Richmond Industrial Buildings
6-8 & 26 BROMHAM PLACE, and 14 RISLEY STREET, RICHMOND, YARRA CITY
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Statement of Significance
The three former industrial buildings at 6-8 and 26 Bromham Place and 14 Risley Street, Richmond are significant. The small, two-storey brick factory at 14 Risley Street was built c1888-93 for the Melbourne Motzos and Cooperative Association Ltd., before housing a cap manufacturer's in 1900, and the York Boot Factory from 1910 to the 1940s. The small, single-storey brick building at 26 Bromham Place was built as Henry Hudson's Unique Boot Factory, c1905-10. The monumental, red-brick factory with a 3.5-storey central building and 1.5-storey wings on either side, at 6-8 Bromham Place, was constructed in 1908 for the Civil Service Co-operative Society of Victoria Ltd. to supply their Civil Service Stores in Melbourne. In 1920 its use switched to manufacture of increasingly sophisticated entertainment systems: first pianos and player pianos, then radios, and finally televisions.
Non-original alterations and additions to the buildings are not significant.
How it is significant?
The factories are of local historical and aesthetic significance to the City of Yarra.
Why it is significant?
Historically, the three buildings together are a tangible illustration of the importance of industry in Richmond, ranging from the production of foodstuffs, clothing and footwear. The former factory at 14 Risley Street both illustrates the presence of the Jewish community in nineteenth-century Melbourne, and - with the Unique Boot Factory - illustrates the boot manufacturing industry, which was one of the best known and documented in the City of Yarra. Its presence was a dominant one in the immediate area, anchored by the large Perry Boot Factory, at the corner of Risley Street and Bromham Place, which has been demolished. Though it is gone, the remaining two boot factories continue to mark this important local theme.
In addition, 6-8 Bromham Place illustrates the heyday of the co-operative movement in Victoria. When the Civil Service Co-operative Bakery was constructed in 1908, it was said to be the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, and introduced hygienic, mechanised production, which nearly eliminated human contact with the bread. The bakery supplied the Civil Services Stores in Melbourne, as well as at least 20 other affiliated shops. (Criterion A)
Architecturally, the former bakery at 6-8 Bromham Place is a local landmark due to its scale and the dramatic zigzag form of its four gable-fronted wings. (Criterion E)
The c1888-93 matzo factory, designed by architect A.E. Duguid, at 14 Risley Street illustrates a nineteenth-century small-scale factory form, which is seen scattered through the City of Yarra, with its brick construction, narrow, two-storey facade and parapeted gable, and domestic-sized window and door openings. Criterion D)
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Richmond Industrial Buildings - Physical Description 1
The former Melbourne Moztos/York Boot Factory at 14 Risley Street is a modest two-storey brick building three bays wide, with a gable front. The gable sits behind a gabled parapet with a simple coping. Windows have flat brick arches and bluestone sills. There was a loft door at the centre of the first floor, which has been partially filled in to create a window. At the ground floor are three windows and a entry with internal steps leading to the front door.
The face brick has been over-painted, and the window sashes have been replaced.
The former Henry Hudson's Unique Boot Factory at 26 Bromham Place is a small, single-storey red-brick building. It has a monitor roof, a form which is reflected in the decorative rendered front parapet. The parapet sits above a cornice and is embellished with a cast-cement acroterion at the apex, ogee curves to either side, and pilasters with cast-cement urns at either end (only the basis of the urns remain). The built date has been removed from the apex of the parapet, but appears to have read '1907'.
The facade is divided into three bays by simple brick pilasters: a narrow entry bay at the centre flanked by wider window bays. Below the cornice, only the north half of the facade is intact. The northern window bay has a flat brick arch with a vermiculated keystone, chamfered brick reveals, and a rendered sill. Below the window is a roughcast panel. The window itself has four long vertical panes below two highlights. The entry door had the same vermiculated keystone and chamfered brick reveals, but it has been narrowed to allow for a large roller door (which has replaced the south window bay, as well).
Windows on the north and south side elevations have flat brick arches and rendered sills, with the same window form as on the facade. A doorway on the south side elevation has been infilled.
The former Civil Service Co-operative Bakery at 6-8 Bromham Place is an imposing red-brick factory complex with four wings facing onto Bromham Place, all of which have parapeted gable fronts. At the north end of the complex are two single-storey gabled wings, at the south end is a single gabled wing of the same size. Between them is a massive, 3.5-storey building with a six-bay facade. In the apex of its gable is a large, semi-circular window with multiple lights. Larger versions of this window are seen in the gables of the northern and southern single storey wings.
Other windows to all of the wings have brick flat arches and bluestone sills. They have been filled in to the facade of the northernmost wing, and enlarged to the ground-floor of the 3.5-storey wing.
Alterations include the creation of garage-door openings at the centre of each of the four wings, the replacement of all window sashes with single pane glazing, and the sandblasting of the brick (likely to remove over-painting). All rear outbuildings have been demolished.
Heritage Study and Grading
Yarra - Heritage Gaps Study: Review of remaining 17 heritage precincts from the 2009 Gaps report
Author: Context Pty Ltd
Year: 2013
Grading:
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RESIDENCEVictorian Heritage Register H0142
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RESIDENCEVictorian Heritage Register H0143
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FORMER DENTON HAT MILLSVictorian Heritage Register H0815
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"1890"Yarra City
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"AMF Officers" ShedMoorabool Shire
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"AQUA PROFONDA" SIGN, FITZROY POOLVictorian Heritage Register H1687
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'ELAINE'Boroondara City
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-oonahYarra City
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..eld HouseYarra City
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