1936 Fire Station, Creswick

The 1936 Fire Station in the Victorian country town of Creswick at first glace is little more than a square box but closer inspection revels some simple but elegant decoration.

Notice the series of horizontal lines on each side of the facade near the roofline. Aptly displaying the rule of three common to so many art deco features, they shorten as they get closer to the ground.

Lettering in the dark brown surround to the entrance bears the name and year.

Simple ribbed columns are topped with floral motifs while the whole element is stepped above the doorway.

These days the Creswick Fire Brigade, which has been serving their community since 1854, has a new fire station which opened in 2005 but it is good to see the old building has found a new use as The Haymarket, a gas retailer.

Update: Thanks to drewsel from the wonderful Bernice Bobs Her Hair blog, who has let me know that the Creswick Fire Station is now being used as a Post Office.

City Building, Asheville

The City Building in Asheville was designed by Douglas Ellington in the mid-1920s.

It is constructed from pick marble and brick while the tower on top features blue, yellow and green terracotta tiles.

Ellington also designed a matching County Building but was not given the commission to complete the project. In a way it is a shame but maybe two such buildings would be too much ... nah ... I didn't think anyone would buy that one.

GMH Social Centre, Fishermen's Bend

2008 is the 60th anniversary of Australian produced Holden cars. The FX Holden was launched by Prime Minister Ben Chifley in November 1948 at the Social Centre (shown above) at the General Motors Holden plant at Fishermen's Bend in Port Melbourne.

The building was probably built in the 1940s in time for this launch. The facade consists of stepped formation of red brick with a further stepped rendered central section. This central section includes large sections of glass bricks and a flagpole.

Over the years the Social Centre has hosted concerts, balls and all manner of functions. It has a beautiful parquetry floor just made for dancing.

In recent times it has served as the canteen for the GMH plant with deco-style boards listing the menu for the day. This day in 1996 you could have French Onion soup for 70c, Beef Stroganoff for $3.50 and assorted Sweets for 70c and $2.00.

Interesting the Stroganoff is described, American-style, as an 'Entree' rather than a 'Main' as would be usual in Australia.

An oustanding feature of the Social Centre is the murals on either side of the stage above the food service area.

One depicts all manner of transport from the past. Bullocks, a horse drwn stagecoach, a stream train and a sailing ship. Even an early car makes an appearance.

The murals were the work of GMH employee, Eileen Robertson. It is said she worked on them in the tower of the nearby Administration Building and they were installed in the Social Centre whne they were completed. It is also said that she wasn't invited to the launch of the FX Holden in 1948 so arguable she didn't get to see her work at it's finest moment.

For Art Deco fans the second mural is a beauty.

Depicted as a Metropolis-style city of the future, it shows us the extreme streamline transport of super-fast trains, buses, cars and airships of the world to come.

I've loved it from the first day (and only day) I saw it.

Eileen Robertson may have missed that party in 1948 but her work is still fresh and futuristic 60 years on.

Albert Park Hotel, Albert Park

I have aconnection with the Albert Park Hotel. I had my wedding reception there. We were married in the nearby gardens and the pub was a good choice for our modest wedding party. I think everyone had a great day. They could order whatever they wanted from the delicious seafood menu and had access to a full range of drinks from the bar. Naturally it helps that we picked up the tab at the end of the day.

Of course I like the Albert Park Hotel because it has a somewhat stark modernist exterior.

Like so many pubs in the area it was established in the 1880s and recieved a make-over in the 1930s.

And now in the 21st Century they also have a very slick website.

Shamrock Hotel, Kyneton

The Shamrock Hotel in Kyneton has a wonderful Art Deco brick facade. A second storey balcony provides a verandah over the footpath.

The brick of the balcony and it's roof contrast nicely with the cream render on the supporting columns. The end is also rendered and bears the name of the pub.

Above the doorway, the roofline steps up and this part of the brickwork is decorated with several vertical lines of darker bricks. Elsewhere, the decoration consists of horizontal lines of darker coloured bricks.

At the side street, to the left in the above photo, the building curves around the corner adding another deco feature to this elegant building.

Melbourne Open House 2008

Today saw the inaugural Melbourne Open House. Based on the successful annual event in London, the Melbounre Open House featured 8 buildings within easy access of Fed square.

• Council House 2


• Melbourne Town Hall


• Capitol Theatre


• Capitol Theatre


• Manchester Unity Building


• Plaza Ballroom, Regent Theatre


• The Chapter House, St Paul's Cathedral


• St Paul's Cathedral


• The Labyrinth, Federation Square.

Judging from the queues waiting the see most of the buildings, it was a great success.

I queued for 90 mins to get into the Manchester Unity Building but it was worth it. Firstly we were taken to the roof terrace where we had great views over the Melbourne skyline and the tower of the building itself. Manchester Unity was designed by Marcus Barlow in 1929-32 and takes it's inspiration from Raymond Hood's Chicago Tribune Building.

The highlight was the Boardroom housing a huge table, the largest in Australia, topped with a thick sheet of Lalique glass.

Next I went to the Plaza Ballroom, beneath the Regent Theatre in Collins St. It is a large space so there was no queuing to see this amazing space. It dates from around 1929 by Cedric H Ballantyne but is not a style that I particularily like. Too ornate. I can appreciate it for what it is. The colours on the ceiling are incredible but it doesn't excite me like other buildings of this period.

Finally, I headed over to the Capitol Theatre, now owned by the RMIT University. Walter Burley & Marion Mahoney Griffin's 'crystal cavern' dating from 1921-24. In the foyer and canterlevered canopy over the street, it is a triumph of the square but inside the main auditorium it is a mass of geometric triangles and spikes. Originally light by thousands of coloured lights it is rare to see it lit up these days. It wasn't lit today but it is still a very impressive space.

I'm looking forward to a bigger and better Melbourne Open House in 2009.

Neville House, London

In March 2003, London Time Out magazine produced an Art Deco issue to coincide with the Art Deco 1910-1939 Exhibition at the V & A.

The feature was a small booklet feature the Deco 100 which described Neville House as 'admittedly undistinguished 1930s apartment block'. In fact the only reason that Neville House was mentioned was because of the Paviours Arms, a deco pub on the ground floor.

Back in 2003, the owners of the building had planning permission to redevelop (demolish) the site to provide 93 modern flats and 2 shop.

By all accounts the pub was a deco gem but it wasn't open when I visited.

And Neville House? I can't actually remember the building but it did have this series of reliefs on the facade.

I presume Neville House, the Paviours Arms and the reiefs have all gone now. I wonder did the built something good to replace them.

Lisburn Road Fire Station, Belfast

The thing that stands out to me on this Fire Station on the Lisburn Road in Belfast is the rendered arc joining the two small windows on the central part of the facade. It is echoed in the cicular segments above each of the small window on the set-back wings of the building.

It is hard to tell in the photo but there is a chequer-board effect in the brick work on the wings.

The flagpole and the stepped parapet partially hiding the pitched roof round off the deco features.