Purnell's Chambers-Shop

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

The Purnell's Chambers building, 26-30A Ryrie Street, Geelong, has significance as an unusual and intact complex of six early shops designed in a Federation commercial style. Built in 1923 for Frederick Purnell, architect (to his design), the building appears to be in fair condition.

The Purnell's Chambers building, 26-30A Ryrie Street, is architecturally significant at a LOCAL level. It demonstrates original design qualities of an interwar Free commercial style, with its unusual set of six shops of high integrity. These qualities include the six bayed composition articulated into three sets of flanking metal framed shop fronts between central double ingoes with timber and glazed doors, metal screened ingo decoration at ceiling level, shopfront highlights, transom windows above the doorways, and the glazed tiled surrounds. Other intact qualities include the single storey height, rendered brick wall construction, plain rendered parapet with the moulded and unpainted red brick dentillated capping, striped rendered and unpainted red brick parapet pilasters crowned by rendered piers having projecting cornices, series of gable roof forms clad in galvanised corrugated iron separated by projecting unpainted brick party walls with cement rendered cappings, and the rear brick boundary wall.

The Purnell's Chambers building, 26-30A Ryrie Street, is historically significant at a LOCAL level. It is associated with commercial developments in Geelong during the interwar c.1920s1940s period. In particular, the building has associations with Frederick Charles Purnell, original owner and architect, who designed it in 1923. As well as being an architect, Purnell held important roles in several community organisations, including the Geelong and District Town Planning Association and the Geelong College Old Collegians Association. Overall, the Purnell's Chambers building, 2630A Ryrie Street, is of LOCAL significance.

Removed from the City Fringe Heritage Area

Group

Commercial

Category

Shop