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Town Hall, Corner Glen Eira and Hawthorn Roads

Other Name

Former City of Caulfield Municipal Hall and Offices (now City of Glen Eira)

Location

Corner Glen Eira and Hawthorn Roads CAULFIELD, Glen Eira City

Level

Included in Heritage Overlay

[1/3]
The Hall, Former City of
[2/3]
The Council Chamber, Former
[3/3]
Exterior of former City of

Statement of Significance

The former City of Caulfield (now City of Glen Eira) Municipal Offices, located at the south-west corner of Hawthorn and Glen Eira Roads, Caulfield South, were commenced for the Borough of Caulfield in 1884 when they also included a Post and Telegraph Office and Court of Petty Sessions. They were designed by the Borough surveyor, Sydney Smith. The hall was completed in 1890 to the design of Alexander Rankin and the present hall, foyer and portico completed to the design of Goldsmith and Jenkin, architects, in 1931. The complex is historically, aesthetically and socially significant.

It is historically significant {Criterion A) as the centre of Local Government services in the area since 1885 and as a centre of post and telegraph and legal services for a period.

Its association with architect and Borough surveyor, Sydney W. Smith is important in that the east elevation and facade (ground floor level only)as far west as the tower (lower two stages) survive as evidence ofhis work, the practice which his son continued after his death in 1886, becoming highly successful. The work of Goldsmith and Jenkin is historically important in that it indirectly demonstrates the growth of the City sustained during the Inter-war period, the work proceeding in spite of the Depression. It compares with other similar work of that time including the refurbishment of the Malvern Municipal Offices and Hall in 1927 (Hudson and Wardrop), the Melbourne Corporation Offices and Hall in 1925-28 (Stephenson and Meldrum, A. and K.

Henderson) and the Camberwell Offices and Council Chamber in 1924 (Leighton Irwin and Roy Stevenson), other comparable municipal projects being undertaken during the 1930s. Finally, the Goldsmith and Jenkin works are important as a project of the Depression years organised specifically to alleviate unemployment problems in the Municipality.

The complex is aesthetically important (Criterion E) as a prominent and imposing Classically derived complex of its type with individually noteworthy interior spaces being the entry hall and staircase, main Hall, Foyer and Council Chamber. The Adamesque plasterwork, timber panelling and furniture, Art Nouveaux enrichment and Classically derived treatment with sparing use of Australian decorative motifs are contributory elements. Exterior .elements of note include the remains of the original design prepared by Sydney Smith and the clock tower and portico which have come to symbolise important Municipal complexes erected prior to the Second World War.

The complex is socially important (Criterion G) for the value placed on it by the community which has made use of it for activities including that of Local government for well over a century.

Group