Tower Hotel
686-690 Burwood Road HAWTHORN EAST, BOROONDARA CITY
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Statement of Significance
What is Significant?
The Tower Hotel, at 686-690 Burwood Road, Hawthorn East, designed by architect and part-owner Patrick Joseph O'Connor for licensees Julius and Ethel Dennis c1941. The hotel is V-shaped in plan, due to the sharply angled corner of Burwood and Camberwell roads, giving it visual prominence. It is Streamlined Moderne in style, with an idiosyncratic tower at the northern corner.
The later extension to the south end of the Camberwell Road elevation is not significant.
How is it significant?
The Tower Hotel is of local historical, aesthetic and architectural significance to the City of Boroondara.
Why is it significant?
The Tower Hotel is of historical significance for the enduring use of this site as a licensed premises since 1941, and of this intersection since 1874. The current hotel demonstrated that is was a successor to the 1874 Tower Hotel by continuing its name and featuring a landmark tower. The construction of a new hotel demonstrates the wider trend during the interwar period of upgrading and rebuilding 19th century hotels to meet new and stringent State liquor licensing laws, though it is a rare example of an interwar hotel in the City of Boroondara. (Criteria A, B)
The Tower Hotel is of aesthetic and architectural significance as a good example of the Streamlined Moderne style, with its strong horizontal lines created by rendered bands, parapet wall, continuous window hood, and window glazing. This horizontal movement is anchored by a strong vertical accent created by the idiosyncratic tower design. The building is a local landmark due to its prominent corner site and tower.
It is also of architectural significance as one of prominent interwar architect PJ O'Connor's most accomplished hotel designs. While many of his Moderne hotels were remodellings of 19th-century hotels, he had the chance to design the Tower Hotel from scratch. His creative freedom on this job was undoubtedly increased by the fact that he was part owner of the property. (Criteria E, H)
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Heritage Study and Grading
Boroondara - Hawthorn Heritage Study
Author: Meredith Gould Conservation Architects
Year: 1993
Grading:Boroondara - Individual Heritage Citations
Author: City of Boroondara
Year: 2016
Grading:
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AUBURN PRIMARY SCHOOL NO.2948Victorian Heritage Register H1707
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AUBURN RAILWAY STATION COMPLEXVictorian Heritage Register H1559
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ROTHAVictorian Heritage Register H0510
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