these shopfronts matched those extant tile details of No. 126-128. Like the shopfronts, the overhead canopies remain largely intact, retaining their horizontally reeded fascia and pressed tin soffit linings. At No. 114, despite its later construction in 1931, the remnant detail largely accords with that of No. 116-128. Identical details include early 'Federal' shopfitters copper shopfronts, tessellate tile ingos with marble thresholds, and early tiled surrounds; while the tiled surround is overpainted, stringcourse tile patterns and glazed vents are discernible. Detail variations include a new timber front door and a different design pattern to the stained glass toplight, however the latter is the likely result of the differing construction dates of the terrace. While the suspended canopy overhead is early, it has a simple sheet and batten soffit lining, this detail extending to the canopy to the front of No. 112. The shopfront of No. 112, while specific to its construction date, incorporates elements that are complementary to the remainder of the terrace while not incorporating the same level of detail. This includes a 'Duff' shopfitter's copper shopfront, concrete ingo, early timber framed entrance door and early tiled surrounds; design variations include decorative overpainted cement relief panels and translucent top lights. The tile surround incorporates mauve mottled tiles, like those at 126-128, a black glazed tile stringcourse and a pink glazed vent. While original and incorporating a similar colour scheme to the neighbouring shop fronts, their overall execution is representative of their later construction date.

    Heritage Study and Grading

    Heritage Study and Grading

    Boroondara - Municipal-Wide Heritage Gap Study: Vol. 2 Camberwell

    Author: Context
    Year: 2018
    Grading: Local

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