Waverley Estate Retail Precinct

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

- The high degree of intactness of the shops to their c1928 state.
- The generally high integrity of upper level facades and original detailing and finishes typically comprising face brick or render.
- The attached form of the buildings with uniform front setbacks and facade widths forming repetitive modules.
- The near uniform double-storey scale of the buildings.
- Roofs concealed by parapets (one retaining early painted signage) or exposed gabled roofs with terracotta tile cladding and chimneys.
- The form and fabric of extant early shopfronts, typically built with recessed timber doors, large bronze-framed display windows, leadlight highlight windows and glazed ceramic tile surfaces.
- Early cantilevered awnings.
- External signage generally restricted to the traditional signage zones on the verandah fascia or suspended from the underside of the vernadah.
- The limited number of modern internally illuminated signs.

How is it significant?
The Waverley Estate Retail Precinct is of local historical and aesthetic significance to the City of Stonnington.

Why is it significant?
The Waverley Estate Retail Precinct is historically significant as an example of a small local shopping centre which is associated with the extension of the electric tram network and residential development in the highly valued Gascoigne and Waverley estates located to its immediate north (Historic Theme: 7.1 Serving Local communities). The development of the shops is illustrative of the interdependence of public transport and suburban development, especially in the late Edwardian and interwar periods.

The Waverley Estate Retail Precinct is aesthetically significant as a well-preserved example of an Edwardian and interwar commercial precinct. The high proportion of original and early shopfronts greatly enhances that significance.

Group

Retail and Wholesale

Category

Retail or Wholesale Precinct