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Peter Andrew Barrett - Architectural and Urban Historian, Writer & Curator

Architectural and Urban Historian, Heritage Consultant, Writer and Exhibition Curator Please stay on topic. I hope that you enjoy the posts.

This is the page of Peter Andrew Barrett, Architectural and Urban Historian, Heritage Consultant, Writer & Curator. The purpose of this page is to share information about heritage buildings and places, and urban history. People are encouraged to contribute to posts in the comments section of each post. When commenting please 'keep it nice' and be respectful to others and their thoughts and ideas. There is a policy of strictly no advertising for products or services, or requests for services or assistance wanted. I reserve the right to remove or hide posts that do not follow these policies. Posts automatically removed by Facebook Moderation Assist does not necessarily mean that they were of offence to this site. Thank you for taking an interest in my work and the page.

27/01/2026

National Mutual Life Association Building – take a squiz
395 Collins Street, Melbourne

Situated at the southwest corner of the intersection of Collins and Queen streets, this building was erected for the former insurance giant, the National Mutual Life Association. It is an example of the first generation of multi-level buildings in Melbourne, which, built in the 1880s and 1890s, dwarfed earlier city office buildings that tended to be of a two-to-three storey scale.

What sets the National Mutual building apart from other early multi-level buildings of the late nineteenth century is that it is designed in a Gothic-style (pointed arches). Whereas, most other of these multi-level buildings used a Classical styling (round-headed arches and/or Italianate detailing).

This building, on its completion in 1893, had a short frontage to Queen Street of only 15 metres. Additions to the building c1913, designed by the architect Gibb and Finlay, extended the Queen Street frontage to 36.5 metres, and in a manner that complemented the design of the original corner portion that was designed by the Adelaide architects, Wright Reed & Beaver. In 1914, one newspaper listed this building’s arched entrance in Collins Street as one of the city's most notable (see photograph).

This building coincides, if not demonstrates, the success and growth of the National Mutual Life Association as a financial institution in the early twentieth century. Other firms let space in the building, attracted by the prestige of the building's owner, and its location at the intersection of Collins and Queen streets at what is traditionally considered the centre of Melbourne’s financial district.

This building’s prestige did not go unnoticed by one of Melbourne’s notorious crime figures, Joseph Leslie (Squizzy) Taylor. In 1926, a police informant tipped off the police that Squizzy Taylor and his men were going to blow open an office safe in the building. Police staked out the building and observed Taylor’s men loitering in Queen Street and the doorway of the National Mutual Building. Taylor waited in his Buick parked in Queen Street. They arrested Taylor and his men and Taylor’s defence was he was in Queen Street to meet two girls. The charges were later dismissed in court.

The National Mutual Life Association moved from this building in the mid 1960s, when it relocated to the purpose-built National Mutual Centre on the site of the former Western Market, further west in Collins Street. National Mutual was delisted after being purchased by the French insurer AXA in the 1990s. The National Mutual Centre has since been demolished, its site redeveloped.

This former building of the National Mutual Life Association at the corner of Collins & Queen streets is a tangible link to this once large insurance company, and is a valuable part of Melbourne's architectural heritage. It also provides a tangible link to a chapter of the life and crimes of Melbourne’s most infamous gangster of the 1920s, Squizzy Taylor.

Photographer (Building): J T Collins
Source of Photograph: State Library of VictoriaDate of Photograph c1965.

Source of Photograph (Squizzy Taylor):
Public Records Office Victoria

11/11/2025

The Wool Exchange (later Winfield Building)
487-495 Collins Street, Melbourne

In this photograph, bathed in a ray of light, the beautiful detailing of the façade of the Wool Exchange is accentuated. Designed in a Queen Anne-style, its rounded arched windows contrast with the pointed-arched openings of the Gothic-Revival Rialto (1889) and the New Zealand Chambers (1888) that flank it. The red brick façade of the Wool Exchange is relieved with bands and detailing of cement render, and two distinct features of the composition are the large gable facing Collins Street and the conical roofed tower at its corner adjacent to the Rialto.

The Wool Exchange was designed by the architects Charles D’Ebro and Richard Speight jnr, and opened on 5 October 1892. The building at the time of its completion extended back to Flinders Lane. Inside the Wool Exchange was what was described as a ‘handsome and spacious hall’ where wool was auctioned. Up to 210 auction bidders could be seated in the hall.

The building's use as a wool exchange was relatively short lived. By 1914, a new wool exchange had been built at the northeast corner of King and Little Collins Street (that building still extant). After it was decommissioned, the old wool exchange was renamed the Winfield Building, this name probably derived from the adjacent lane separating it from the Rialto that was called Winfield Square. This lane was below the grade of Collins Street and was entered from Flinders Lane. Only the front, Collins Street, portion of the old Wool Exchange remains. It, with the Rialto and the lane, today form the Intercontinental Hotel complex.

Photographer: Algernon Darge
Source of Photograph: State Library of Victoria

01/11/2025

Elizabeth House
129-137 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne

This eight-storey, reinforced-concrete, commercial building was built as a speculative development for A D Hart in 1914-15. It contained shops on its ground floor, and offices on its upper levels. The building also had a basement, and on its roof was a caretaker’s flat. The exterior of the building was expressed in a restrained stripped Classical-style. The upper floors were reached by three lifts, which were accessed from an entrance leading from Little Collins Street. Elizabeth House was designed by the architects Nahum Barnet and Grainger & Little, and was built by the Reinforced Concrete and Monier Pipe Construction Company Pty Ltd.

At the time of its completion, Elizabeth House was described as a fine addition to Melbourne’s commercial architecture. This, and its central location, attracted a variety of tenants. The Adelaide Tailoring Company, which tenanted the corner shop, claimed it was the first tenant of Elizabeth House. This tailoring company was said to follow the “best English fashions providing its customers with sensible, scientifically cut, properly finished suits on English models”. It called its shop, as it was adjacent to the intersection of Little Collins and Elizabeth streets, the ‘Adelaide Tailoring Company Corner’ (see photograph).

Other tenants included consuls for Cuba and Argentina, the Red Cross, the Arts & Crafts Society, and a number of jewellers. The Commonwealth Taxation Department let several floors of the building. In keeping with the spirit of the space race of the 1960s, a travel agent, called the Astronaut Travel Service, operated from Elizabeth House.

In the post-war period, Elizabeth House was sold to the National Bank of Australasia, and in turn was sold to the State Savings Bank of Victoria. Located immediately south of the Head Office of the State Savings Bank, Elizabeth House served as an annexe to the bank for a time (part of the Head Office of the bank is visible at right in the photograph)

The construction of the State Bank Centre from the mid 1970s (now the Galleria Shopping Centre), saw the destruction of the Head Office of the State Savings Bank of Victoria and a number of adjacent buildings in Bourke Street and Little Collins streets. Elizabeth House was retained temporarily, and served as the Elizabeth Street branch and offices for some departments of the bank, whilst, the 40-storey tower of the State Bank Centre was being built along side it.

Bank staff vacated Elizabeth House in November 1980, and it was demolished shortly after. Its former site now forms the southeast corner of the Galleria Shopping Centre.

Photograph: Melbourne University Archives

09/10/2025

Melbourne and a Sikorsky
c1964

The National Mutual Centre makes a fine backdrop in this 1960s publicity photograph of a Sikorsky S-61N helicopter. The alternating bands of tinted glass and marble-faced balconies of the National Mutual building harmonise with the livery of the aircraft. The lower-scale Swann House and the Port Authority Building, give the false impression they are propping up the helicopter.

Ansett-ANA undertook demonstrations of this newly purchased helicopter in Melbourne in late 1964 and in early 1965. The 26-27 seater aircraft was built by the American-based Sikorsky aircraft manufacturing company, and this helicopter would serve Ansett-ANA (later Ansett Airlines) until the 1980s.

Much of William Street, visible at left in this photograph, has since been redeveloped. This includes the demolition of the National Mutual Centre, as well as the Shell Corner building (top left corner), two of Melbourne’s earliest high-rise buildings.

Source of Photograph: Ansett Transport Industries

03/10/2025

Ah Mouy Brothers
262 Swanston Street, Melbourne

This firm of tea merchants and importers of Chinese goods was established in Melbourne in 1852 by Louis Ah Mouy. He was born in China and was raised in Singapore. He arrived in Victoria prior to the gold rush and is considered one of Victoria’s earliest Chinese citizens. As well as the proprietor of this shop, he became prominent in Melbourne’s business circles including being a co-founder of the Commercial Bank of Australia.

Ah Mouy purchased this building for his store in the early 1890s. Prior to that, it had been the shop of Downie Brothers, tailors. Louis Ah Mouy died in 1918, and this shop continued to trade under the management of his son, Fon Ah Mouy. This photograph shows the shop in 1956, up for auction a year after the death of Fon Ah Mouy. The building’s former projecting verandah has been removed by this time - a line of corrugated iron from the former verandah roof is visible above the auction sign.

Fon Ah Mouy never married and his estate was distributed amongst extended family as well as others. Some of the beneficiaries included a Mrs C McGrath who worked in this tea shop, who received £5 a week for life; and numerous hospitals in Melbourne and in China were beneficiaries, as well as an orphanage in China. A rest home for nurses in the Dandenongs was also established from proceeds of the estate.

This two-storey rendered brick shop has painted signage that is almost as bold as the building’s parapet with its busy detailing. This modest type of shop, of a two-storey scale and narrow frontage, was relatively common along Swanston Street in the nineteenth century, and some pockets of this type of two-storey shop do remain along the street. After the closure of the tea shop and sale of the building in the mid 1950s, it became a branch of the Commercial Bank of Australia. It is not known whether any of this nineteenth century building remains beyond the existing mid-twentieth century Modern façade of the building on the site today.

Source of photograph: heraldsunphoto_retro

24/09/2025

Arlington Chambers
229-231 Collins Street, Melbourne

This ornate building was built in 1887 for the Premier Permanent Building Society, a financial institution that failed in the 1890s Depression. The building was sold and renamed the Arlington Chambers around 1911. At the time of completion it had five-stories and a basement, but by the time this photograph was taken in the 1940s, an additional level had been added which was expressed as an attic within its mansard roof.

The rigorous application of decoration on the facade, complemented by depth created by recessed and projecting elements, make this façade a busy and fine Mannerist architectural composition, with one newspaper describing its design as ‘wonderfully artistic’. The use of a range of materials enhanced the design, these included freestone, grey and red granites, added with the use of stained glass in some of the building’s windows.

The building had a variety of tenants, which included the Women’s Political Association, its President Vida Goldstein. The Women’s Political Association, which was not aligned with any political party, promoted changes to legislation that were in the interests of women and children. Another tenant, its signage barely visible in this photograph, was the Green Door Café that opened in 1931.

The building was designed by architect, Charles D’Ebro, and the contractor of the works was Thomas Dalley & Sons. The building was demolished in the mid 1960s, and its site now forms part of Wales Corner.

Photograph: heraldsunphoto_retro

22/09/2025

Maryborough Technical College
Corner of Nolan and Burns streets, Maryborough

This handsome educational building was built as the Maryborough School of Mines. The east or left portion to the side of the central entrance, is the original portion of the building and was completed in 1890-91. It was designed by the architect, Phillip A Kennedy of Melbourne, and the contractors of the works were, Spurway & Rose, of Newmarket.

In the late 1920s, additions were completed that doubled the frontage of the building. These were completed with materials and detailing that complemented those of the first section. In its extended form, it makes for a facade of a fine symmetrical composition, expressed in tuck-pointed brickwork that is relieved in render, rigorously detailed in places. This render detailing includes panels of signage with the words 'science', 'art' and 'industry'. The signage of the 1920s portions, less intricate than the 1890s 'science' rendered sign.

The high gables at each end are other distinct elements of the building. Also contributing to its imposing character is its siting at a slight diagonal to its front boundary, which allows for the deep garden setback from Burns Street. It was around the time that the 1920s additions were completed that the school was renamed Maryborough Technical School.

The Maryborough Technical School (later renamed Technical College) is one of a number of fine and large public buildings within Maryborough. The heritage value of this school building goes beyond a local level, demonstrated by the inclusion of this educational building on the Victorian Heritage Register as a place of State significance.

Photographs: Peter Andrew Barrett Collection ©

04/09/2025

Manchester Unity Building
Collins and Swanston streets, Melbourne

This photograph looks north along Swanston Street towards the Manchester Unity Building in the mid 1930s. The building, with its five-stage tower, dwarfs surrounding built form, including the Capitol Theatre further north in Swanston Street built less than a decade earlier. Further accentuating a sense of height on the Manchester Unity Building is the close spacing of columns and mullions on the facade and on the tower.

The Manchester Unity Building is also famous for having the first escalators in Melbourne. The Age enlightened its readers about this novel feature of the building, noting how the handrails of the escalators moved at the same speed as the steps. The building received much attention in newspapers in the lead up to its official opening on 12 December 1932.

The architect of the Manchester Unity Building was Marcus Barlow, and the contractor of the works was W E Cooper Pty Ltd.

Source of photograph: Museums Victoria

02/09/2025

Edmund House
270-272 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne

This building was built around 1903 for the cigarette and cigar manufacturing firm Snider & Abrahams. The building, which was used for administrative purposes, formed part of a sprawling complex of warehouse and industrial buildings of this firm centred around Drewery Lane, which extends between Lonsdale and Little Lonsdale streets, just west of Swanston Street. This building is designed in a Romanesque Revival-style, but the detailing on the spandrels (the panels below the windows) has an Art Nouveau influence. The building was designed by the architectural firm Sydney Smith & Ogg.

This photograph was taken after the building was purchased by the importers and merchants, Edmunds Bros & Co, in 1933. However, the horse and cart at front could have the viewer easily mistaken this is an earlier photograph. Edmunds Bros were importers of Ensign Lamps, which are advertised on the Lonsdale Street façade of Edmund House.

Of interest is the small shop and residence at left occupied by an herbalist. It is of a scale and style of a much earlier era, and is dominated by its twentieth century neighbour. Drewery Lane, visible at right, still retains a utilitarian character, which in recent decades has been diminished with the introduction of trees and other elements to make the lane more pedestrian friendly. The Church of Christ in Little Lonsdale Street closes the vista along Drewery Lane.

In later decades, Edmund House became known as Pacific House.

Source of photograph: Heraldsunphoto retro

31/07/2025

Provident Institute of Victoria
85 Queen Street, Melbourne

This handsome building once stood on the west side of Queen Street, a little north of Collins Street. It housed several financial institutions in its brief and eventful life, and watched its environs develop during the late nineteenth century into the financial hub of the city.

The façade of this building is designed in a Renaissance Revival-style, the composition referencing a palazzo with its rusticated ground floor, detailed piano nobile (middle level), and attic level. The façade has a bold cornice and parapet that tops what is a well-detailed composition of elements of fine proportions. The architect of the Provident Institute of Victoria building is not known, but around the time of its completion two architects, Edward Ramsey and a J Flannagan, occupied the building. Of interest also, is the chimney of the building at right, which has been extended to project past the top of the wall of the Provident Institute building.

Although modest in scale and character, the Provident Institute building retained a landmark quality in this part of Queen Street for several decades. This was not so much because of its architectural character, but through controversy associated with the Provident Institute. Formed in 1855, this firm was a short-lived banking and investment institution, aimed at providing these services to individuals and small investors. The firm was insolvent by the early 1860s, the Argus newspaper describing the venture as ‘nothing more than an organised association for plundering the public’.

In a case of history repeating itself, the Provident Institute of Victoria scandal would occur again, but on a grander scale in the 1890s, when a number of banks and building societies would become insolvent through mismanagement and, in many cases, dishonest business practices aka greed.

In the 1860s the building, in part, was occupied by the Agra and United Services Bank. London-based, this bank had agencies in India, China and what was then called the East Indies (islands off mainland southeast Asia). The opening of the Melbourne branch of the Agra Bank afforded the city’s merchants with money exchange facilities with these lucrative Southeast Asian markets. Later, the building was occupied by Australian Mutual Provident (AMP) and Royal Insurance.

In 1874, the top floor of the building was the scene of a bombing, which killed one man and injured another. A deadly package containing a bottle of nitro glycerine was left by a person(s) unknown outside the door of an office. The force of the explosion blew out the glass of the windows of the upper level into Queen Street.

The Provident Institute of Victoria building was demolished and the site redeveloped around 1900. This building, in its short and tumultuous existence, witnessed this part of Queen Street, around its Collins Street intersection, evolve into Melbourne’s financial centre, defined by larger and grander buildings such as the Bank of Australasia (1876, and later additions), ES&A Bank and Stock Exchange (1887), National Mutual Life Association (1893), all of which remain.

Photographer: Cox & Luckin
Source of photograph: State Library of Victoria

26/07/2025

A snapshot of Bourke Street, Melbourne
c1940

This casual street scene of Bourke Street was taken around 1940. The photograph looks southwest towards the intersection of Elizabeth and Bourke streets. Several things visible in the photograph narrow down its approximate date. What looks to be an RAAF serviceman is visible walking at right wearing his tilted forage cap. World War II had commenced on 1 September 1939. Visible at centre is a cable tram, and another is visible on the opposite side of the intersection. Cable trams would cease operation along Bourke Street on 26 October 1940.

The building in the background, bathed in sunlight, is the head office of the State Savings Bank of Victoria. Built in stages, its final stage where it was extended along Elizabeth Street to the Bourke Street corner was completed in mid 1935. Visible to its right, in Bourke Street, are the Metropole Hotel and Halls Book Store. These buildings, with the State Savings Bank, were demolished in the 1970s to build what was at its time of completion called the 'State Bank Centre'.

Further right, visible on the Bourke Street hill is the John Danks building, which in later years became a McEwans hardware store, and more recently has been integrated into the NAB Place development at 395 Bourke Street. The building in shadow at the left of the image is London Stores, this building still stands at that corner. By the time this photograph was taken, the City of Melbourne was enforcing parking restrictions in this part of the city, demonstrated by the sign in the foreground at left. This restriction on cars was perhaps a precursor to the total removal of cars from this block of Bourke Street in the 1970s.

This photograph was taken at the steps of the General Post Office (GPO), which the woman in the foreground is stepping down from. Although the former General Post Office now serves as a shopping complex, the steps of the GPO remain a fine place to stand or sit and to watch the world go by, just as it did when this image was made over 80 years ago.

Photographer: Not known
Source of Photograph: State Library of Victoria

26/07/2025

Open House Melbourne
26 and 27 July 2025

Stories of the City Exhibition

Many interesting places are open this weekend as part of Open House Melbourne.

If visiting the iconic ICI / Orica Building, be sure to visit the 'Stories of the City' Exhibition at the Bates Smart Gallery. Add your own story to this interactive exhibition.

The Bates Smart Gallery is on the ground floor of ICI / Orica Building, entered from Albert Street.

ICI / Orica House
1 Nicholson Street, East Melbourne

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