KAY STREET INFILL HOUSING

The townhouse pair at 77 Kay Street, designed by Peter Corrigan of Edmond and Corrigan for the Ministry of Housing infill program in 1982 and constructed from 1982-83. Significant features include, but are not limited to, the exterior form, materials, and colouring; hit-and-miss cream brick fence; the bi-chrome brickwork; set-back from the street and prominent awnings. Significant characteristics of the interior include exposed face brickwork and provision of ample natural light.  

The Kay Street Infill Housing is of historical, architectural and aesthetic significance to the State of Victoria. It satisfies the following criterion for inclusion in the VHR:

Criterion A
Importance to the course, or pattern, of Victoria’s cultural history.

Criterion D
Importance in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural places and objects.

Criterion E
Importance in exhibiting particular aesthetic characteristics.

 

The Kay Street Infill Housing at 77 Kay Street, Carlton is historically significant as evidence of the innovative approach to public housing in Victoria in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It demonstrates the radical change in public housing policy from the high-rise developments of the 1950s, 60s and 70s under the Ministry of Housing’s ‘New Directions’ policy. The townhouse pair was used to convey the success of the Ministry’s new programs and became emblematic of its optimism in the era. The Ministry’s new approach, which was intended to produce homes that were more creative and humane, of a higher standard, integrated into their contexts, and free of the stigma associated with public housing developments, is clearly demonstrated in the subject dwellings. 

 

The Kay Street Infill Housing is architecturally significant as a notable example of infill public housing in Victoria. It was one of the most architecturally adventurous of the infill residences commissioned by the Ministry of Housing in the 1980s and was widely documented and reviewed. It is a modest yet important work of the eminent architectural practice Edmond and Corrigan (Maggie Edmond and Peter Corrigan) and reflects their confidence and proficiency in exploring a pluralist approach to architecture in Victoria and pronounced interest in the built character of suburbia. The residences were recognised by a Royal Australian Institute of Architects (Victorian Chapter) award for Outstanding Architecture, New Housing category in 1985. The infill program as a whole was recognised with an award for Enduring Architecture in 2010.

 

The Kay Street Infill Housing is aesthetically significant for its distinctive design characteristics which have been frequently referenced and celebrated in creative and cultural works. Its form, use of colour and choice of materials are highly distinctive and photographs of the residences were often used by the Ministry of Housing to promote its own work. The residences have been strikingly photographed for magazines, artworks and books and the repeated use of images of the Kay Street townhouses emphasises their widespread recognition.