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Former Herald & Weekly Times Building
44 - 74 Flinders Street and 2 - 10 Exhibition Street,, MELBOURNE VIC 3000 - Property No B6501
Former Herald & Weekly Times Building
44 - 74 Flinders Street and 2 - 10 Exhibition Street,, MELBOURNE VIC 3000 - Property No B6501
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Statement of Significance
The Herald Building is significant at a State level for both its architecural distinction and its strong association with some of Victoria's most important newspapers.
Constructed in stages between 1921 and 1928 all to the designs of notable architects HW & FB Tompkins, the main building dominates the corner of Flinders and Exhibition Streets, and is a readily identifiable landmark in the Central Activities District. It is an unusually large, solid, three-dimensional, neo-classical composition, dominated by giant order Ionic piers on both major facades.
It is an early example of this commercial neo-Classical/Beaux-Arts influenced idiom, preceded only by the Spencer Street Mail Exchange (1913) and the Colosseum (department store, Chapel Street, 1914) and followed by other notable examples such as the Nicholas Building (1926) and the Port Authority Building (1929).
Notable interior elements include panelling and vacuum tube in the foyer area, the marble and terazzo-lined front stairwell, the foyer, doors and panelled offices along the Flinders Street side.
The bracketed lights at the base of each pier are particularly unusual and significant. These, combined with the roof-top neon signs, the twin radio towers, and the solid block-like building, still convey an image of the power and dominance of the print media in an earlier age.
The Herald Building is also significant for housing the publication of the Herald, the Sun News-Pictorial, and the Herald-Sun, which together have been the most popular newspapers since at least the 1920s. Other specialist publications have included the Sporting Globe, Home Beautiful and Who's Who. Victoria's leading country newspaper, the Weekly Times, is also based here. The Herald-Sun is a descendent of Victoria's oldest newspaper, the Port-Phillip Patriot, first published in 1840.
The building is also associated with the editorship and directorship of (Sir) Keith Murdoch. Murdoch was the most important newspaper figure in Australia in the inter-war period, until his death in 1953. He controlled or had interest in numerous newspapers and radio stations across Australia, forging the first national media "empire". His politics were conservative (rather than liberal) and this view was reflected in the media he controlled. His notoriety largely stemmed from criticism and fear from the left side of politics of his possible influence, though despite his best efforts, his influence appears to have been minimal.
Classified: 05/09/1994
Revised: 01/04/1996
Constructed in stages between 1921 and 1928 all to the designs of notable architects HW & FB Tompkins, the main building dominates the corner of Flinders and Exhibition Streets, and is a readily identifiable landmark in the Central Activities District. It is an unusually large, solid, three-dimensional, neo-classical composition, dominated by giant order Ionic piers on both major facades.
It is an early example of this commercial neo-Classical/Beaux-Arts influenced idiom, preceded only by the Spencer Street Mail Exchange (1913) and the Colosseum (department store, Chapel Street, 1914) and followed by other notable examples such as the Nicholas Building (1926) and the Port Authority Building (1929).
Notable interior elements include panelling and vacuum tube in the foyer area, the marble and terazzo-lined front stairwell, the foyer, doors and panelled offices along the Flinders Street side.
The bracketed lights at the base of each pier are particularly unusual and significant. These, combined with the roof-top neon signs, the twin radio towers, and the solid block-like building, still convey an image of the power and dominance of the print media in an earlier age.
The Herald Building is also significant for housing the publication of the Herald, the Sun News-Pictorial, and the Herald-Sun, which together have been the most popular newspapers since at least the 1920s. Other specialist publications have included the Sporting Globe, Home Beautiful and Who's Who. Victoria's leading country newspaper, the Weekly Times, is also based here. The Herald-Sun is a descendent of Victoria's oldest newspaper, the Port-Phillip Patriot, first published in 1840.
The building is also associated with the editorship and directorship of (Sir) Keith Murdoch. Murdoch was the most important newspaper figure in Australia in the inter-war period, until his death in 1953. He controlled or had interest in numerous newspapers and radio stations across Australia, forging the first national media "empire". His politics were conservative (rather than liberal) and this view was reflected in the media he controlled. His notoriety largely stemmed from criticism and fear from the left side of politics of his possible influence, though despite his best efforts, his influence appears to have been minimal.
Classified: 05/09/1994
Revised: 01/04/1996
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