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Oakleigh Motel

Location

1650 Dandenong Road,, OAKLEIGH VIC 3166 - Property No B6997

File Number

B6997

Level

State

Statement of Significance

The Oakleigh Motel, designer unknown, and completed in 1957, is historically, architecturally important at the State level.
Historically, this is the first motel to be built in Victoria. Influenced by the American experience, the motel represents the vanguard of a new type of building that came to dominate the travelling and holiday experience in the 1960s, and is still popular today. Motels were one of the new building types that developed in response to the boom in car ownership in post-war Australia, and the consequent development of a car-based urban culture and travelling patterns. Along with the shopping centre, the Drive-in, and of course the freeway, set among an endless carpet of suburban housing, the motel is one of the major icons of the most profound change in the development of cities in the 20th century. This change is particularly seen in Melbourne's vast suburban south-east, where early and major symbols congregate, such as the south-eastern freeway, the Chadstone shopping centre, Monash University, Waverley football park, and the Oakleigh Motel.
Architecturally, the Oakleigh Motel is possibly the best example in Victoria of the colourful, eye-catching roadside architecture seen as typical of the 1950s. Strongly derived from American models it is designed to be visually striking, and is dominated by a huge billboard style sign, illuminated at night. The various angles and lightweight structure of the buildings are designed to impress with their modernity. The entry canopy is angled and supported by zig-zag struts, while the restaurant has a window wall angled out towards the passing traffic. The rooms behind are angled, in order to provide some privacy from each other, as well as an exiting zig-zag effect. The building, with its prominent signage, is a local landmark.
Classified: 04/06/2001

Group