The Duke of Edinburgh Hotel is of local historical and architectural significance. The present building occupies the site of the first Duke of Edinburgh Hotel, which was built in 1868. On of a number of three storey 'grand' hotels built in the 1880s and 1890s in Brunswick, it is a good example of a particularly bold use of bichrome brickwork.
The Duke of Edinburgh Hotel is a three storey bichrome brick building on a corner site, with a chamfered corner to the south-west. The walls, which have a bluestone plinth, are of face red brick; window and door openings are dressed with rendered mouldings. Ground floor windows are pointed arches, with a moulded string course at impost level. At first and second floor levels, the windows have simple moulded surrounds and hoods, which at second floor level are themselves decorated with festoons and bosses. Deep moulded string courses divide the floor levels, and a delicate frieze sits beneath the eaves. Above the Sydney Road (western) entrance, a bay of wider arched windows is slightly recessed and is accentuated by rendered spandrels. The hipped roof is clad with slate, and the red brick chimneys have rendered moulded tops. Two rendered string courses of cream brick run around the building at each level.
The building's facade remains remarkably intact, although multicoloured signage (c.1990s) detracts from the composition of the facade somewhat. The frieze above the ground floor windows has been painted in a design promoting Tattersall's. The cream brick string courses on the upper levels have been painted. Many of the windows have been replaced.
Key Architectural Elements: three storey bichrome brick 'grand hotel'
slate mansard roofs
arched window and door openings
corner location
Conservation Guidelines: remove paint from cream brickwork
remove patterned paintwork from ground floor frieze
preferably remove signage from above corner entrance
Principal Historic Themes: association with provision of entertainment and recreation facilities