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MELBOURNE CITY BUILDING
112-118 ELIZABETH STREET MELBOURNE, MELBOURNE CITY
MELBOURNE CITY BUILDING
112-118 ELIZABETH STREET MELBOURNE, MELBOURNE CITY
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Victorian Heritage Register
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Statement of Significance
What is significant?
The Melbourne City Building is a four-storey brick building designed by W.H. Ellerker and E.G. Kilburn in 1888 for the short lived City of Melbourne Building Society, chaired at one time by Alfred Deakin. The building has two facades, to Elizabeth Street and Little Collins Street and returns on a curved rather than a splayed corner. The design eclectically combines classical elements such as columns, pilasters, aedicules and Baroque-style pediments with a picturesque roofline of steeply pitched slate roofs, wrought iron decoration and massive chimneys. The building was originally served internally by an Otis hydraulic lift.
How is it significant?
The Melbourne City Building is of architectural significance to the State of Victoria.
Why is it significant?
The Melbourne City Building is architecturally significant as an excellent example of the so-called boom classical style of the late 1880s. The styling draws together a diverse array of classical elements and motifs that demonstrate the flamboyant confidence of building designers and their clients during the boom period of the 1880s. It is additionally significant as an unusual example of the manner of design in the central business district.
The Melbourne City Building is a four-storey brick building designed by W.H. Ellerker and E.G. Kilburn in 1888 for the short lived City of Melbourne Building Society, chaired at one time by Alfred Deakin. The building has two facades, to Elizabeth Street and Little Collins Street and returns on a curved rather than a splayed corner. The design eclectically combines classical elements such as columns, pilasters, aedicules and Baroque-style pediments with a picturesque roofline of steeply pitched slate roofs, wrought iron decoration and massive chimneys. The building was originally served internally by an Otis hydraulic lift.
How is it significant?
The Melbourne City Building is of architectural significance to the State of Victoria.
Why is it significant?
The Melbourne City Building is architecturally significant as an excellent example of the so-called boom classical style of the late 1880s. The styling draws together a diverse array of classical elements and motifs that demonstrate the flamboyant confidence of building designers and their clients during the boom period of the 1880s. It is additionally significant as an unusual example of the manner of design in the central business district.
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MELBOURNE CITY BUILDING - History
Contextual History:
The architectural partnership of Kilburn and Ellerker was formed in 1885. In 1886 Ellerker travelled to Britain, Ireland, the European Continent and the United States. It has been suggested that an American character entered the firm's work after Ellerker's retrun in 1887.
Kilburn also visited America in 1889, but after the design of the Meblourne City Building had been completed. The eclectic interests of the firm's design outweigh any bias towards the American Romanesque.
(Howells and Nicholson, Towards the Dawn, p.48)
History of Place:
Cost 15,000 pounds.
Associated People: Matthew Davies
Alfred DeakinMELBOURNE CITY BUILDING - Permit Exemptions
General Exemptions:General exemptions apply to all places and objects included in the Victorian Heritage Register (VHR). General exemptions have been designed to allow everyday activities, maintenance and changes to your property, which don’t harm its cultural heritage significance, to proceed without the need to obtain approvals under the Heritage Act 2017.Places of worship: In some circumstances, you can alter a place of worship to accommodate religious practices without a permit, but you must notify the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria before you start the works or activities at least 20 business days before the works or activities are to commence.Subdivision/consolidation: Permit exemptions exist for some subdivisions and consolidations. If the subdivision or consolidation is in accordance with a planning permit granted under Part 4 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 and the application for the planning permit was referred to the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria as a determining referral authority, a permit is not required.Specific exemptions may also apply to your registered place or object. If applicable, these are listed below. Specific exemptions are tailored to the conservation and management needs of an individual registered place or object and set out works and activities that are exempt from the requirements of a permit. Specific exemptions prevail if they conflict with general exemptions. Find out more about heritage permit exemptions here.
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