Moderne Apartments Blocks
37 LYGON STREET AND 301 LYGON STREET AND 434C LYGON STREET BRUNSWICK EAST, MERRI-BEK CITY
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Statement of Significance
- 37 Lygon Street
- 301 Lygon Street
- 434c Lygon Street
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Moderne Apartments Blocks - Physical Description 1
Location
The individual places which make up the Moderne Apartments serial listing are located on Lygon Street, Brunswick East, between Brunswick Road and Bladen Avenue. All but two of the buildings are non-contiguous in location. They are believed to all date from the 1940s.Setback and gardens
The four apartment buildings all have a moderate setback from the street, allowing for a small front garden. Side setbacks are minimal, though all of them are freestanding buildings.Three of the four buildings, Nos 299, 301 and 434C, retain early or original front fences. They are all quite low in height (about 600 mm), built of brick with piers at either end and geometric mild-steel pedestrian gates. The fences to Nos 299 and 434C are virtually identical, constructed of red bricks with a 'castellated' top created by alternating pairs of soldier-coursed bricks. The fence to No 301 has tapestry bricks along the top.
Materials and design
All four apartment buildings have masonry walls, with a variety of decorative combinations of render and brick types to create visual interest. Nos 37 and 434C have predominantly brick facades with tapestry brick and smooth render accents. Nos 299 and 301 are predominantly rendered, though No 301 has tapestry brick accents. Nos 301 and 434C have curved balconies that may be cast concrete.All four buildings have hip roofs clad in terracotta Marseille tiles. No 299 has a very simple roof, but a fashionable vertical accent extends above the roof on the south side of the facade. No 37 is the most traditional, with a slightly projecting hip-roof bay on the south side of the facade under which a recessed balcony is situated. Nos 301 and 434C have symmetrical verandah roofs above two first-floor balconies which is an extension of the main roof. Set between the pair of balconies both buildings have a projecting stairwell whose face continues well above the roofline with a fashionable Art Deco fin at the centre.
Nos 37 and 434C have timber six-over-one double hung windows of the sort that had been popular since the 1920s. No 434C also has glazed apartment doors with decorative vertical panes; the same doors are seen on No 301. The windows of No 301, as well as No 299, are steel-framed casements with highlights which would have been quite modern when they were constructed.
All four apartment buildings are two storeys in height. No 299 is single-fronted and has an external stair to the upper flat. The other three are double-fronted and have enclosed stairwells.
In terms of style, Nos 37 and 299 are typical of their period and No 37 has particularly nicely detailed brickwork, but neither would be called high-style. Nos 301 and 434C are very similar in overall form (projecting stairwell at the middle of the facade, parapet rising above the centre of the roof) and in many details. These include Moderne design elements such as the curved balconies, corbelled tapestry brick accents at the base of the centre parapet, and the fins to the parapet. The designer of No 301 took the style one step farther, echoing the curve of the front balconies to entirely curved and rendered front walls of the building which project above the roof, giving the building a bold, sculptural form.
Integrity
The series has a very high degree of integrity.The front fence to No 37 is modern in date; the original would have been quite low, as seen in front of the other apartment buildings. Otherwise the group is highly intact.
Condition
All of the apartment buildings appear to be in good to very good condition.Heritage Study and Grading
Moreland - Lygon Street Heritage Study Stage 2
Author: Context Pty Ltd
Year: 2012
Grading: Local
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RESIDENCEVictorian Heritage Register H1219
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SOUTH BRUNSWICK BRICKWORKSVictorian Heritage Inventory
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FORMER BRUNSWICK CABLE TRAM DEPOT PRECINCTVictorian Heritage Inventory
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