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ALKIRA HOUSE
18 QUEEN STREET MELBOURNE, MELBOURNE CITY

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Victorian Heritage Register
ALKIRA HOUSE SOHE 2008
ALKIRA HOUSE SOHE 2008
ALKIRA HOUSE SOHE 2008
1 alkira house queen street melb front view
alkira house queen street melb detail shop front jul1984
ALKIRA HOUSE October 2016
ALKIRA HOUSE October 2016
ALKIRA HOUSE October 2016
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Statement of Significance

What is significant?

Alkira House, a six storey, reinforced concrete office building, was erected in 1937 as an investment by Harold and Annie Cohen. JH Wardrop was the architect and Swanson Bros the builders. The facade, composed of strong vertical panels and shafts, is expressed by contrasting grey, green and black terra cotta faience tiles with a central continuous panel of glass blocks surmounted by a cleverly contrived waterfall tower.

How is it significant?

Alkira House is of architectural significance to the State of Victoria.

Why is it significant?

Alkira House is of architectural significance as an exceptional example of the vertical Jazz Moderne style in Victoria, a style considered to be extremely avant-garde and rarely adopted for building in this State between the wars. The facade reflects modern office building philosophy then developing in Europe, especially the Dutch and German experiments in glass, vitrolite and terracotta of the 1920s and 1930s. Alkira House was in sharp contrast to the revivalist nature of architecture in Melbourne in the 1930s, and while it has some similarities to the Manchester Unity and Myer buildings, it is considerably more flamboyant.

Alkira House is of architectural significance as a distinguished and innovative work of JH Wardrop, who was a principal of the firm that designed the Shrine of Remembrance.

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    • History

      ALKIRA HOUSE - History

      Contextual History:History of Place:

      The original land grant which included this site was made to G. Cooper of Melbourne. By 1870 the site was occupied by a stone store of three floors. Between 1880 and 1890 it was partly replaced by a two storey brick ofice building which remained on the site until the construction of Alkira House.
      Associated People: Annie and Harold Cohen (original owners)

      Permit Exemptions

      ALKIRA HOUSE - 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.

Public contributions

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