Shops & Offices

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

The shop and office, 119 Ryrie Street, Geelong, has significance as part of a larger building that represents a reasonably intact example of a Victorian Free commercial style. Built in 1888 for William Brown to a design by the Geelong architect Joseph Watts, the building is a legacy of the commercial developments in Geelong in the second half of the 19th century. The shop and office, 119 Ryrie Street is architecturally significant at a LOCAL level. Although altered, it still demonstrates original design qualities of a Victorian Free commercial style. These qualities include the two bayed composition defined by three Corinthian pilasters on the first floor, projecting rectangular parapet supported by decorative paired consoles above the pilasters and projecting rectangular brackets, and the projecting moulded stringcourse that defines the first floor level and which is punctuated by square brackets. Other intact or appropriate qualities include the two storey height, rendered brick wall construction, two timber framed double hung first floor windows with rendered sills and moulded rendered architraves, hipped roof form clad in galvanised corrugated iron, projecting unpainted brick party wall, rear unpainted brick wall construction, rear window openings, rear parapeted skillion section, and the rear unpainted brick chimney. The architectural significance of this shop and office also relies on the retention and conservation of the neighbouring shop and office at 121 Ryrie Street. The shop and office, 119 Ryrie Street, is historically significant at a LOCAL level. It is associated with commercial developments in Geelong in the second half of the 19th century. In particular, this building has associations with William Brown, original owner who commissioned the Geelong architect Joseph Watts to design it and the neighbouring building at 121 Ryrie Street in 1888. Overall, the shop and office at 119 Ryrie Street is of LOCAL significance.

Group

Retail and Wholesale

Category

Shopping/retail complex