During the Victorian era Melbourne became one of the world’s great cities, due to a gold rush in the 1850s and a land boom in the 1880s. In the post-gold rush period the city got the nickname Marvellous Melbourne, in part because of the beautifully ornate architecture that was built with the city’s new-found wealth. There are no older buildings in this post as there are very few pre-gold rush constructions left in the CBD, except for the cathedral and some churches which didn’t really interest me. For later buildings, please see the two previous posts.
You’ll find most of the buildings marked on my Google map with a tower symbol. If you’re on a computer, click on the photo galleries below for the best view.
The impressive building located on the corner of Collins St and Queen St is a classic example of the Marvellous Melbourne period. Properly known as the Verdon Chambers, it is more commonly referred to as ‘the Gothic Bank’. It was built in Venetian-Gothic style according to the design of architect William Wardell who was repsonsible for many other important buildings in Melbourne, in both Gothic and Classical styles. The interior looks amazing in the online photos but sadly I didn’t get inside to see them myself.
Just around the corner at 90 Queen St is the Melbourne Safe Deposit Building, a Venetian Gothic building designed by William Pitt in 1890.
Two blocks down at 495 Collins St are two more gold-rush era neo-Gothic buildings; the Rialto Building (1891), also designed by William Pitt, and the Winfield Building (1890), designed by Charles Debro & Richard Speight. In modern times the facades have been integrated into the Rialto Towers complex behind them.
The Sum Kum Lee building on Little Bourke Street in Chinatown was built for a prominent member of the Chinese community around 1887/88. I’ve read that the elaborate ‘boom style’ facade is unusual because ‘Chinese architectural motifs have been inserted into a Mannerist design’ but I’m not sure what those motifs are.
Also in Chinatown is the Chinese Mission Church, built in 1872 by the Wesleyan Methodists who provided missions to the Chinese labourers working in the goldfields. The two storey building was designed in Gothic style by architects Crouch and Wilson who were responsible for many other Methodist churches. The facade is an early example of polychromatic brickwork incorporating diaper work (a repeat pattern of squares, rectangles, or lozenges) and polychromatic voussoirs (wedge-shaped elements, such as keystones, used in building an arch) over the windows.
An architecture tour of Melbourne wouldn’t be complete without a stroll through the city’s shopping arcades. The most lovely of them all is the Block Arcade designed in French Renaissance style in 1892. It’s lined with beautiful shops such as the Hopetoun Tea Rooms.
Just over the road is the Royal Arcade, constructed in 1870, making it the oldest arcade in Australia. At the Little Collins Street entrance the figures of Gog and Magog flanking the clock ring their bells every hour.
The Victoria State Library on Swanston St, designed by Joseph Reed and built in 1854, is Australia’s oldest public library and in 2023 was the third busiest library in the world. While the facade with its portico of Corinthian columns is imposing, I was more impressed by the expanses of the Redmond Barry Reading Room inside.
Coop’s Shot Tower was built in 1889 and saved from demolition in 1973 when it was incorporated into the Melbourne Central shopping mall. Shot was produced by dropping molten lead from a height which solidified into a ball during its descent, and this facility produced six tons every week right up until 1961 when a change in the law meant that the demand for shot dwindled.
Tasma Terrace is a historic Victorian terrace house which is now the head office of the National Trust of Australia in Victoria. It was built in 1879 to the design of Charles Webb who also created the Royal Arcade.
These Victorian terrace houses with their latticework balconies (Filigree style, cast iron balustrades) are very characteristic of the time. Here’s a similar example in Fitzroy.
The Richard Allen & Son Building at 166 Flinders Lane, designed by Reed, Smart and Tappin in 1897, is one of the first Melbourne warehouses to use the tall-arched Romanesque style, inspired by examples in North America.
St Michael’s Uniting Church on Collins Street is another example of polychromatic brickwork. Completed in 1866 it was designed by noted architect Joseph Reed who also designed Melbourne Town Hall.
Reed was also responsible for several other prominent Melbourne churches including Collins Street Baptist Church located at 174 Collins Street and built in 1862. Usually Melbourne churches from this time are either Gothic or Romanesque but here Reed went for the form of a classical temple with Corinthian columns.
Finally, I was moved by the story behind the Stanford Fountain on the corner of Spring Street and Macarthur Street. William Stanford was a stonemason’s apprentice in London before he came to Australia to try his luck in the goldrush. When he failed to make his fortune, he turned to stealing horses, and was imprisoned for a total of 22 years. However, his talents for drawing and carving were recognised by the prison governor who allowed him to try his hand at carving stone. The result was a fountain carved from bluestone from the prison quarry, which was installed in 1871 near Parliament House. Stanford received no payment for the fountain but became a respected citizen on his release, founding a business carving headstones. He died in 1880 from ‘stonemasons’ disease’ due in part to inhaling the fine dust from his beautiful creation.
There’s a lot more architecture to see in Melbourne of course, but I’ve left some for next time.
Now for some food!