ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTION SUBSTATIONS
6 Harp Road KEW and 26A Myrtle Road and 190A Canterbury Road CANTERBURY, BOROONDARA CITY
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Statement of Significance
What is Significant?
The electrical distribution substation buildings at 190A Canterbury Road, Canterbury of 1911; 26A Myrtle Road (on Canterbury Road), Canterbury of c1911-13; and 6 Harp Road, Kew of c1916 are significant. They were all built by the Melbourne Electricity Supply Company as part of long-term contracts with the municipalities of Camberwell and Kew to supply power to allow the replacement of gas street lighting with electric.
How is it significant?
The electrical distribution substation buildings are of local historical and representative significance to the City of Boroondara.
Why is it significant?
The electrical substations are historically significant for illustrating the introduction of electricity into Boroondara's suburbs in the mid-1910s, where they were used to allow the electrification of street lighting, and the infrastructure required for this. They also illustrate the early structure of electricity providers, prior to the establishment of the State Electricity Commission in 1921. In these early decades, after the passing of the Electric Light and Power Act of 1896, local councils could generate their own power or purchase it from one of two major private companies: the Melbourne Electricity Supply Company (MES Co) or the Melbourne City Council Electricity Supply Department. The City of Hawthorn signed a 14-year contract with the MES Co in 1910, as did the City of Camberwell the following year. The City of Kew had electric street lighting since the late 1890s, and it was extended as far as Harp Road in 1916 under a contract with the MES Co. (Criterion A)
The substations, individually and as a group, illustrate the range of designs used by the MES Co for its substations in the 1910s. As distinct from the classicising, parapeted substations constructed in the 1920s by the SEC, these early substations take a picturesque form related to prevailing Federation-era domestic design, with projecting eaves and ventilation lanterns adorned with a ball finial. (Criterion D)
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ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTION SUBSTATIONS - Physical Description 1
These small brick buildings were originally built as part of the electrification of street lighting in Kew and Canterbury. This building type is distinguished by a small footprint with high internal volume, a lantern mounted on the roof to provide ventilation for electrical equipment, and minimal door and window openings.
6 Harp Road, Kew
A gabled roof form with a lantern centred on the ridge. The roof is clad in corrugated iron. Walls are of hard red bricks with struck joints and are most likely cavity walls. Terracotta air vents are located high on each wall - one on each of the east and west walls and three and four respectively high in the gable of both the south and north walls. A low metal vent is visible on the west wall.
The guttering is missing on the east elevation resulting in water damage to the base of the brick wall. A ledged and braced timber door with rendered jamb is probably original. It also shows signs of water damage at its base. A similar door can be seen on the substation at 26A Myrtle Rd, Canterbury.
The north elevation is the most altered. A bluestone threshold is evident at ground level indicating a doorway was originally located on this facade. The doorway has since been bricked up. A briquette hopper has been installed at some time and remains. Some cracking in the brick work is evident in the high northeast corner of the building. Openings where rafters once protruded through the face of the wall are evident low on the gable. These have been rendered over. A barge board is missing from one side of the gable and on the other side, the existing board needs repair. Some eave lining boards need repair or replacement.
Guttering is missing from the west elevation. Metal pins protruding from the bargeboard may have originally been used to hang guttering. The bargeboard is rotted and needs replacement. A large pile of soil currently rests directly against this wall. It should be removed to prevent damage to the brickwork.
The south elevation is relatively sound with some minor repairs required to bargeboards and brick work.
The timber framed roof lantern is centred on the ridge of the building. It is lined with a combination of flat and angled horizontal timber slats. Some timbers are missing from various faces of the lantern. Round holes are visible on some faces and would have supported electrical wiring equipment (as seen at 190A Canterbury Road). Painted metal flashings can be noted at the junction between the lantern and the roof. An elegantly shaped sheet metal roof tops the lantern and sweeps up to form a ball finial.
26A Myrtle Rd, Canterbury
A bi-chrome brick structure with cream brick quoining. Cream brick detailing also visible to a high arched recess over the entry door and in a diamond pattern on the side walls. Wall corners are chamfered and a rendered sill is evident at ground level. Terra cotta air vents are located around the building close to the springing line for the gabled roof. The roof is clad in corrugated iron with sound guttering and bargeboards. Brickwork has been repaired in some locations and further minor repairs are required. Generally, the building is in good order.
The lantern is mostly intact with some electrical wiring equipment still evident. The ball is missing from the finial.
190A Canterbury Rd, Canterbury
This building has a hipped roof clad in terracotta tiles with terracotta ridge capping and terracotta rams head finial at the eastern end of the ridge. Some tiles are missing on the eastern hip and water damage is evident in the eave below. A brick party wall is evident on the west facade. Corners of the building are chamfered. Terracotta air vents are visible low and high on the wall on the various faces. On the north elevation, two have been replaced with larger perforated metal vents. The brick work has been painted but there is evidence of cream brick detailing at the corners of the building and around the door. Guttering is intact (not original) and rafter tails are exposed.
The north wall has been rebuilt throughout the centre. The original brick work has been tuck-pointed and more recent brick work has a thicker detail to mortar. A rendered sill runs along the building at ground level. A new door and doorway has been inserted into this wall.
This lantern is mostly intact with most timber battens and finial remaining. Electrical equipment is visible on the northern face of the lantern. Lantern flashings are unpainted.
Heritage Study and Grading
Boroondara - Municipal-Wide Heritage Gap Study: Vol. 1 Canterbury
Author: Context
Year: 2018
Grading: Local
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