Hawksburn Retail Precinct
475-503 Malvern Road and 159-179 Williams Road SOUTH YARRA and 505-531 Malvern Road TOORAK and 508-536 Malvern Road PRAHRAN, STONNINGTON CITY
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Statement of Significance
What is significant?
The Hawksburn Retail Precinct is a shopping strip with a range of single and double-storey retail and commercial buildings dating from the late-Victorian, Edwardian and interwar periods. Commercial development in the precinct began as early as c1850 when a hotel was built on the site of the present Bush Inn. The hotel was altered and extended in the 1880s and now presents as a Victorian Italianate style corner pub. Retail development around the Bush Inn mainly took place in the decade after the 1879 opening of the Hawksburn railway station. Most of the existing shops on the north side of Malvern Road were built in this period to cater for residents in the newly formed Hawksburn and Bush Inn Estates. Terrace housing on the Williams Road frontage of the precinct is associated with this major period of suburban growth. Further retail development in this section of Malvern Road was undertaken c1900-1910 on sites left undeveloped through the recession of the 1890s. A series of Moderne style shops were built in the late 1930s on the opposite side of Malvern Road on land previously occupied by a private school.
Elements which contribute to the significance of the precinct include (but are not limited to):
-The high degree of intactness of the area to its c1940 state resulting from the very low proportion of modern infill buildings.
-The generally high integrity of upper level facades and original detailing and finishes, typically comprising face brick or render.
-The consistent unpainted face brick materiality and Moderne expression of the shops on the south side of Malvern Road.
-The attached form of retail, commercial and residential buildings with uniform front setbacks and similar facade widths forming repetitive modules.
-The consistent one or two storey scale of buildings.
-Parapeted facades with concealed roofs.
-Early cantilevered awnings.
-The form and fabric of extant early shopfronts, typically built with recessed doorways, large timber or metal framed display windows above stall boards and smaller highlight windows (some retaining leadlight glazing).
-External signage on retail buildings generally restricted to the verandah fascia or suspended from the underside of verandahs.
-The limited number of modern internally illuminated signs.
-The absence of on-site vehicle accommodation in front setbacks.
How is it significant?
The Hawksburn Retail Precinct is of local historical and aesthetic significance to the City of Stonnington.
Why is it significant?
Historically, it is significant as an example of local shopping centre which has served the Hawksburn area through its important phases of development in the Victorian, Edwardian and interwar eras (Historic Theme: 7.1 Serving local communities). The precinct also demonstrates how many of the municipality's earliest hotels were established at main crossroads and became the focal point for later commercial development as communities became more established (Historic Theme: 7.4.1 Early Hotels).
Hawksburn Terrace on Williams Road illustrates the type of speculative residential venture which was made possible by the prosperity of the 1880s land boom. The rapid suburbanisation of the surrounding area during this period provided the stimulus for much of the commercial development which presently survives on the north side of Malvern Road. Later Edwardian and interwar buildings on Malvern Road demonstrate the pattern of recovery and infill which followed the economic depressions of the 1890s and early 1930s (Historic Theme: 3.3.5 Recovery and Infill 1900-1940).
Aesthetically, the Hawksburn Retail Precinct is significant as a good representative example of a late-nineteenth and early twentieth century commercial precinct. The associated 'Hawksburn Terrace' on Williams Road is stylistically related to contemporary Victorian shops on Malvern Road and makes an important contribution to the valued nineteenth century character of the area.
The precinct is distinguished from other early local shopping centres in the Municipality by its remarkably intact and cohesive group of interwar Moderne style shops. While individual buildings in this group of shops are reasonably typical of the period, the repetitive rhythm established by the concentration of similar facade designs with a consistent unpainted face brick materiality is of particular significance.
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Hawksburn Retail Precinct - Historical Australian Themes
The following themes are drawn from the Stonnington Thematic Environmental History (Context Pty Ltd, 2006, Addendum March 2009).
7.1 Serving local communities
7.4.1 Early Hotels
3.3.3 Speculation and land boomers - subdivision from 1880 onwards
3.3.5 Recovery and Infill 1900-1940Hawksburn Retail Precinct - Physical Description 1
The Hawksburn Retail precinct is a traditional shopping strip which runs along Malvern Road, either side of the Williams Road intersection. The northern side of Malvern Road is characterised by late-Victorian boom era shops of one to two storeys in height. These shops are for the most part representative examples of the period and generally have rendered facades and parapets with Italianate ornamentation. The stylistically related double-storey boom period 'Hawksburn Terrace' occupies part of the precinct's Williams Road frontage.
The building on the north-west corner of Malvern and Williams roads stands out among the earlier stuccoed shops for its largely intact red-brick and render 'blood and bandages' style facade. To its immediate north there is a row of single-storey Edwardian shops on Williams Road with recently reconstructed timber shopfronts. A small number of Edwardian shops can also be found on the north side of Malvern Road, interspersed among the Victorian building stock.
The southern side of Malvern Road has an entirely different character resulting from its rapid development following the closure of the East Leigh private school in the 1930s. This streetscape is formed by a series of polite two storey interwar Moderne style retail buildings with a consistent face brick materiality. While most of the shopfronts have been altered, these buildings are noteworthy for the high level of integrity of their first floor facades and their homogenous architectural expression. The double-storey c1935 commercial building on the south-east corner of Malvern and Williams Road is less intact but retains a substantial presence at the entry of the group and reinforces the valued interwar character of this streetscape.
Heritage Study and Grading
Stonnington - City of Stonnington Heritage Overlay Gap Study - Heritage Overlay Precincts Final Report
Author: Bryce Raworth P/L
Year: 2009
Grading: Various
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PRIMARY SCHOOL NO. 1467Victorian Heritage Register H1032
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PRAHRAN TOWN HALLVictorian Heritage Register H0203
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FORMER RECHABITE HALLVictorian Heritage Register H0575
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