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MLC: Resource Centre
207 Barkers Road KEW, BOROONDARA CITY
Glenferrie Road Precinct, Kew

All information on this page is maintained by Boroondara City. Click below for their website and contact details.
Boroondara City
City of Kew Urban Conservation Study 1988
City of Kew Urban Conservation Study 1988
City of Kew Urban Conservation Study 1988
City of Kew Urban Conservation Study 1988
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Statement of Significance

Significance of Individual Property

The M.L.C. Resource Centre is of significance for having been an early, successful and influential example of the use of off-form concrete as a finishing material.

HO150 Glenferrie Road Precinct, Kew

The Glenferrie Road Precinct, Kew, is an area of heritage significance for the following reasons:

-The western parts of this precinct are marked by mansion development of the Victorian period, and though some are surrounded by unsympathetic later development, a significant number of individually significant early Kew mansions survive here, albeit in some cases converted to institutional uses. This is one of three notable mansion precincts in Kew, the others being HO158 (Walmer Street) and HO162 (Sackville Street).

- The eastern section of the precinct is significant for its mixture of small and medium scale Victorian housing, much of which relates to two important 1880s estates : Edgevale and Doona Hill.

- The area has a strong visual connection with several fine assemblages of school buildings: either in its midst (Ruyton) or at its borders (Trinity, Xavier, Methodist Ladies' College).

- The area includes the former Kew civic buildings and the Sacred Heart Church and School, both in Cotham Road, the latter important to the considerable Roman Catholic heritage in the area.

- The area also includes the entire Glenferrie Road streetscape north of Barkers Road up to Wellington Street, including two of MLC's most important buildings and a mixed 1880s to interwar streetscape.

- The area includes a number of individually significant architectural designs, the majority of which are Victorian mansions.

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    • Physical Description 1

      MLC: Resource Centre - Physical Description 1

      Built by Van Driel Pry. Ltd [3 ]., this building is now known as the R.A.W. Woodgate Centre. It was recognized at the time of its construction by the R.A.LA. who ackowledged the design in its 1975 awards program. While shortly after completion it was described in Architecture in Australia thus: 'The building breaks new ground in educational architecture in Australia in its form, massing, material and detail. It bears a strong relationship to recent work in the USA, UK and parts of Europe. [4 ]

      The building is in off form concrete and this has been applied not only to the structural system but was used also used as the primary finishing material. The building has a strong horizontality in the placement of its bands of windows, and the cantilevered form of the top floor, while the circulation routes are expressed externally with stairs and ramps extending out from the building in a sculptural manner.

      References --

      1 Architecture in Australia, June 1975, p.86-87

      2 ibid.

      3 ibid.

      4 Architecture in Australia, June 1975, p.86

      Heritage Study and Grading

      Heritage Study and Grading

      Boroondara - City of Kew Urban Conservation Study

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

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