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Former Hoffman Brickworks

Location 72 - 106 Dawson Street,, BRUNSWICK VIC 3056 - Property No B5546 File Number B5546 Level State

[1/3] B5546 Frmr Hoffman Brickworks [2/3] B5546 Frmr Hoffman Brickworks [3/3] B5546 Frmr Hoffman Brickworks

Statement of Significance

The Brunswick Hoffman brickworks pioneered the industrialization of brickmaking in Australia by its introduction of Hoffman kilns in conjunction with steambrickmaking machinery. It was the largest and most technologically advanced brickworks in Melbourne during the land boom of the 1880s, and maintained a leading position in the industry during the first half of the twentieth century. In the early twentieth century it became the largest pottery in Victoria, producing building, sanitary and domestic products, including the decorated Melrose ware.
The Hoffman Company was formed by prominent early Melbourne contractors and merchants, who also played an important role in the development of Brunswick. The company was responsible for the subdivision for residential purposes of large tracts of land in West Brunswick, and was one of the few nineteenth century Victorian industrialists to build housing for its workers. The clay industry was elemental in Brunswick's development and the Hoffman works, with its landmark chimney stacks, are all that remain of this industry. It is the last known survivor of the brickworks boom associated with Marvellous Melbourne.
The Classification is of the company's No 2 site, on Dawson Street. (established 1883) It incorporates the three Hoffman kilns, the clay processing and brickmaking buildings, including their pressed brickmaking machinery, the gatekeeper's cottage and offices, and the warehouses and pottery buildings. It also incorporates the four cottages built by the company at 18-24 Munro Street.
Classified: 22/08/1988