Malvern/Tooronga Roads Retail Precinct

Elements which contribute to the significance of the precinct include (but are not limited to):

-Edwardian and interwar shops and commercial buildings (many originally built with first floor living accommodation).
-The generally high integrity of first floor facades and consistent face brick or render materiality.
-The large number of extant original or early shopfronts, typically built with large timber or metal framed display windows above stall boards, smaller highlight windows (often with leadlight glazing), glazed ceramic tile surfaces, and recessed doorways.
-Early cantilevered verandahs above ground floor shopfronts.
-Roofs concealed by parapets (some retaining early painted signs) or exposed hipped or transverse gabled roofs with terracotta tile cladding and chimneys.
-The consistent one or two storey scale of retail buildings.
-The attached form of retail buildings with no front setbacks and similar facade widths creating a repetitive module.
-External signage generally restricted to verandah fascias or suspended from the underside of verandahs (early painted signs on rendered parapets being a noted and valued exception).
-The limited number of modern internally illuminated signs.
-The absence of on-site vehicle accommodation in the front setbacks of commercial buildings, including driveways and crossovers.

How is it significant?
The Malvern/Tooronga Roads Retail Precinct is of local historical and aesthetic significance to the City of Stonnington.

Why is it significant?
The Malvern/Tooronga Roads Retail Precinct is significant for its capacity to illustrate the major phases of suburban expansion which occurred in the eastern parts of the municipality in the Edwardian and interwar periods. It also demonstrates the growth of local shopping centres along tram routes in the early to mid-twentieth century and the interdependence between retail development and public transport in this period (Historic Themes: 7.1 Serving local communities & 4.5.2 Prahran-Malvern Tramways Trust).

Aesthetically, the precinct is significant as a good representative example of an Edwardian and interwar suburban shopping strip. It is notable for the continuity of its shops, which are characterized by uniform front and side setbacks, similar wall materials and similar scale. Within this cohesive framework, individual shops display a varied and inventive approach to detailing. The significance of the precinct is further enhanced by the relatively high proportion of buildings with original or early shopfronts.

Group

Retail and Wholesale

Category

Retail or Wholesale Precinct