Malvern/Tooronga Roads Retail Precinct
1361-1433, 1340-1384 Malvern Road and 249B Tooronga Road and 68 Maitland Street MALVERN and 1437-1491, 1386-1450 Malvern Road and 20 Staunton Lane GLEN IRIS, STONNINGTON 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 Malvern/Tooronga Roads Retail Precinct is a traditional shopping strip centred on the intersection of Malvern and Tooronga Roads in Glen Iris. It developed into the area's principal shopping strip following the extension of the electric tram line along Malvern Road in 1915 and the rapid suburbanisation of the surrounding land in the 1920s. The precinct contains a range of retail and commercial buildings dating from the Edwardian and interwar periods, a number of which retain original shopfronts.
Elements which contribute to the significance of the precinct include (but are not limited to):
-Edwardian and interwar shops and commercial buildings (many originally built with first floor living accommodation).
-The generally high integrity of first floor facades and consistent face brick or render materiality.
-The large number of extant original or early shopfronts, typically built with large timber or metal framed display windows above stall boards, smaller highlight windows (often with leadlight glazing), glazed ceramic tile surfaces, and recessed doorways.
-Early cantilevered verandahs above ground floor shopfronts.
-Roofs concealed by parapets (some retaining early painted signs) or exposed hipped or transverse gabled roofs with terracotta tile cladding and chimneys.
-The consistent one or two storey scale of retail buildings.
-The attached form of retail buildings with no front setbacks and similar facade widths creating a repetitive module.
-External signage generally restricted to verandah fascias or suspended from the underside of verandahs (early painted signs on rendered parapets being a noted and valued exception).
-The limited number of modern internally illuminated signs.
-The absence of on-site vehicle accommodation in the front setbacks of commercial buildings, including driveways and crossovers.
How is it significant?
The Malvern/Tooronga Roads Retail Precinct is of local historical and aesthetic significance to the City of Stonnington.
Why is it significant?
The Malvern/Tooronga Roads Retail Precinct is significant for its capacity to illustrate the major phases of suburban expansion which occurred in the eastern parts of the municipality in the Edwardian and interwar periods. It also demonstrates the growth of local shopping centres along tram routes in the early to mid-twentieth century and the interdependence between retail development and public transport in this period (Historic Themes: 7.1 Serving local communities & 4.5.2 Prahran-Malvern Tramways Trust).
Aesthetically, the precinct is significant as a good representative example of an Edwardian and interwar suburban shopping strip. It is notable for the continuity of its shops, which are characterized by uniform front and side setbacks, similar wall materials and similar scale. Within this cohesive framework, individual shops display a varied and inventive approach to detailing. The significance of the precinct is further enhanced by the relatively high proportion of buildings with original or early shopfronts.
-
-
Malvern/Tooronga Roads Retail Precinct - Physical Description 1
The Malvern/Tooronga Roads Retail precinct contains a range of buildings dating from the late Edwardian and interwar periods. The group is unified by its (typically) two storey scale and its brick and render materiality. Individual buildings develop subtle variations on this theme and include retail groups of two or more premises to buildings of individual note such as the austere single storey banking chambers and post office. Some buildings adopt a backward looking Victorian expression with simple classicised detailing. Edwardian designs are occasionally more theatrical. 1415-19 Malvern Road, for example, is notable for its Marseilles-tiled roof which spills through the parapet to form an awning at first floor level. Some buildings have been overpainted or otherwise altered but their original forms typically remain legible. In some instances original buildings have been demolished and replaced by new buildings such as those at 1394, 1396 and 1400 Malvern Road. However, these buildings reinforce the scale and rhythm of the earlier built form and do not substantially diminish the early character of the area. The area is unusual for the extent to which shopfronts from the late Edwardian and interwar periods survive in good condition. Original painted signs survive to the rendered parapet of 1438-1446 Malvern Road.
Malvern/Tooronga Roads 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
4.5.2 Prahran-Malvern Tramways Trust
Malvern/Tooronga Roads Retail Precinct - Local Historical Themes
4.5.2 Prahran Malvern Tramways Trust
7.1 Serving local communities
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
-
-
-
-
-
STONINGTONVictorian Heritage Register H1608
-
MALVERN TRAM DEPOTVictorian Heritage Register H0910
-
MALVERN TOWN HALLVictorian Heritage Register H2288
-
-