Melbourne Mansions

Melbourne Mansions
General information
Architectural style	Art Nouveau
Location	Melbourne Australia
Address	95 (91-101) Collins Street
Town or city	Melbourne
Country	Australia
Coordinates	37°48′52.17″S 144°58′14.25″E / 37.8144917°S 144.970625°E / -37.8144917; 144.970625
Completed	1906
Demolished	1958
Technical details
Floor count	5
Design and construction
Client	David Syme
Architect	Walter Butler and George Inskip

Coordinates: 37°48′52.17″S 144°58′14.25″E / 37.8144917°S 144.970625°E / -37.8144917; 144.970625

Melbourne Mansions was a five-storey apartment building located in Collins Street in Melbourne, Australia. Constructed in 1906, it is thought to have been the first purpose-built residential apartment block in the city.^[1] Designed in the Art Nouveau style by the architectural partnership of Walter Butler and George Inskip for newspaper proprietor David Syme, its facade featured oriel windows and arches.^[2][3] The basement and ground levels had shops and medical rooms while the floors above housed thirty apartments. Meals were served to residents at a common dining room and serveries on each floor.^[1]

The building was sold in 1949, and demolished in 1958 by Whelan the Wrecker, making way for the 26-storey CRA Building. This was described at the time by journalist Keith Dunstan as "breaking the rhythm" of the so-called "Paris end" of Collins Street.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Annear, Robyn. A city lost & found: Whelan the Wrecker's Melbourne. p. 130. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=nHuo2JTk_FEC&pg=PA130&dq=%22melbourne+mansions%22+collins+street&hl=en&ei=WqdYTa73MIKmuQP75MWBBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22melbourne%20mansions%22%20collins%20street&f=false. Retrieved 14 February 2011. 
2. ^ "Melbourne Mansions: 95 Collins Street, Melbourne". Walking Melboourne. http://www.walkingmelbourne.com/building620_melbourne-mansions.html. Retrieved 14 February 2011. 
3. ^ Edquist, Harriet (June 2003). "He who sleeps in Philae: Walter Butler’s tomb for David Syme at Kew". Fabrications 13 (1). http://espace.uq.edu.au/eserv/UQ:135374/n13_1_015_Edquist.pdf. Retrieved 14 February 2010. 

External links

• State Library of Victoria (photograph)