Lygon Street Precinct C

The Lygon Street Precinct C is a small discrete portion (313-321 Lygon Street, Brunswick East) of a Victorian shopping strip constructed in the same period as the nearby the residential development of the area east of the precinct (c.1880). The precinct comprises a row of two pairs of two storey Victorian shops which flank a single Victorian shop. A bluestone service lane runs behind the row of shops from Anne Street. The shops date from prior to 1894, and provided common goods and services to the immediate community.
These shops represent some of the few surviving Victorian shops from this important local shopping strip, the west side of Lygon Street between Albert and Victoria Streets was the most intensively developed part of Lygon Street in 1904. The upper storeys of the shops are all relatively intact. Number 317 has simple decorative detailing on the upper storey facade, including a small arched motif at the centre of the parapet and horizontal mouldings above the windows. The upper storey facades of 313-315 and 319-321 are decorated on classical lines, but the render ornament is more decorative. There are other examples of Victorian shops located both north and south of the precinct, including a row of six single storey shops located at 283-295 Lygon Street. However, the group at 313-321 Lygon Street represent the most intact examples of Victorian buildings remaining in this area.
The buildings within this precinct are in good condition and generally retain a good degree of integrity on their upper storey facades. The lower ground floor shopfronts have been substantially altered.
Elements which contribute to the significance of the precinct include (but are not limited to):.

Non-contributory properties include:

The Lygon Street Precinct C is of historical and aesthetic significance to the City of Merri-bek. 

Lygon Street Precinct C is historically significant as tangible evidence of the intensive commercial development in Lygon Street in the late nineteenth century. As part of the shopping strip associated with the late Victorian subdivision and development of the surrounding streets for residential development it is significant for its capacity to illustrate one of the major phases of development in the Municipality associated with the 1880s land boom. The significance of the precinct is enhanced by its rarity value as one of the few remaining groups of relatively intact Victorian shops in Lygon Street. 

The Lygon Street Precinct C is aesthetically significant as a good representative examples of two storey Victorian shops which survive with a good degree of integrity. The upper stories of the building group exhibit two of the principal decorative styles of the period, classical restraint (313-315 and 317 Lygon Street) and 'boom' style exuberance (319-321 Lygon Street). The associated nearby East Brunswick Club Hotel and Sedgeman Street terraces are stylistically related to the Victorian shops on Lygon Street, as are some of the residences in Victoria and Albert Street. The small group of shops therefore makes an important contribution to the valued nineteenth century character of the area. (Criterion E)