Former Union Bank
184 Barkly Street, FOOTSCRAY VIC 3011 - Property No 2005002000
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Statement of Significance
Architecturally, advanced among its bank contemporaries in the use of the moderne style, it is understandably understated compared to other examples of the style (see the nearby Footscray Mail building at Barkly Place). Historically, a major public building in the city until the 1950s.
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Former Union Bank - Physical Description 1
Parapeted and built with two colours of the newly introduced manganese brick, the bank was Moderne among its many conservative contemporaries. Designed as a banking chamber with residence over, the entry to the latter was achieved through an iron gate via a lane to the east of the building. Its facade composition was near symmetrical, had alternating horizontal bands expressed in three-dimensions down to ground-level, and a central tripartite brick fin at the parapet. Contrasting brickwork (subtly) and bas-relief (of one brick thickness) helped achieve these effects; the facade even extending some four metres down either side as a gesture to the overseas Modernist trends which spurned mere facades in favour of three dimensional forms.
Former Union Bank - Integrity
External Integrity
Externally complete but for the joinery to openings (now bronze-anodized aluminium), the building's interior possesses some cornices and finishes. Bronze opening frames, replaced (sympathetically) in aluminium, the difference being particularly noticeable at the door. Many signs have been added.
Former Union Bank - Physical Description 2
Streetscape
The Brutalist A.N.Z. next door possesses similarly spare box-like lines but dissimilar dominant wall material, while the 1920s block to the west also relates, albeit at a distance.
Heritage Study and Grading
Maribyrnong - City of Footscray Urban Conservation Study
Author: Graeme Butler
Year: 1989
Grading:
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FORMER BARKLY THEATREVictorian Heritage Register H0878
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PRIMARY SCHOOL NO.253Victorian Heritage Register H1713
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FOOTSCRAY RAILWAY STATION COMPLEXVictorian Heritage Register H1563
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