Hopetoun Chambers
137 Ryrie Street, GEELONG VIC 3220 - Property No 217644
Geelong Commercial Heritage Area
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Statement of Significance
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The former Hopetoun Chambers building, 135 - 139 Ryrie Street, Geelong, is significant as a largely intact and surviving commercial example of the Late Victorian Classical style. Built in 1891 for G.F. Belcher, it was designed by the Geelong architects Watts and Durran and represents the developments in commercial building in Geelong in the late 19th century.
The former Hopetoun Chambers building at 135 - 139 Ryrie Street is architecturally significant at a LOCAL level. It demonstrates original design qualities of a late Victorian Free Classical style. These qualities include the symmetrical 3bayed first floor composition, two flanking first floor bays having paired timber framed double hung windows with narrow label moulds and plain architraves, central first floor bay with the crowning dentillated pediment, entablature with the sign that reads "Hopetoun Chambers", rectilinear and panelled pilasters with stylised capitals that support the entablature and pediment, pair of arched window openings with timber framed double hung windows, rudimentary Tuscan pilaster that separates the arched windows, and the flanking, wide panelled stylised piers. Other intact or appropriate qualities include the two storey height, rendered brick wall construction, incised panels that flank the window arches, decorative keystones that punctuate the window arches, "1891" sign within the crowning pediment, decorative motif adorning the pediment, balustraded parapet that adorns the rooftop, projecting cornice below the parapet, projecting stringcourses, blind balustrades and incised panelled boxed below the windows, projecting pilasters with incised panelling and projecting corbels and square brackets that flank the building, and the forms including the ingoes of the ground floor shop-fronts. The three shallow hipped roof forms clad in dark painted galvanised corrugated iron, unpainted Hawthorn brick chimneys at the rear, and the rear Hawthorn brickwork, timber framed double hung windows with shallow-arched heads and brick voussoirs, and the projecting brick skillion also contribute to the significance of the place.
The former Hopetoun Chambers building at 135 -139 Ryrie Street is historically significant at a LOCAL level. It is associated with commercial developments in Geelong in the late 19th century. In particular, this building has associations with G.F. Belcher, original owner who instigated construction in 1891 to a design by the Geelong architects, Watts and Durran. Belcher was a prominent figure in Geelong, serving on the Geelong Town Council, Geelong Gas Company, Mechanics Institute, Melbourne Athenaeum Theatre and the council of the Geelong Grammar School. A member of Christ Church, Belcher had also worked for the Sub-Treasury in Melbourne and Geelong in the mid 1850s.
Overall, the former Hopetoun Chambers building at 135 - 139 Ryrie Street is of LOCAL significance.
References
D. Rowe, 'Architecture of Geelong 1860 - 1900', B. Arch Thesis, School of Architecture Building, Deakin University, 1991.
Morrow, W.J., Index to the Geelong Advertiser 1888 - 1900, Geelong Historical Records Centre.
Geelong Advertiser, 22 August 1891, and 24 November 1909, Geelong Historical Records Centre.
Huddle, L., Ryrie Streetscape map.
Investigator, Journal of the Geelong Historical Society, Volume 27, 1992, Geelong Historical Records Centre.
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Heritage Study and Grading
Greater Geelong - Geelong Region Historic Buildings and Objects Study
Author: Allan Willingham
Year: 1986
Grading: CGreater Geelong - Geelong City Urban Conservation Study, Volumes 2-5
Author: Graeme Butler
Year: 1991
Grading: CGreater Geelong - Geelong City Urban Conservation Study Volume 1
Author: Graeme Butler
Year: 1993
Grading: CGreater Geelong - Geelong City Urban Conservation Study, Volume 4(a)
Author: Helen Lardner
Year: 1995
Grading: C
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FORMER GEELONG WOOL EXCHANGEVictorian Heritage Register H0622
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FORMER SCOTTISH CHIEFS HOTELVictorian Heritage Register H0662
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GEELONG TOWN HALLVictorian Heritage Register H0184
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