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Location1694-1696 Malvern Road, GLEN IRIS VIC 3146 - Property No 7526 LevelIncl in HO area Significant |
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This place forms part of the Dorrington Estate Precinct, Glen Iris (HO351)
What is Significant?
The Union Street Precinct is a residential area which initially
developed as a brickmaking centre from the late 1850s. The
construction of the railway through Armadale in 1879 was another
important factor in the development of the precinct. The railway cut
diagonally across the western edge of Union Street, creating an
irregular group of blocks which - along with ad-hoc subdivision around
the brick clay pits in the 1880s - would produce the unorthodox
arrangement of streets that survive in the area today. Residential development in the precinct was initially constrained by
the large extent of the Union Street clay pits. Nonetheless, house
building in the area intensified as the land boom reached its peak in
the late 1880s. The precinct evolved during this period with higher
density cottage groups on narrow streets and freestanding middle class
villas on more generous allotments - the later type of development
typically occurring closer to the shopping strips along Glenferrie
Road and High Street although the often erratic and unplanned nature
of 1880s subdivisions meant that both working class or artisan
cottages were intermingled with the more substantial villas. Development halted abruptly with the recession of the early 1890s and
the closure of the brickworks, leaving large areas of the precinct
vacant. The next major phase of development in the precinct took place
during the early 1900s and was spurred on the extension of the
electric tram network along Glenferrie Road. Much of this new
development took the form of middle class housing but also included
modest cottages and a small number of factory buildings, reinforcing
the mixed industrial/working class character of certain streets within
the precinct. Development was largely complete to the present
arrangement of streets, dwellings and allotments by the late 1910s.
The area is highly intact to this c.1920 state with few relatively
modern interventions and the greater part of its building stock
demonstrating a high level of integrity to its original form. Elements that contribute to the significance of the precinct include
(but are not limited to): - the Victorian-era houses and streetscapes including the detached
brick and timber villas coexisting with more modest cottages housing
and terrace rows of the period; - the Edwardian houses and streetscapes developed through the early
twentieth century and including fine examples of the 'Queen Anne'
revival style; - the utilitarian architectural character and red-brick materiality
of Edwardian era industrial buildings; - a selection of dwellings from the 1920s and 1930s which are
generally sympathetic in terms of their architectural form, scale, and
siting, and as such make useful contributions to the early character
of the area; - the predominantly single-storey nature of the precinct (the
two-storey scale of the former Merriman's Dairy and the Edwardian
factory buildings on Stuart Street provide an atypical, but
historically important, variation from the scale of the precinct more
generally); - the open landscaped character of certain streetscapes in the
precinct brought about through, low front fences, undeveloped front
setbacks and mature street trees; - the modest scale of built form and uniform pattern of small front
and side setbacks within certain streetscapes including Barkly Avenue,
Willis Street, Stuart Street and Stanhope Street; - repetitive character of the building stock and the regularity of
rhythm of the built form, particularly on Alleyne Avenue, Barkly
Avenue and Willis Street; - the extent to which original detailing survives. Nineteenth century
buildings typically retain verandahs, polychrome brickwork and
ornamental detailing. Edwardian buildings are generally of note for
their ornate timber detailing; - timber, face brick or render materiality and hipped or gabled
roofscapes with chimneys and terracotta or slate tiles or plain
corrugated galvanised steel cladding; - low incidence of modern interventions such as parking provisions in
front setbacks (particularly in areas such as Stuart, Stanhope and
Willis Streets and Barkly Avenue, where few crossovers exist at all); - the retention of sympathetic low front fences in most sections of
the precinct; - low incidence of visible first floor additions in most streetscapes; - road layout and allotment patterns reflecting the ad-hoc process of
subdivision in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century; and,
bluestone kerbs, channels and laneways (to the extent that they survive).
How is it significant?
The Union Street Precinct is of historical and aesthetic significance
at a local level.
Why is it significant?
The Union Street precinct is of historical significance for its
capacity to demonstrate the dramatic cycle of boom and bust created by
the frenzy of land speculation in the 1880s (Historic Theme: 3.3.5
Recovery and Infill). This is illustrated by the way in which
residential subdivisions laid out in the late nineteenth century were
not fully developed until there was a renewed surge of building
activity in the early 1900s. The irregular layout of narrow and broad streets and relationship
with the railway line illustrate the ad hoc nature of
nineteenth century planning (Historic Theme: 3.3.4 Uncontrolled and
Unplanned Development). The area also provides a vivid contrast
between the modest standards of accommodation and amenity enjoyed by
the Victorian working class and the more substantial, but polite,
built form which underscores the middle class aspirations of Edwardian
Malvern (Historic Theme: 8.5.1 'Struggletown' - working class
housing in the nineteenth and early twentieth century). The
larger dwellings in the precinct, typically in landscaped settings on
generous allotments illustrate the desire for rus in urbe - city in
the country - and life away from the crowed conditions of the inner
city (Historic Theme: 8.2.2 'Country in the city' - suburban
development in Malvern before 1920).
In addition, the Union Street Precinct is of historical significance
for its associations with the brickmaking industry dating back to the
late 1850s (Historic Theme: 6.2.1 Brick and tile
manufacturing). Although the brickworks closed down in the 1890s
they continued to play an important role in the evolution of the
surrounding urban landscape. In particular, the clay pits occupied a
large area which limited the potential for residential subdivisions in
the early 1880s and contributed to the ad-hoc street layout. The
prescence of the brickworks also provided further stimulus in the
early twentieth century for factory development of a type rarely found
in the suburban middle-class enclaves of Armadale and Malvern
(Historic Theme: 6.2.4 Other manufactured goods). The Union Street Precinct is aesthetically significant for its
substantially intact collection of late-nineteenth and early twentieth
century housing stock. This includes fine streetscapes of handsome
Victorian and Edwardian villas and more modest cottages, often
occurring side by side in a manner typical of 1880s subdivisions. The
precinct also contains a number of streetscapes with a notably higher
degree of consistency in terms of scale, form and period of
construction. This includes the timber cottage streetscape on Barkly
Avenue and adjacent Edwardian brick villa rows on Alleyne Avenue. The
dramatic change in architectural character between these two
streetscapes provides a particularly clear demonstration of the way in
which the precinct was developed in two main stages in the Victorian
and Edwardian periods. The villas in Alleyne Avenue are especially
significant as they demonstrate a degree of architectural unity rarely
found elsewhere in the municipality. The precinct also contains a small number of dwellings which were
built in the 1920s and 1930s. These are sympathetic to the key
Victorian and Edwardian building stock in terms of their architectural
form, scale, and siting, and as such make a valuable contribution to
the early character of the precinct. The overall intactness and diversity of the Victorian and Edwardian
building stock, contrasting densities of development and ad-hoc
planning make the precinct a rare and significant urban landscape
within the City of Stonnington.
Residential buildings (private)
House