2 / 22 Abinger Street

The substantial property at 22-28 Abinger Street and 37-45 Lyndhurst Street, Richmond, incorporates a mix of former maltings buildings and concrete silos which have been adapted to residential use. The buildings comprise two malt buildings with gable ends to Abinger Street (1880-late nineteenth century); four linked reinforced concrete silos (1930s); a large rectilinear brick building of two-three levels which faces Lyndhurst Street at the south of the site (pre-1945); a modern five-storey block with a gabled roof located at the south end of the 1880 malt building; forecourt to the north side of the silos; and a yard concealed behind an older brick wall to Lyndhurst Street. The two former malt houses fronting Abinger Street have gable ends with brick cornices, bluestone footings and brick walling in English bond, with segmentally arched windows. Both buildings have been subjected to varying levels of intervention and removal of fabric, as part of their residential conversion. The 1937 silos are a set of four linked concrete silos, which have had windows punched into the silo walls and other alterations including the addition of the 'ship's prow' frontage. The large two-three storey plain face brick building on the south of the property has a long east-west rectilinear footprint; as with the earlier malt buildings, it has had intervention and removal of fabric as part of the residential conversion works.

How is it significant?

The former maltings at 22-28 Abinger Street and 37-45 Lyndhurst Street, Richmond, is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance.

Why is it significant?

The former maltings is of local historical significance. The maltings was established in 1880 by brewers, Findlay and Sons, then owners of the nearby (in Abinger Street) Southern Brewery which was one of the largest in Melbourne. The first malt buildings on the property were designed by architect John Flanagan, who was responsible for other industrial buildings in the inner suburbs in the 1870s and 1880s. Brewing and malting were important local industries, and Richmond was home to a number of malting works. Development in the first half of the twentieth century included construction of the 1930s silos, and other expansion to the south and south-east of the original development. Noted maltsters Barrett and Burston took over the property in 1913, and continued to operate the malt works into the 1970s. The property is also significant as one of the first large-scale former industrial complexes in Melbourne to be converted, in the mid-1990s, to residential use. The former maltings is additionally of local aesthetic/architectural significance. The property incorporates a mix of substantial historic former maltings buildings and concrete silos, dating from the 1880s through to the mid-twentieth century. While the adaptations to residential use have incorporated modern fabric and elements, the historic maltings buildings are still discernible throughout the site, and retain a strong presence, and industrial heritage character, to Abinger and Lyndhurst streets. Nonda Katsalidis' conversion works of the mid-1990s are also architecturally significant. The redevelopment followed several earlier celebrated Katsalidis projects in Melbourne, and became one of his most lauded and best known developments. The approach to the silos conversion, including the 'ships' prow' fronts and the use of pre-rusted steel, was particularly eye-catching.

Group

Manufacturing and Processing

Category

Malthouse