Historic Streets of Melboune

No. 120 Collins Street

Built in 1991, No. 120 Collins Street was designed by Daryl Jackson and Group Hassell. This office block is now a city landmark. Its communications tower is the highest point in the city, standing 262 m (860 ft) tall.  Original 1908 Federation-style professional chambers, which were built on the grounds of the 1867 St Michael’s uniting Church, are incorporated into the building. The major tenant of this 52-storey building is the Australian company BHP Petroleum.

 

No. 333 Collins Street

Completed in 1991, No. 333 Collins Street is a modern office block built around an existing edifice. It is the earlier building, however, that is the most striking.

Originally constructed in the 1890s, No. 333 was the headquarters of the Commercial Bank of Australia (CBA). The bank was founded in 1866, but by the time No. 333 opened in 1893 the bank was in crisis. Following a crash in land and stock prices, the CBA called in its main overdrafts, which only helped to accelerate the decline of the economy. It was only with the acceptance of a reconstruction plan by shareholders, as well as 30 years of careful management of its debts, that the bank was able to recover.

The original building was designed by architects Lloyd Tayler and Alfred Dunn. The banking chamber and vestibule, with their domed ceiling, have been restored and are now used as the foyer of the modern complex. The CBA merged with the Bank of New South Wales in 1981 to become Westpac, one of Australia’s major banks. Since 1996, No. 333 has been owned by Wing On, a Hong Kong company.

 

Brunswick Street and Fitzroy

Next to the university suburb of Carlton, Fitzroy was the natural choice for a post-1960s populace of students and other bohemian characters, who took advantage of the area’s cheap postwar Housing Commission properties, unwanted by wealthier Melbournians.

Despite some recent gentrification, Fitzroy’s main strip, Brunswick Street, maintains an alternative air and a cosmopolitan street life.

Today, Brunswick Street is a mix of cafés, restaurants and trendy shops. The Brunswick Street parade, held for the opening of the city’s Fringe Festival each September, is very popular. Nearby Johnston Street is home to Melbourne’s Spanish quarter. Both streets are most lively on Saturday nights.

 

Lygon Street

This Italian-influenced street is one of the main café, restaurant and delicatessen areas in central Melbourne.

The strong Italian tradition of Lygon Street began at the time of mass post-World War II immigration. With a general exodus to the suburbs in the 1940s, Carlton became unfashionable and new immigrants were able to buy its 19th-century houses and shops cheaply. More importantly, the immigrants were central in protecting these Victorian and Edwardian houses, which were built with post-gold rush wealth, from government plans to fill the area with low-income Housing Commission homes.

A distinctive architectural trait of Lygon Street’s two storey shops is their street verandas, built to protect both customers and merchandise from the sun. In the mid-1960s, the area became fashionable with university students, many of whom moved in to take advantage of its cheap accommodation, and then stayed on after graduating to become the base of the suburb’s contemporary middle-class and professional community. The street is only one block from the main University of Melbourne campus and can be reached from the city centre by foot, bus or tram. Its wide street resembles a French boulevard and is well suited to the Lygon Street Festa held here every year.