Burke Road Commercial Precinct
Burke Road KEW and Burke Road BALWYN, BOROONDARA CITY
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Statement of Significance
What is Significant?
The Burke Road Commercial Precinct, at 1333-1363 Burke Road, Kew and 1046-1060 Burke Road, Balwyn, is significant. The first cluster of six shops in the Spanish Mission architectural style were built in 1931-33. The two rows of eight shops on either side of Burke Road were built to similar Art Deco designs in the immediate postwar period, in c.1948-50. The corner shop at no. 1363 was the last to be built in 1954.
The 1954 shop designed by architect John Tovey is individually Significant, and this is recognised in the HO (HO607). The remaining shops are Contributory.
Significant features of the Contributory shops include: the intact and partially intact upper storey facades of the three two-storey groupings of shops; the intact (or partial) early and original shopfronts at 1333, 1337, 1351, 1052 and 1054 Burke Road, the form of the shopfronts at 1345, 1349, 1353, and 1359 Burke Road, and the side (First Avenue) elevation of 1333 Burke Road.
How is it significant?
The Burke Road Commercial Precinct is of local historical, architectural, and aesthetic significance to the City of Boroondara.
Why is it significant?
The shopping precinct at 1333-1363 Burke Road, Kew and 1046-1060 Burke Road, Balwyn, is of historical significance for demonstrating the development of smaller shopping strips in response to the interwar expansion of Kew. Smaller shopping strips like the retail strip on both sides of Burke Road catered to the growing needs of the new residents in the immediate vicinity, where walkability and, after WWII, increasing car ownership were key aspects. (Criterion A)
Architecturally, the shops in the Burke Road Commercial Precinct are significant for their ability to demonstrate typical and cohesive forms of interwar commercial/retail buildings, built to front and side boundaries, forming a continuous street wall, with roofs hidden behind parapets. The cohesive character of this Precinct is enhanced by the limited architectural styles of the shops, the three large groups of shops, and the high degree of intactness of all their upper storey facades. The high degree of visual and architectural cohesion of the Burke Road Commercial Precinct distinguishes it from other comparable commercial precincts in Kew, where the built form and overall character is typically more mixed. (Criterion D and E)
The interwar and early postwar-era shops demonstrate features representative of predominantly only two architectural styles: the interwar Spanish Mission style for the row of six shops at 1333-1343 Burke Road, and interwar Art Deco for the two rows of eight shops, at 1345-1359 and 1046-1060 Burke Road. The two corner shops at the northern end at nos. 1363 and 1060 and the corner shop at no. 1333 at the southern end are designed to address their corners and create gateways into the Precinct. (Criterion D)
The row of Spanish Mission shops at nos. 1333-1343 Burke Road, built in 1931-33 is a relatively early example of a row of shops designed as a cohesive group in the interwar Spanish Mission style. They are comparable in terms of their Spanish Mission architectural style and the integrity of the upper-storey with the fine and more elaborately ornamented row of Spanish Mission shops at 104-114 Canterbury Road. The Canterbury Road shops were commenced only slightly later, in 1932-33. Unlike the shops at Burke Road, the Canterbury Road shops retain a high proportion of their original high quality shopfronts. (Criterion D)
Aesthetically, the single-storey corner shop and offices at 1363 Burke Road, designed by architect John Tovey in 1954, is significant, and this is recognised by its listing as an individually significant place in the HO (HO607). (Criterion E)
For a full list of the individual gradings within the precinct, please refer to the attached PDF citation, or the child records.
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Burke Road Commercial Precinct - Physical Description 1
The precinct comprises two rows of shops on both sides of Burke Road between the Harp/Belmore road intersection and First Avenue/Head streets, Kew. No build date has been established for the row of Spanish Mission shops at 1333-1343 Burke Road, but these shops were fully constructed by 1945. The other rows of shops at 1345-1359 and 1046-1060 Burke Road were built during the early postwar period, over 2-3 years from 1948 to 1950. The two single storey shops at 1361-1363 Burke Road were constructed later; 1361 Burke Road was constructed after 1945 and by 1957, and 1636 Burke Road was constructed in 1953. Corner shops mark the entry to the precinct at both ends, at nos. 1333, 1363 and 1060 Burke Road.
All the shops are built to the front and side boundaries, forming a continuous street wall, and their roofs are hidden behind parapets, as was typical prior to WWII and in the early post-WWII years. All but two of the shops are two storeys, with roofs concealed behind parapets. The two exceptions are the neighbouring single-storey shops at 1361-1363 Burke Road.
The upper facades of both sides of the shopping strip are of high integrity, retaining much of their original features and detailing, and have strong visual cohesion because of the three large groupings of shops; each group appears to have been built to the same design or by the same builder.
1333?1343 Burke Road: The first shops to be built were the six two storey brick interwar Spanish Mission style shops at 1333?1343 Burke Road, constructed in 1931-33. The upper storeys have smooth rendered facades. The shop at no. 1343 retains its unpainted buff-coloured render, while the rest are painted. Each shop has a pair of distinctive 12-over-12 timber sash windows. Originally, all the upper storey windows fronting Burke Road would have had pairs of rusticated, decorative timber shutters on hinges, with one in the pair designed to simulate the perspective of a half-opened shutter. Shutters are intact at no. 1343. Shutters also remain (though partially intact) at nos. 1333 and 1337. The corner shop at 1333 Burke Road has a chamfered front and deep ingo, addressing the corner (with First Avenue), with a stepped parapet and prominent pediment with a shaped profile and cement capping. Half-round terracotta Cordoba tiles are a prominent feature of the horizontal parapet tops of the group, the top edge sloped to simulate a pitched roof. Alternate shops (nos. 1333, 1335, 1339 and 1343) have a prominent central pediment with shaped profile topped with cement capping.
The side elevation of 1333 Burke Road is face brick with relieving horizontal bars of cement render to lintels and sills of the four ground floor door and window openings and the five upper storey windows. With exception of one smaller square upper storey window, all openings and the five upper storey windows (nine-paned timber sash windows) appear to be original. The ground floor windows also appear to be original but not the doors. One squared brick chimney (braced) is visible from street level. There is a later single storey brick addition (painted) at the rear.
This corner building (no. 1333) retains its original shopfront, with metal-framed display windows and simple geometric highlights. The shop at no. 1337 retains a partial original shopfront, but the remainder are recent replacements.
The cantilever awning appears to be original; only no. 1339 retains pressed metal awning lining.
1345?1359 Burke Road comprises a group of eight interwar Art Deco brick shops, designed in pairs, constructed in c.1948-49. The upper storey facade is largely intact. The roofs are concealed behind a flat-topped parapet of blond face brick (overpainted only at no. 1359). Each pair has a
central face brick pediment with a corbelled base, stepped skyline silhouette, and central vertical fin, and decorative expressed brick detailing. The height of each pair varies subtly by two brick courses, stepping down towards Harp Road. Each upper storey retains its original large steel framed window.
Four of the eight shopfronts in this grouping retain what is likely to have been the original asymmetrical form of the shopfront, featuring a large display window and offset splayed ingo, with brick stallboards (nos. 1345, 1349, 1353, and 1359). The timber-framed and glazed door at 1353 Burke Road is likely to be original. The terrazzo ingo floor at no. 1353 may also be original. Other original features and shopfronts have been replaced. The distinctive, asymmetrical chrome and glazed shopfront at no. 1351 was probably installed after the 1966 fire recorded at this shop. Awnings are cantilevered, lined with fibre cement sheeting, as they probably were originally (at nos. 1347-1353). The linings at nos. 1345, 1357-1359 have been replaced.
1046?1060 Burke Road consists of a group of eight two-storey Art Deco brick shops. Constructed between 1948 and 1950, at approximately the same time as the group of Art Deco shops on the opposite side of Burke Road (nos. 1345-1359), their pale, face brick upper-storey facades have a similar design and decorative expressed brick detailing. Like at nos. 1345-1359, the upper storey facades are largely intact, with the exception of overpainting at nos. 1056-1052 and 1056. The row originally consisted of four pairs of shops, plus the corner shop; one shop, no. 1044, has been demolished. Originally three separate shops, what is now 1046 Burke Road was consolidated in the 1970s by the owners, Boccaccio, to create one large shop (the present-day shop shares the Boccaccio name, Boccaccio Cellars). No. 1060 is the corner shop, with a chamfered corner addressing both Burke and Belmore roads, and face brick pediment with corbelled base, stepped skyline silhouette, central vertical fin, and decorative expressed brick detailing. Most of the shopfronts have been altered. The exception is the shopfront at no. 1054, rare in the precinct for its high degree of intactness; original features include meta-framed display and highlight windows, and unpainted face-brick stallboards. The chrome window framing at no. 1052 may be a remnant of an original or early shopfront. The shops have a cantilever awning with new signage; likely original from nos. 1052-1060.
1361 Burke Road is a single-storey interwar or early-postwar brick shop, with its roof concealed behind a simple rendered and painted parapet with central rectangular pediment with brick capping. The shopfront has been replaced. The cantilever awning appears to be original.
Designed in 1954 by architect John Tovey, the single storey shop at 1363 Burke Road was probably the last shop to be built in the precinct. The shop is included in the Heritage Overlay as an individually significant place (HO607). It is an excellent example of a 1950s commercial premises and a landmark building within the local shopping centre of Kew. It is also representative of the new modern retail culture of the 1950s. A full description of the shop is included in the HERMES citation for HO607 (HERMES No. 199598).
Heritage Study and Grading
Boroondara - Municipal-Wide Heritage Gap Study Volume 4: Kew
Author: Context
Year: 2018
Grading:
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