Interwar Factories
103-105 EVANS STREET, and 236, 238, 240, 260 & 297 LYGON STREET, BRUNSWICK EAST, MORELAND CITY
-
Add to tour
You must log in to do that.
-
Share
-
Shortlist place
You must log in to do that.
- Download report
Statement of Significance
What is significant?
The buildings which make up the Interwar Factories series as described are located in Lygon Street and Evans Street Brunswick. The factories are on a variety of single or multiple allotments of varying size, which are non-contiguous, with the exception of those located at 236, 238, 240 & 260 Lygon Street. The factories are all constructed of brick, either face brick with rendered dressings or rendered brick. 236 and 260 Lygon Street are two storey factories (incorporating office facilities on the upper floor?) while the remainder are single storey. Rooflines are generally concealed behind parapets, but where visible from the public realm, they illustrate a progression over time. Generally, all of the buildings are in good to very good condition and although there have been minor alterations, retain a high degree of integrity externally
The buildings generally date from the 1930s or very late 1920s, and can be divided into two distinctive styles; Eclectic and Moderne. The Eclectic style buildings (103-105 Evans Street, 240 Lygon Street and 297 Lygon Street) exhibit elements of the Free Classical, stripped Greek Revival and stripped Egyptian Revival respectively. The Moderne style factories have flat unadorned parapets, with Art Deco fins, curved walls and decoration provided by contrasting bands of smooth render and red brick.
Included in this series are the following places::
- Former Sleeping Beauty Factory - 103 -105 Evans Street, Brunswick
- Former Hopely's Factory - 236 Lygon Street, Brunswick
- Former Factory - 238 Lygon Street, Brunswick
- Former Austral Wire and Fence Company - 240 Lygon Street, Brunswick
- Former G. Burgin Factory - 260 Lygon Street, Brunswick
- Former Perfection Knitting Mills - 297 Lygon Street, Brunswick
How is it significant?
The Interwar Factories series is of historical and aesthetic (architectural) significance to the City of Moreland.
Why is it significant?
Historically, the series of six interwar factories are the best representative examples of the numerous small factories constructed in the Lygon Street North area in the period between 1920 and 1940, made possible by the trade protection of the textile industry in Australia in the early twentieth century. The factories in this series are able to demonstrate a high degree of integrity externally and provide evidence of the important manufacturing (and particularly, textile manufacturing) industry which employed large numbers of local men and women before 1945, and an increasingly large migrant workforce post 1945. The factories are of further historical significance as they represent the strong industrial focus and mixed use of Brunswick, which mixed working class housing with the places of work of its residents. (Criterion A)
Architecturally, the six factories are significant as examples of interwar styles applied to an industrial building and are notable for the detailing to their facades. The three earliest factories demonstrate the eclecticism seen in the first half of this period, ranging from Free Classical (103-105 Evans St), to stripped Greek Revival (297 Lygon St), and the rare Egyptian Revival (240 Lygon St). The other three demonstrate the dominance of the Moderne style in the later interwar years, as well as its evolution from the more decorative and polychromed factory at 260 Lygon St, with its decorative fins, also seen in a more delicate form at 236 Lygon St, to the stripped back and austere factory at 238 Lygon St which relies on the juxtaposition of horizontal concrete hoods and a curved wall. (Criteria D & E)
-
-
Interwar Factories - Physical Description 1
Location
The individual places which make up the Interwar Factories serial listing are located on Lygon Street, Brunswick East, between Pitt Street and Ann Street, and on Evans Street just west of Lygon Street. Three of the buildings are contiguous in location, while the remaining three are non-contiguous. They are believed to all date from the 1930s or the late 1920s.
Setbacks and allotments
All six of the interwar factories are built to the front and side boundaries, with no setbacks.
The allotments are of varying sizes, with 103-105 Evans St spread across three small residential-scale allotments, 236 Lygon St on a small commercial allotments, and 238, 240 & 297 Lygon Street on substantial commercial allotments.
Materials and design
All six factories are built of brick, either face brick with rendered dressings or rendered brick. 260 Lygon St and 236 Lygon St are two-storey buildings, while the rest are single storey.
All six buildings have parapets to their facades which hide the roof forms to a greater or lesser degree. The stylistic details of the parapets (and the rest of the building) and some of the roof forms illustrate a progression over time. The earliest factories, at 103-105 Evans St and 297 Lygon Street have simple gable roofs (transverse gable and gable fronted, respectively). 238 Lygon St has a rather traditional hip roof, while 240 Lygon St has a gable-fronted roof set back behind a flat roof (which could indicate the facade is a later addition). The most modern roof types are seen at 260 Lygon St, with a sawtooth roof, and 236 Lygon St, with a nearly flat roof.
Stylistically, there are three eclectic factories (generally the earlier ones) and another three with a strong Moderne influence. The earliest of the eclectic group is the former Sleeping Beauty Factory at 103-105 Evans St. While a simple building, it shows the influence of the Free Classical style, with red brick walls and smooth render dressings, a facade divided by simple engaged piers, a simple triangular pediment atop the parapet, and very distinctive arched opening to the recessed entry set to one side. This round-headed arch has above it an arched hood mould which extends out to the sides, intersecting two piers, and supported on simple render brackets. The former Perfection Knitting Mills at 297 Lygon St, is a handsome stripped Greek Revival building, which is an excellent representative example of this style which was popular for commercial buildings in the 1920s. The design is symmetrical and muscular, with giant pilasters to either end of the facade, and a matching, but smaller scale aedicule to the central entrance. There is a raised parapet at the centre of the facade with a heavy cornice and triangular pediment. The third one is the stripped Egyptian Revival building at 240 Lygon St; the former Austral Wire & Fence Company. Its austere facade is articulated by pilasters with papyrus-leave capitals and there is an unusual surround to the central entry, below a flat hood, with four concentric rectangles stepping inward. The parapet is not visible.
Of the three Moderne factories, 236 and 260 Lygon Street are the most similar in form. They are both two-storey buildings with flat parapets unadorned by any decorative apart from Art Deco fins which extend from the bottom of the first floor to above the parapet. While the fins to No 236 are created of delicate raised lines, the fins are quite substantial to No 260 (the former G Burgin Factory). In both cases the fins mark and are set directly above the main entry. At No 236 the entry is covered by a concrete hood, which would have been very fashionable at the time. No 260 has a more elaborate entry with curved walls and glass block windows to the stairwell. Glass blocks were in use only from the mid-1930s, so would also have been a very up-to-date detail. No 260 is further distinguished by the interplay of red brick walls and parapet, tapestry bricks between the windows, and the smooth render of the fins and a band dividing the windows from the parapet. 238 Lygon St is a very simple and streamlined building with subtle details. It has a raised curved wall element at the north end of the facade (also seen at No 260), and a concrete hood across most of the rest of the facade, with a small concrete hood above the wide entry (like No 236).
Integrity
Overall, the series has a high degree of integrity, with limited alterations , including:
- face brick has been overpainted on the facades of 103-105 Evans St, 238 Lygon St and 260 Lygon St (ground floor only). Modern render has been applied to the facades of 236 & 240 Lygon Street.
- the ground-floor windows and doors to 236 and 297 Lygon Street have been replaced with modern examples. The steel windows to 103-105 Evans Street may also be an alteration.
- the parapet of 240 Lygon St has been covered by modern metal cladding. It is not known if it survives unaltered beneath.
Condition
All of the factories are in good to very good condition.
Heritage Study and Grading
Moreland - Lygon Street Heritage Study Stage 2
Author: Context Pty Ltd
Year: 2012
Grading: Local
-
-
-
-
-
COTTAGEVictorian Heritage Register H0594
-
BRUNSWICK FIRE STATION AND FLATSVictorian Heritage Register H0916
-
IRON HOUSEVictorian Heritage Register H0665
-
"1890"Yarra City
-
"AMF Officers" ShedMoorabool Shire
-
"AQUA PROFONDA" SIGN, FITZROY POOLVictorian Heritage Register H1687
-
10 Down StreetYarra City
-
-