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Warren & Brown Engineering Workshops

Location

113-115 Ballarat Road, FOOTSCRAY VIC 3011 - Property No 2003017218

File Number

Level

Included in Heritage Overlay

[1/1]
28354 Warren & Brown

Statement of Significance

Warren Brown is of significance to the City of Maribyrnong as an important example of the Moderne styled factory complex representing the growth of engineering firms in the early 20th century. (Criterion A3) Until recently, a near original and accomplished Moderne style office-factory design for a medium sized engineering firm representative of the growth of the metal trades in Footscray around the Second World War (Criterion A3) Now only surviving as facades and fragments. However, few jobbing engineers survive in Maribyrnong or other inner suburbs as industrial zones have been reclaimed for residential/commercial development.
(Criterion B2)

The owner-built factory with an architecturally elaborate facade bearing the owners name as part of the construction, perhaps reached its apotheosis in the immediate pre-war period, later to be subsumed by anonymous and undistinguished standard design factory buildings with a separated administrative function in a geographically isolated location (usually in the CBD). The named factory demonstrates both the character of the owners and the public expression of their motivation and ambition in their chosen industry. (Criterion E1) The former livery-stables are potentially of significance for its connections with the origins of the firm and associations with the prior transport-related function. (Criterion D2) Mid 20th century landscaping survives in the form of a few eucalypts and small conifers which contribute to the aesthetic.

Footscray Conservation Study SOS

A near original and accomplished Moderne style office-factory design which may conceal historically interesting prior uses at the rear, otherwise representative of the growth of the Footscray engineering and metal trades around the Second World War.

Australian Heritage Commission (AHC) criteria

The Australian Heritage Commission criteria consist of a set of eight criteria which cover social, aesthetic, scientific, and historic values. Each criterion has sub-criteria written specifically for cultural or natural values. The relevant criteria are:

A.3 richness and diversity of cultural features

B.2 rarity

E.1 aesthetic importance to the community or cultural group

D.2 good example of type

Group