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Public Transport Corporation Tramway Workshops

Location

Miller Street PRESTON, Darebin City

File Number

Darebin Database #492

Level

Included in Heritage Overlay

[1/8]
City of Darebin Heritage
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City of Darebin Heritage
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City of Darebin Heritage
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City of Darebin Heritage
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City of Darebin Heritage
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City of Darebin Heritage
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City of Darebin Heritage
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City of Darebin Heritage

Statement of Significance

The tramway workshops at Miller Street, Preston were built for the former Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board in conjunction with its program of converting the cable tramway system to electric traction and for the purposes of maintaining existing rolling stock. The master plan was developed in 1923-24 and the first and principal stage undertaken between and 1924-29. Design was the responsibility of the Board, its architect Allan Monsbourgh joining the service in 1926. The principal elements of the complex are the Foundry, the Machine and Electrical Shop, the Stores, the Car Erecting Shop, the Paint Shop, the Timber Stores, the Mess Room Block, the Substation, the Administration Block, the traversers and the network of tramway lines connecting the various functional elements. Contributory elements include the boundary fence, the Wheel Grinding Shop and lawn in front of the Offices. The complex meets the following criteria for cultural heritage significance:

Criterion A. It is historically significant as the principal centre for the construction and maintenance of the former Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board's fleet and for the maintenance of more recent rolling stock following the establishment of the Metropolitan Transit Authority in 1983.

Criterion B. It is important as the only surviving construction and maintenance facility for an entire tramway network in Australia, recalling the comparable places in all of the nation's capital cities progressively closed between the 1950s and the late 1960s.

Criterion C. The place is important for its capacity to inform present generations concerning the scale and nature of the undertaking required to support a large metropolitan tramway system, such undertakings once being an essential part of the transport infrastructure of the nation's principal cities.

Criterion D. It is important to the extent that it retains all of the functional elements representative of an undertaking of its type, some of the facilities such as the Wheel Grinding Shop being of recent origin.

Criterion E. The complex is aesthetically important to the extent that the principal buildings were designed and built over a short time interval resulting in a strong sense of stylistic harmony. Nevertheless, within this overall cohesive framework, there is a degree of diversity expressive of the diverse functions of the buildings making up the complex. Thus the workshops all conform to the same general design principles but the Administration Block is in the Georgian Revival Style, comparing with the South Melbourne depot administration block (demolished) and the Mess Room Block demonstrates Palladian influence externally but English Domestic influence internally. The complex, therefore, is important also for its capacity to demonstrate the manner in which the architectural profession at the time selected an architectural style for a building in accordance with its suitability to purpose.

Criterion F. The complex is important for its capacity to demonstrate the most up to date techniques in the construction and fitting out of a complex of its type during the early Inter war period, this significance being enhanced over time by the survival of the early infrastructure and by the introduction of the latest technology as required. Thus, the layout of the buildings was such that it could be extended at any time without interrupting the flow of work. The Paint Shop was located as far as possible from the Foundry on account of the dust and smoke produced by the latter, the prevailing winds coming from the west. The traversers provided for the efficient transfer of cars between the different Shops. Each Shop was sub divided into its separate operational activities with connections being provided by a network of sidings and turntables and a system of gantries. The equipment was of the latest type and has remained highly suited to its purpose today, the demand for traditional joinery and metalwork skills being supplemented by the concurrent need to maintain a modern tramway fleet. The scientific importance of the place is enhanced by the storage of a comprehensive range of vintage trams on the site, many undergoing maintenance at the time of inspection.

Criterion G. The place is important as an institution directly linked with and expressive of Melbourne's tramways which have become an icon for this City since the 1970s. It is valued by the community for this reason and also for the traditions established by generations of employees going back to the time when over 500 staff were employed here at a particular time. The Mess Room is especially demonstrative of the way of life that was a part of the Workshops' ethos for approximately three quarters of a century.

Criterion H. Whilst the extent of involvement of the Board's architect, Allan Monsbourgh, in the design has not been clarified in this assessment, his obvious involvement since 1926 is of note, given his distinguished work undertaken for the Board during its period of greatest growth well into the 1930s

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