The Royal, St Kilda

It was such a beautiful winter's day in Melbourne today with a glorious blue sky and no leaves on the trees that I decided to take some photos.

This is The Royal, a block of flats in St Kilda. It dates from 1933 and was designed by Archibald Ikin.

The Royal is one of the most striking buildings in Melbourne yet it still conforms to the limit of three storeys to avoid having install a lift.

I find the multi-levelled arched column above the front entrance astounding and it is fantastic that all the balconies are still open so we can see the building as it was originally constructed in the 1930s.

The door is set back in the entrance with a decorative lintel over the lettering of the name of the building.

Inside, wood panel doors with small leadlight windows lead to the ground floor flats from a small foyer. The staircase is also wood-panelled supported by wooden deco posts.

Leadlight windows consisting of geometric shapes provide light for the upper levels of the stairwell.

The real estate board showed the lounge of a one bedroom flat which had a lovely fireplace and a fantastic deco ceiling panel.