EAST CAMBERWELL SUBSTATION
26A Myrtle Road and 2B (part) Warburton Road CANTERBURY, BOROONDARA CITY
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Statement of Significance
What is Significant?
The East Camberwell Substation, 2B Warburton Road (part), Canterbury is significant.
How is it significant?
East Camberwell substation is of local historical and aesthetic significance to the City of Boroondara.
Why is it significant?
The East Camberwell Substation is significant as one of four surviving substations, of near identical design at Seaford, Mentone and Caulfield East, constructed as part of the initiative to electrify the Melbourne metropolitan railway network from 1912. Following the allocation of sites for substations in 1914, the onset of the First World War delayed further progress in the rollout of the programme. Designed by 1920 and constructed between 1921 and 1922, the East Camberwell substation, along with the major substation at Jolimont railyards, formed one of two major substations on the Box Hill, Kew and Glen Iris lines. East Camberwell substation was designed to accommodate two 4,500 kilowatt rotary converters, which were subsequently switched on and the network electrified via the throwing of a switch at Jolimont substation at 2pm, 28 November 1922. Subsequent improvements at East Camberwell in 1933, including storm precaution works to isolate faults, further enforced its importance to the metropolitan network. (Criterion A)
East Camberwell Substation is architecturally significant as an example of stripped Interwar Classical-Revival architecture applied to a utilitarian building. Demonstrative of the scale and evolving quality of work being constructed by Victorian Railways (VR) under Chief Architect J.W. Harding, the building is representative as a greater architectural ethos emphasising the modernity, strength and progression of VR specifically and the City of Melbourne and State of Victoria generally during the early twentieth century. (Criteria D, E & H)
East Camberwell Substation is also significant for its reappropriation, by 1973, as the studio of the Victorian State Artist, Harold Freedman (1915-1999). A position unique both within the State of Victoria and the Commonwealth, Freedman produced his first official work as State Artist in the substation, the iconic 36.6m long and 7.32m high mural History of Transport. A realist oil painting executed on canvas and mounted on wood, the mural depicted the history of transport in Victoria from 1835 until 1935. Executed in three main sections and completed by Freedman and four assistants, the mural was commissioned by the State of Victoria in 1973 for the concourse of Spencer Street Station. Completed in January 1978, the mural was installed at Spencer Street Station later that year until its removal in 2004 upon demolition of the station buildings in lieu of the new Southern Cross station. The mural was reinstalled in the new shopping centre of Southern Cross in 2007. Freedman's next commission as State Artist, a large mosaic on the theme of regional history for the State Offices in Geelong is assumed to have also been executed at East Camberwell substation. (Criteria A & H)
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EAST CAMBERWELL SUBSTATION - Physical Description 1
The East Camberwell Substation is located within that part of Canterbury bound by Canterbury Road to the north, Myrtle Road to the east, the south-east railway corridor to the south and The Broadway (and Sefton Place) to the west.
The East Camberwell Substation is located within the south-west corner of Boroondara Park. As such, the Park creates a landscaped buffer to the north, east and west of the building. A gravelled lane, accessed off Myrtle Road, extends along the south of the building, creating a buffer between the building and the railway corridor, and subsequently extends to create a gravelled apron around the perimeter of the building (refer Figure 200).The substation is a large poured concrete building with a gabled sheet metal clad roof concealed behind a parapet facade. Possessing a large rectangular plan, the east and west elevations of the building are essentially mirrored facsimiles of one another. These elevations result in the building possessing dual facades consisting of an asymmetrical breakfront arrangement, the major section of which is divided into three distinct bays separated by imitation quoins that extend the height of the elevation to a projecting cornice. Above the cornice, the parapet incorporates a monumental engaged pediment centred upon the central bay (refer Figure 201 and Figure 202). On the north elevation of the building, this is divided into eight bays, separated by the same imitation quoins; an arrangement repeated on the south elevation of the building.
Within the central bay of the west elevation, a large roller door opening provides vehicular access at the base of the building. Overhead, an elongated multi-paned steel framed window illuminates the interior of the building, a detail mirrored on the east elevation of the building. The height of these windows, combined with windows of similar dimension, design and construction along the north elevation of the building, are indicative of a double-height space within the interior of this part of the building (refer Figure 203). On the south elevation, this building is largely devoid of fenestration.
While alterations to the building are apparent, most notably at parapet level where additional flashings indicate changes to the roof pitch, this does not impact greatly upon the interpretation of the design intent of the building. The building was not inspected internally.
Heritage Study and Grading
Boroondara - Municipal-Wide Heritage Gap Study: Vol. 1 Canterbury
Author: Context
Year: 2018
Grading: Local
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