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Location101 Caroline Street, SOUTH YARRA VIC 3141 - Property No 28168 LevelIncl in HO area contributory |
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Part of the Alexandra Avenue Area Precinct
What is significant?
The Alexandra Avenue precinct is a residential area constructed on
escarpments and swampy terrain made available through the reclamation
of land along the Yarra bank and the subdivision of the Avoca Estate.
The greater part of the graded buildings in the precinct are
constructed to exotic designs by architect and developer Howard R
Lawson although a number of buildings by others, such as flats at 56
Darling Street and at 53 and 55 Alexandra Avenue and a small group of
earlier dwellings in Domain Road also contribute to the character and
significance of the area. The setting, arising from the land form and
from plantings within the individual developments and along the Yarra
Bank and Darling Gardens provides a dramatic context for the precinct.
The whole development is without equal for the period in Melbourne. Elements which contribute to the significance of the precinct include: - The high degree of intactness of the early buildings to their
c.1940 state. Building stock survives largely intact and the area is
notable for the general absence of prominent additions and
alterations. Original detailing typically survives throughout the area; -The general uniformity of character achieved through consistent use
of materials such as face brick or rendered wall surfaces with
Marseilles or other tiled, pitched roofs; -The range and quality of interwar buildings including blocks of
flats. duplexes and interwar maisonettes coexisting with a smaller
number of slightly earlier detached villas; - The predominantly two and three-storey scale of built form within
the precinct which allows the landmark Lawson buildings such as
Beverley Hills and Stratton Heights to remain the pre-eminent
developments in this locale; - The landscaped settings derived from the Darling Gardens, the Yarra
River bank environs and the undeveloped front and side setbacks to
individual properties; - The absence of prominent, modern car parking facilities in most
sections of the precinct; - The low numbers of prominent modern infill buildings.
How is it significant?
The Alexandra Avenue precinct is of local social, historical and
aesthetic significance.
Why is it significant?
The Alexandra Avenue precinct is of local historical significance.
Developed on difficult terrain above reclaimed sections of the Yarra
bank (2.1.3 Making Roads and Railways) the area illustrates the
earliest phases of the surge of apartment development which took place
in Toorak and South Yarra following the subdivision of large
Victorian-era properties in the early twentieth century.(8.1.3 The
end of an era - mansion estate subdivisions in the twentieth
century).This pattern of settlement transformed the built
environment and social character of the area by replacing the spacious
mansions of the wealthy with modest suburban villas and higher
density, lower income housing(Historic Theme: 8.6.2 Developing
apartment living). The significance of the area is enhanced by
its association with notable architect, Howard Lawson. The Alexandra Avenue precinct is of aesthetic significance as a
particularly intact and cohesive grouping of flats, many of which
adopt a unique and exotic architectural character. Predominantly
designed by Howard Lawson(Historic Theme: 8.6.3 Architect designed
apartments), the individual blocks of apartments vary in detailing
and display divergent architectural influences including Bungalow,
Spanish Mission and Modern styles. Nonetheless, they exhibit a high
degree of consistency in terms of their overall form, materiality and
character. Other buildings in the area such as the flats at 56 Darling
Street and others at 53 and 55 Alexandra Avenue were not part of
Lawson's oeuvre but, nonetheless, contribute to character and
significance of the area. The theatrical setting arising from the
topography and landscaped areas along the river and across the
escarpment more generally contribute to the character and the
aesthetic significance of the precinct. The Alexandra Avenue precinct is of social significance for the
extent to which it illustrates the introduction of new architectural
typologies which changed the social mix of the area. The introduction
of flats and apartments provided new forms of accommodation and
additional freedom for families but particularly for single men and
women (Historic Theme: 8.6.2 Developing apartment living).
Residential buildings (private)
Flat