Back to search results »

Back to search page »

Former GJ Coles Building

Other Name David Jones Menswear Location 299-307 Bourke Street,, MELBOURNE VIC 3000 - Property No B5791 File Number B5791 Level State

[1/3] B5791 Former GJ Coles Store [2/3] B5791 Former GJ Coles Store [3/3] B5791 Former GJ Coles Store

Statement of Significance

The Coles Store in Bourke Street, completed in 1929 and extended in 1939, designed by noted architect Harry Norris, is significant at the State level for architectural and historical reasons.
Architecturally, the Coles Store is one of the most exuberant and colourful interwar buildings in the city, featuring mauve terracotta facades in a broadly 'Commercial Gothic' style, with extensive coloured Jazz Moderne (a subset of Art Deco) detailing. The tiling of the former Coles Cafeteria on the first floor is even more colourful, and along with the geometric patterned plaster ceiling, is one of the best examples of a Jazz Moderne interior in Victoria.
Historically, the 1929 portion of the building is the earliest Commercial Gothic design in Victoria, and Jazz Moderne decoration is also amongst the earliest in the state. The store is also important as the flagship of once ubiquitous chain of inexpensive Coles 'variety stores', for over 50 years (1929 to 1987). The site also has association with the Coles Book Arcade, formerly on the site, which was a Melbourne institution for the previous 20 years.
Architecturally, the Coles Store is one of the most exuberant and colourful interwar buildings in the city, featuring mauve terracotta facades in a broadly 'Commercial Gothic' style, with extensive coloured Jazz Moderne (a subset of Art Deco) detailing. The tiling of the former Coles Cafeteria on the first floor is even more colourful, and along with the geometric patterned plaster ceiling, is one of the best examples of a Jazz Moderne interior in Victoria.
Classified: 28/05/1987
Revised: 07/05/2001