Former Dennys Lascelles Woolstore
20 Brougham Street GEELONG, GREATER GEELONG 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
LOCAL SIGNIFICANCE
What is Significant?
The former Dennys Lascelles Woolstore, 20 Brougham Street, has significance as a representative example and physical legacy of the 20th century industrial and woolstore development situated near the Geelong waterfront. It reflects the later years of the wool trade in Geelong when the city was the wool capital of Victoria, with several woolstores erected in close proximity to each other. The western portion of the building was built as a two storey brick building for Lyall and Son in 1919 as a replacement of their chaff and fodder works that had been destroyed by fire on this site. By 1947, the building served as a woolstore for Strachan and Co. Ltd before being purchased by Denny Lascelles Ltd in 1951. In 1953, the local architectural firm of Buchan, Laird and Buchan designed alterations and three storey brick additions. Built by J.C. Taylor and Sons to meet the increased demand for wool storage, the works included saw-toothed roofs, parapeted brick facades and alterations to existing windows. It was also in 1953 when Laird and Buchan designed a four storey brick building immediately adjacent, at the corner of Brougham and Gheringhap Streets. The design was a three storey extension to a single storey brick building that had been constructed from c.1940 as the premises of F.L. Hooper and Co., wholesale merchants. This building had also been acquired by Dennys Lascelles. Works on the additions commenced in 1954 by J.C. Taylor and Sons. On completion, the east and west buildings presented an homogenous appearance even though the exteriors incorporated earlier construction.
The significant fabric therefore includes the evolved construction of the early and mid 20th centuries and includes: the cuboid form established by the parapeted face brick facades; saw-toothed roof form set on an east-west axis; window and door openings (built between 1919 and 1954) including the vertically boarded doors; timber framed double hung and hopper sash windows; concrete lintels in openings; brick cornices and piers; and the 'DENNYS LASCELLES LIMITED' signage on the east parapet.
How is it significant?
The former Dennys Lascelles Woolstore, 20 Brougham Street, Geelong, is historically and aesthetically significant at a LOCAL level.
Why is it significant?
The former Dennys Lascelles Woolstore, 20 Brougham Street, has historical significance for its associations with the agricultural and especially the wool storage and broking industry near the Geelong waterfront from 1919 until after the 1950s (Criterion A). The former Woolstore forms part of a rare grouping of former woolstore buildings in central Geelong and are a tangible legacy of the city as the wool capital of Victoria until after the mid 20th century (Criterion B). The western portion of the building was first constructed in 1919 as Lyall and Son's fodder and chaff works. By 1947, the building functioned as a woolstore, having been leased to Strachan and Co. Ltd. before being purchased by the long-standing wool broking firm Dennys Lascelles Ltd. in 1951. The outward appearance of the building today is the result of three storey additions and other alterations in 1953 that were required to meet the expansion in wool storage by the Dennys Lascelles company. This prosperous company held several nearby sites, including the bluestone warehouse at 26 Moorabool Street (now the National Wool Museum) and woolstore at 98 Gheringhap Street (now altered and adapted as a University campus). The former woolstore at 20 Brougham Street is a legacy of the expansion of Dennys Lascelles in the early 1950s (Criterion H). It has further associations with the architects, Laird and Buchan (and Buchan Laird and Buchan) (Criterion H). This local architectural firm held the enduring patronage of several wool broking and auctioneering businesses in Geelong in the 19th and 20th centuries. Throughout the 20th century, the firm had family links to the Dennys Lascelles company with George A. Laird, wool expert and wool manager from 1932 being the brother of Ewen Laird, architect. The architectural firm was responsible for designing several alterations and additions and new woolstores to almost all of the wool storage and broking sites in the waterfront area, all of which have experienced further alterations as a consequence of adaptation as part of new uses.
The former Dennys Lascelles Woolstore, 20 Brougham Street, Geelong, has aesthetic significance as a representative example of a 20th century brick industrial building in the urban waterfront area (Criterion D). It is also one of a small number of surviving 20th century brick woolstore buildings that has not experienced substantial alteration and adaptation since its completion in the early 1950s. The significance of the woolstore building is embodied in its evolved functions and construction between 1919 and 1954, and especially its external appearance as a woolstore from the early 1950s. It is visually connected to other brick former woolstores located within and adjacent to the Woolstores Industrial Heritage Area. While this area has experienced change, collectively, these buildings maintain streetscape prominence and the former woolstore building at 20 Brougham Street contributes to this unique, former industrial urban waterfront setting. The building at 20 Brougham Street is most comparable to the other brick woolstores designed by Laird and Buchan from the 1930s, including the former woolstore at 98 Gheringhap Street (built in 1934 and now altered and adapted as a University campus), north-west portion of the former Dalgety and Co. woolstore (built after 1934 and now altered and adapted as a University campus), the former Dennys Lascelles woolstore at 45 Brougham Street (built in 1940 and now altered and adapted as offices), and the former Dennys Lascelles woolstore at 12-14 Gheringhap Street (built in c.1958-59 and now substantially altered as a University campus).
-
-
Heritage Study and Grading
City of Greater Geelong - Fmr Dennys Lascelles Woolstore Heritage Assessment
Author: Dr David Rowe
Year: 2018
Grading: Local
-
-
-
-
-
FORMER GEELONG WOOL EXCHANGEVictorian Heritage Register H0622
-
FORMER SCOTTISH CHIEFS HOTELVictorian Heritage Register H0662
-
GEELONG TOWN HALLVictorian Heritage Register H0184
-
-