Gents, Maryborough

Previously I've written about the fabulous Maryborough Municipal Olympic Pool but in nearby Prince's Park there is an Art Deco toilet block. A deco dunny. Bathrooms are often the source of some great deco features in buildings and it is not unusual to see hoards of people of either gender snapping photos of some fitting or other while on a deco tour.

The Gents at Prince's Park in Maryborough is a bit different. It is an outdoor toilet block at a sporting ground.

The interior is very functional and efficient.

The exterior is all decoration.

The block is symetrical with curved ends hiding the entrances from general view. They are marked with two inset speedlines and, nowadays, modern signage.

The middle part of the block is stepped with a central rendered section which is stepped even further. Two vertical lines on either side complete the simple decoration.

The entire block is grounded with several rows of darker bricks. This is echoed with a single row of dark bricks along the top of the wall, projecting into the raised central section.

An excellent example of how a careful use of brick can have a striking effect.

I wonder if the gentlemen of Maryborough realise they are visiting an Art Deco gem when the take a break during quarter time at the footy.

Victory, Vredehoek

This block of flats in the Cape Town suburb of Vredehoek is called Victory.

They date from 1941 by architect J. Bylsma.

The building is three storeys tall with a row of garages on the ground level. It is curved at each end with open balconies.

My favourite feature is the low walls either side of the steps leading up beside the building.

Hotel Monico, Canvey Island

The Hotel Monico was opened in 1938 as a luxury hotel for British holiday-makers.

Local businessman, Mr. A H Beaumont had it built next to his amusement park, The Casino. The Casino has now been demolished but the Monico still remains.

The hotel is located on a major street corner near the seafront to the Thames Estuary. The main structure is semi-circular with small towers at each end.

www.canveyisland.org.uk has many clippings and photo relating to both the Monico and the Casino courtesy of the Swann Family who worked at both establishments.

General Motors Holden, Fishermen's Bend

At the turn of the 20th Century, Fishermen's Bend in Port Melbourne was little more than a wasteland sandy marshy land. There were some small dairy farms, fisherman's huts, an airfield and rifle butts.

In 1903 the Victoria Golf Club was established on the Bend and it appears that when they relocated to Cheltenham in the mid 1920s, part of the course was taken over by the now defunct Sandridge Golf Club and part was set aside for industrial development.

It wasn't until the mid-1930s that General Motors Holden (GMH) acquired a parcel of land to build their car manufacturing plant. There is a picture in the Victoria Golf Club history by Don Lawrence of GMH Managing Director, Sir Lawrence Hartnett visiting the site early during the establishment of the plant. The interesting point being that Hartnett's chauffeur is in the background holding a few golf clubs.

The factory opened in 1936 and originally had a revolving spotlight on the top of the tower, however it was removed within a few years due to the outbreak of WWII.

GMH no longer manufacture cars here so a lot of the site has been re-developed into Portside Industrial Park.

The original administration block remains in Salmon St, one of Melbourne's great art deco buildings.

Newmarket Hotel, Kyneton

I think this very impressive art deco balcony and verandah is bolted onto an earlier version of the hotel.

This is the Newmarket Hotel. "Kynetons Premier Nite-Spot" or so the banner on the front reads.

Off to the right there is an extension in deco style but the underlying structure of the main part of the hotel looks older to me.

According to the Australian Heritage website, there was a Newmarket Hotel in Kyneton in 1870. The site relates the story of the bushranger Ned Kelly having appeared in the local Court House on charges of robbery under arms was held at the Newmarket Hotel at police expense for three weeks after the charges were withdrawn while money was found to pay for his return home to Greta.

If this is the same Newmarket Hotel where Ned stayed in 1870 then it must have had a makeover 50 or 60 years later to create the magnificent Newmarket Hotel in this picture.

Seaforth Court, Simon's Town

While attending the 7th World Congress on Art Deco in Cape Town during 2003, a few of us hired a minibus and a guide to do a few touristy things and do a bit of sightseeing along the cape.

Naturally we got him to stop if we spotted a deco building on the way and by the time we got to the African Penguin colony at Simon's Town, he was pointing them out to us.

Seaforth Court was one of his nominations and I think he did very well. It is quite majestic the way it curves around the street.

There is very little decoration. An interesting arrangement of bricks around the vents just below the roofline. Ribbed columns and porch at the entrance and a horizontal band on the small open balconies.

The ground floor has been finished in brick which contrasts against the white of the bulk of the building.

As is usual in a sunny climate, the windows are shaded by a concrete eyebrow running the length of the curved facade.

I don't know if we recruited a deco disciple that afternoon but I can imagine him pointing out some deco highlights as he ferrys tourists around the cape.

AGIP Laboratorio Chimico, Asmara

Agip (Azienda Generale Italiana Petroli), the Italian petrol company, has this great little building on the outskirts of Asmara in Eritrea. Babel Fish tells me it is a chemical laboratory, but I reckon I could have had a stab at that without the help of a translator.

It is fair to say that the building is little more that a rectangular box but the steps leading up from the driveway have a certain style to them.

Of course the standout to me is the stylised lettering spelling out Laboratorio Chimico.

House, Kaikoura

Back in May, I wrote about Marewa, the suburb created the land rising around Napier as a result of the earthquake that struck the east coast of New Zealand in February 1931.

Today, I am showing you a similar house in Kaikoura on the South Island. I suspect these types of houses are dotted throughout New Zealand. I love their simple elegance and bright colours.

This one is blue with square stepped-backed sections and very simple right-angle geometric decoration at the roofline on each corner. You will notice also the shallow eyebrow above the windows running around the house, linkng up with the rounded porch.