224 Heidelberg Road

The Porta factory at 224 Heidelberg Road, Fairfield, is a timber mill and timber components manufacturing site. The c.1920s overpainted brick building at the west end of the Heidelberg Road frontage has a stepped parapet facade and a base in brick coursing chamfered out from the main wall. The wall is capped by a cornice in concave moulded brick supported by paired corbels formed from three brick headers. The large steel-framed windows have cement-dressed lintels. At the west end of the facade, the vertically planked loading bay doors are long standing. The roof consists of three north-south running gable forms, with a flat roof section along the west side, all clad in corrugated galvanised steel. To the rear of this building is a tall corniced chimney stack in exposed face brick, with cream bricks spelling 'PORTA'; the stack has been strengthened by iron hoops (bands). 

The Porta factory at 224 Heidelberg Road, Fairfield, is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. 

The Porta factory is of local historical significance. It was was established by bellow manufacturers, J Porta and Sons, in 1921, after relocating from their Little Lonsdale Street premises where the company had been since 1868. The move to Fairfield is reflective of the early twentieth century pattern of industrial development in the area, when timber-related operations were established near the Yarra River. Despite setbacks, including a major fire in 1929 which required the construction of new mill buildings in the 1930s, the Porta company continued to evolve on the site. The product range included meat skewers, wooden tool handles, kindling, building timber and laths, through to timber mouldings. The long and ongoing association with the Porta company is also a distinguishing factor of the property. The property is additionally of local aesthetic/architectural significance. The c.1920s building to Heidelberg Road, although overpainted, has a comparatively intact frontage which is distinguished by the stepped parapet facade, capped by a cornice supported on paired corbels. The chimney stack is a prominent and highly visible element, which when seen from the main road frontages in association with the c.1920s building, enhances the industrial character of the site and draws attention to the historic timber mill operation. The stack is corniced, strengthened by iron hoops, and is inscribed in cream bricks with the company name ('PORTA').