What is significant?
The shop and residence at 328-330 King Street Melbourne is a twostoreybrick shop and dwelling, originally of four rooms, built in1850.Atwo-room upper floor addition to the outbuildings appears to have beenadded in the 1880s, bringing the building up to the six room structurethat it is today. The modest structure was constructed of cementrendered hand-made bricks, with a restrained cornice and ColonialGeorgian fenestration.
How is it significant?
The shop and residenceat 328-330 King Street is of historical andarchitectural significance to the State of Victoria.
Why is it significant?
The shop and residence at 328-330 King Street is of historical significance as a rare survivor of the pre-gold rush period in Melbourne. The discovery of gold had such a dramatic impact on the development of Melbourne that any building surviving from the pre-gold era, particularly in a relatively intact form, must be seen as having considerable historic importance. As one of the oldest buildingsin theCBD, it provides a significant physical link to Melbourne's very early days as a frontier town, illustrating the character of the built fabric of the times.
The shop and residence at 328-330 King Street isofarchitecturalsignificance as an example of the kind ofarchitecturalstylesinfluencing Melbourne's early years. ItsGeorgian/Regencyinfluences arerelatively rare in Victoria, being morecommon in theearly architectureof Sydney and Hobart. As such itdemonstrates thedevelopment ofarchitectural style in Melbourne, showinghow the simpledesign andconstruction techniques of the colony's earlyyears werebeginning to beinfluenced by more fashionable architectural influences.