The White Hat Melbourne Newsletter

Archived Newsletter No.496a - MOH Supplement - 20th July 2011

Contents

Overview
Pre-booking lottery
On the day
Must see
Heritage buildings
Photographs
Galleries & museums
Heritage buildings with contemporary refurbishments
Churches & synagogue
Preparation
Modern buildings
Planning your route and getting about
Sporting complexes
Inner city living
ESD (Environmentally Sustainable Design)
How the city works
Architecture & Design Studios
Tying it all together

Overview

“I must have been past that building a thousand times but never known what’s inside.”

With 75 buildings open over 2 days on the 30th & 31st July 2011, there is no way you are going to get to all of them, but not to worry. We will try to give some guidelines that might help you sort your priorities.

We will try to cater for three types of subscriber:

The local Melbournian or person who gets to the city from time to time. We will try to point out which buildings are open for this event only as against others which are open on a regular basis which you can put on your bucket list for a later visit when the crowds are smaller. (One proviso – some of the regular tours during the year may involve a small or moderate fee, so that may enter into your calculations.

The short term visitor. You’re only here for a few days and want to cram in as much as you can. We’ll try to point out what we regard as the highlights.

The armchair traveller. We know we have a number of overseas subscribers who still read every newsletter. Strange, isn’t it? We’ll try to point you at source that may give some more background on these places even if you can’t visit them this weekend.

In the meantime, the official site is your main source of information for price, location and other details. This is at Melbourne's Open House. Please remember that numbers of these tours require pre-booking.

Pre-booking lottery

As we alerted you in our Melbourne Newsletter about three weeks ago, certain venues have access limited numbers and you needed to put your name in for a lottery to see if you got a place on the tour. The lottery closes on the 22nd July. The top two gems for White Hat in that category were the Verdon Chambers at the Gothic Bank and the Board Room in the Manchester Unity Building. If you name didn’t come out of the ballot keep trying in years to come because they are well worth it.

The Verdon Chambers were built above the banking chamber for the original general manager and remodelled in 1921 and now used for high level corporate activities is rarely open to the public. The few times White Hat has been there, the walls have been adorned with important Australian paintings from the ANZ collection, and I would expect that to be case again this weekend.

The Board Room on the top floor of the Manchester Unity Building is the epitome of restrained Art Deco. The board table itself had to be lifted into position by a crane and lowered through the roof.

We have already mentioned The Johnston Collection - Fairhall House Museum in our Melbourne Newsletter as one of Melbourne’s semi-private hidden gems and we know a number of you have visited as a result of that. If you name didn’t come out of the ballot you can still book for the regular tours throughout the year but there may be a waiting list of several months. It is located in East Melbourne but the exact location is not given and you are bussed to the museum from a more public location.

Newman College (along with the Capitol) is one of the major works of Walter and Marion Burley Griffin in Melbourne. The chapel (which was not designed by the Griffins) is open to the public for Sunday services throughout the year, while the oratory, dining room and common room are open to students throughout the year. It is these last three which are particularly important because they still contain fine examples of furniture and décor in the ‘Arts and Crafts’ style. The regular weekly tours of the Capitol Cinema no longer operate so public access to this space is becoming more restricted.

On the day

You may spend some time waiting in queues at the more popular venues. Melbourne Open House has a guide book available for $8 which provides suitable background on the various buildings together with maps etc.

If you have an iPad or smartphone capable of reading PDFs (most are) you might also like to send for our own supplementary descriptions (available to existing subscribers only) which, in the White Hat style, may occasionally stray into the realm of the irreverent. Let us know if you would like a copy. We will also suggest some themes that you might like to follow.

Must See

Of course what is ‘must see’ for you is different from the next person depending on your interests and tastes, but here are some to consider. For regular Melburnians we suggest you take note of the following venues which are rarely open to the public:

Bishopscourt is rarely open to the public and we recently gave a profile of this building in one of our Melbourne’s Hidden Gems.

Royal Australasian College of Surgeons is rarely open to the public. If little Johhny has a minor medical procedure coming up we suggest you don’t take him to the display of 19th medical equipment or let him listen to the description of procedures back then.

Hamer Hall building site. A unique opportunity to view the interior of Hamer Hall part way through its major refurbishment.

The Royal Society Of Victoria is intertwined with Melbourne history and rarely open to the public.

The public areas of the ANZ Centre can be visited during business hours and it really should be seen then to get an idea of it as a working building. However MOH allows access to some of the meeting rooms as well and interested in how Melbourne works today or why this contemporary building has been recognised as world class will want to visit.

The Myer Mural Hall which we mentioned recently as one of ‘Melbourne’s Hidden Gems’ is only open to the public for special events do you might want to take this opportunity to see it in its refurbished state.

The Former Land Titles Office and Former Public Records Office are not normally open to the public. Older readers may remember using these buildings when they were still performing their original function. That’s where you went to pick up your birth certificate which for some curious reason said ‘father – unknown’. The grand (if slightly cramped) staircase in the records office is worth seeing. And looking at the strongroom in the titles office helps put the building in context. Two fine examples of Victoria at its most stolid

For those interested in theatre you will probably want to take the rare opportunity of taking a look backstage at Her Majesty’s Theatre.

The Plaza Ballroom and Capitol Theatre are open for numbers of events throughout the year, but this may be a convenient time for you to visit.

Denmark House provides and opportunity to visit a private club and view the Scandinavian inspired design.

Heritage buildings

Bishopscourt has been a continuously functioning mansion for the Bishop of Melbourne (and occasionally for the Governor) for well over a century. It is one of the few mansions close to the city still functioning as a residence. It is rarely open to the public so we suggest Melburnians take this opportunity to stick their nose behind the fence. You are also reminded of your manners and the correct way to address a bishop.

Anyone can get access to the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons – provided they do 10 years study, another 10 years surgical practice and a whole heap of exams. For the rest of us we have to wait for the rare open day.

This weekend provides a rare opportunity for the public to go backstage at Her Majesty’s Theatre and view the facilities and stage machinery. There are limited numbers on each tour so expect delays.

The Royal Society Of Victoria is an organisation that is intertwined with Melbourne’s history from the mid 19th century to the present day. Perhaps one of its best known ventures was to provide support for the Burke & Wills Expedition. Membership, at least currently, is not dependent on ‘who you know’ but ‘what you know’. If you have peer-reviewed scientific achievements you are likely to be accepted as a member for a relatively small annual fee. This small building on its triangle of land is every day passed by tens of thousands of Melburnians who have no idea what’s inside. That’s because it is rarely open to the public. However, this weekend it will be. Don’t expect soaring architecture, these are modest chambers, but do expect to see documents and artefacts with links with Melbourne’s history that are rarely seen by the general public. For those interested in the strange stone on display outside you can find an explanation at No.3 of The White Hat Guide to 7 Monuments of Melbourne.

Hamer Hall building site. You will notice the innate engineering skills of most Melburnians who when they find a piece of exposed metal structure will kick it or rap it and, by the precise tone it makes, will be able to determine the overall structural qualities of the building.

The Myer Mural Hall with its murals by Napier Waller is only open to the public for certain events such as fashion parades. Since I know our gentlemen have no desire to see attractive ladies walking up and down in their underwear then this is a good opportunity to visit without the unnecessary distractions.

The cinema area of the Capitol Building has been considerably changed since the Griffins’ original design, but the marvellous ceiling is still intact. Certainly worth a visit if you haven’t been there before. .

The Plaza Ballroom is a tribute to a the architectural tribute to a time and place that never existed – except in the movies. One of the decreasing number of reminders of the grand Picture Palace era.

The Former Land Titles Office and Former Public Records Office are now owned by Victoria University and are not normally open to the public. They are a reminder of the pre-internet days when, to obtain a document about your self, you had to fill out a sheaf of paperwork, wait until someone vetted it, come back in a week, wait for several hours on a hard chair and just when you were next to be processed the grille would slam closed for lunch. Ah, those were the good old days

The Gothic Bank is one of the glories of Melbourne’s 19th century architecture and the ornate banking chamber which is really a temple to money and commerce, is open to the public during banking hours as is the attached Cathedral Room from the old stock exchange and the small banking museum underneath. To White Hat’s knowledge, of those three spaces, only the Cathedral Room will be open this weekend an

Parts of Victorian Trades Hall are regularly open to the public with various theatre, arts and comedy events regularly taking place there as well as the bar in the old ballroom being regularly open to the public. However, of all the buildings open this weekend, this is one that is best appreciated not by looking at the architecture but by knowing what happened there. White Hat suggests you take off your “Vote for Tony Abbott” badge before entering.

The Block Arcade is open to the public during shopping hours. On Tuesdays and Thursdays they have a guided tour which, like the one ones during MOH, take in the ‘private’ upper floors. Don't forget to look out for the ceiling mural mentioned in The White Hat Guide to 7 Murals of Melbourne.

The Royal Exhibition Building is open for various events throughout the year and tours are also available, so locals may choose to visit at a different time. Visitors however should not miss this marvellous building.

The public is free to walk around the University of Melbourne campus at any time but the tour guides will no doubt point out numbers of things you would not have known otherwise. You can find a little additional background to some of the statues you will encounter at The White Hat Guide to 7 Monuments of Melbourne.

The State Library of Victoria and Shrine of Remembrance are fine buildings and important venues which every Melburnian should visit. They will provide access during this weekend to spaces not normally available to the public.

From what we can tell, the Treasury Reserve Walking Tour is not a regular tour that locals can book into at a later date. It takes in the foyer of 2 Treasury Place which is a sort ‘semi-public’ space. If it doesn’t fit into your itinerary, you can find a little background on the precinct in part 2 of our Podcast of September 2007 called The Missing Statue.

You can wander around the arcade of The Manchester Unity Building during standard shopping hours and during a weekday you might like to explore some of the corridors on the upper floors. If someone asks what you’re doing there, tell them you’re from Tasmania and your lost. Those of you lucky enough to have a ticket to the boardroom will not want to miss that.

There are regular free tours of Melbourne Town Hall and Offices during the week so you might want to put that off for another time.

La Trobe's Cottage, Old Treasury Building and Hellenic Museum are regularly open to the public, so again you may wish to visit them on a different day. In particular you might want to wait for an open day at the Old Treasury (which seem to come around once a year) when the Executive Chamber on the top floor is open.

We have found The Mission to Seafarers, while not a public building, always welcoming of strangers, so you may want to postpone your visit to another day.

The Supreme Court is a fine building and it will offer a chance to wander around the public areas. However, we would recommend that locals plan a visit during law week, when a number of other areas are also open.

As a commercial building with a number of tenants, nobody is likely to object to you wandering into the foyer of the Former Tramways Building (now Donkey Wheel House) during business hours. However there will be numbers of other displays occurring this weekend so you might enjoy nosing around.

The Melbourne City Baths is a distinctive Melbourne Building. However most of its heritage features remain on the outside and can be viewed at any time. Inside it has had to move with the times to become a gym and, to White Hat’s knowledge, little of the heritage features remain on view in the interior. However, we may be wrong. If you have time, you might like to check it out and tell us how wrong we were.

The ICI Building (now Orica Building) was built in the 1950s and was Melbourne’s first glass-walled skyscraper and still puts to shame some of the uglier city buildings constructed for three decades after it. Originally the staff cafeteria and dining area was on the top floor, but this tour will only take you as high as level 6.

Tasma Terrace houses the office and shop of the National Trust which is open to the public during office hours. However, we expect other areas of the building will also be on display this weekend so you may wish to investigate.

The Melbourne Athenaeum Library is open to the public during business hours so you wish to return at another time for a more leisurely browse. However MOH does provide access to the theatre area when there are no performances or rehearsals

The Victorian College of the Arts have gradually taken over and repurposed most of the old police precinct including the Police Hospital. However The Victoria Police Mounted Branch stables and facilities remain and function on a daily basis. They are not generally open to the public.

Urban Workshop provides an opportunity to view a display of artefacts from an archaeological dig near Little Lon.

Photographs

This weekend should be a great opportunity for photographs. Usually, inside private and even public buildings, the rule of thumb is ‘no photographs unless permission is given’. For more details and what can usually be photographed in Australia see The White Hat Guide to Taking Photos in Australia.

The MOH site details photograph permissions for each site.

White Hat would particularly recommend that avid photographers visit some of the rooftops open that weekend for angles on Melbourne’s skyline that may not be available to them again.

Galleries & Museums

The Grainger Museum, both sections of the National Gallery and the Royal Historical Society of Victoria are all open to the public throughout the year so locals may wish to defer a visit to a time where they can spend more time appreciating the exhibits.

Heritage buildings with contemporary refurbishment

131-141 Queen Street was home to the Victoria Club in 1975 at the time of the Great Bookie Robbery. The Victoria Club has moved on, but there is now a roof garden that will be open this weekend and which is not usually accessible by the public.

RMIT Building 16 - Storey Hall. This building forms part of the pairing irreverently known as Legoland and the Batcave. It is open to students and staff at various times throughout the year, but this weekend provides an opportunity to see how the architects have used a postmodernist idiom to expand the functionality of a heritage hall.

The Malthouse Theatre is familiar to Melburnians as a venue for various theatre productions, but the weekend should provide the opportunity for a more leisurely inspection of the performance spaces and the heritage aspects of the building.

Intercontinental Melbourne incorporates heritage features of The Rialto Building most of which are visible to public during business hours.

The internal spaces at Central Pier Docklands have been converted to general purpose spaces suitable for exhibitions and receptions. Of great interest to brides-to-be but maybe slightly less for others.

Churches & synagogue

The six churches are all open to the public for Sunday services and also host a variety of concerts throughout the year.

Locals may therefore want to visit St Michael's Church on a Thursday lunchtime when there is a regular free organ recital.

St Patrick’s and St Paul’s Cathedrals are open to the public 7 days a week except when special services or events are being held. Locals may wish to visit St Paul's Cathedral at 5pm on a weekday when there is a regular short evensong with choir.

St Peter’s Eastern Hill is high church Anglican, so we recommend you go along to a Sunday service for the full ‘smells and bells’.

The Melbourne City Synagogue is not generally open to the public, so this weekend is a rare opportunity for non-Jewish Melburnians to venture inside this historic building.

Preparation

Once you have decided on your prime destinations, we suggest you do some extra research on those buildings using the internet or your local library. That way you can bore the pants off the person waiting next to you in the queue while your partner buries their head in the official program and pretends not to be with you.

Modern buildings

Since it opened about a year ago the ANZ Centre has quietly garnered a number of international awards for its architecture and White Hat believes it is one of the most important Melbourne buildings of the last decade. We have already mentioned it several times in our Melbourne newsletter, but if you don’t get into town often you might be surprised how the centre of gravity for the city’s workforce has quietly moved to the Docklands end of Collins Street.

The Melbourne Recital Centre is open to the public during its many concerts, but this weekend provides a leisurely opportunity to wander around its variety of performing spaces.

Denmark House is a contemporary private club in the city with clean lines and understated Scandinavian style. It is not usually open to the public.

Tours of Federation Square are available most days so locals may choose to come back at another more leisurely time for this one.

Planning your route & getting about

When you have chosen your must-see venues, we suggest you visit the Open House website, consult the opening times and maps and plan your route.

A car is not going to be much use for getting between venues except perhaps for the small number in the inner suburbs. Bicycle, tram &/or walking are your best options. Remember that at weekends public transport costs next to nothing if you use a Myki.

Sporting complexes

The MCG, Etihad Stadium and Melbourne and Olympic Park (AAMI Park) all have regular tours throughout the year so locals may wish to leave that for another day. (AAMI Park is unclear – the website mentions tours but provides no information.) Visitors in particular may not want to miss the MCG.

Inner City Living

Melbourne is increasingly designing buildings where the open space provided through open outdoor garden areas at various levels and on the roof is considerably more than the footprint of the land. By designing mini villages and social places together with vertical gardens some may be surprised at what social places apartments can be. You can see an example at Triptych.

We will be discussing several aspects of these design principles in our next City Design newsletter.

The Harbour Family & Children's Centre at Docklands gives an opportunity to visit this low-rise facility. If you are seriously interested in finding pre-school facilities for your child in this area, I am sure someone will show you over the facilities during the week.

If on the other hand you are interested in contemporary suburban living you might want to visit House No.7. Expect some queues because the good people of Balwyn have an inordinate interest in contemporary architecture – or maybe they can’t resist having a look inside a neighbour’s house.

ESD (Environmentally Sustainable Design)

Melbourne city and Docklands in particular have become places of international significance for incorporating ESD principles into new buildings and its refurbishment of older ones. You can find more details on ESD at The White Hat Guide to Environmentally Sustainable Design.

and on energy efficient buildings in Melbourne at The White Hat Guide to Energy Efficient Buildings in Melbourne.

Council House 2 - CH2 – was built partially as a demonstration building to display what could be done in terms of Environmentally sustainable design. As a result, many of its environmental features are ‘on display’ rather than hidden away. Tours of the building are not generally available to the public, so this weekend would be a good time to get along.

The Pixel Building is a small building on the old CUB site which demonstrates environmentally sustainable design in a commercial building of the scale suited to many of our suburbs. This weekend may prove an opportunity to see numbers of the not generally accessible to the public.

Refurbishment of the Goods Shed North at Docklands for use as offices was a landmark achievement in creating the first 5 Star Green Star heritage listed building in Victoria. It is not normally open to the public.

University of Melbourne Faculty of Business & Economics (officially known as ‘Spot’ and unofficially known as ‘The Cow’ because of its exterior patterning) will be open and demonstrating some of its design principles. The building is open to students and is home to a number of free lectures open to the public, but this weekend maybe provide the opportunity to see aspects not normally visible to the public.

The 60L Green Building in Carlton is homed to a number of environmental groups including the Australian Conservation Foundation. It is one of the first important examples of the refurbishment of an older city building to using sustainable techniques and technologies.

The Origin Roof Garden (not normally open to the public) is an example of a retrofitted ‘green roof’.

The City of Melbourne Bowls Club in Flagstaff Gardens received a modern makeover as part of a contra-deal for removing the bowls club in Carlton opposite Melbourne University. The public facilities and environmentally sensitive design features will be on display.

How the City Works

For those interested in the medical sciences there is a rare chance to visit the Radiation Therapy Bunkers and Research Laboratories at Peter Mac.

For those interested in the history of how this city works there is the Russell Place Substation and JA Substation. Pre booking is required. If you find yourself in a queue outside the Russell Place Substation make sure to have a look at the important building next door called Litte Hero. You can find some background as to why White Hat believes this to be important at The White Hat Guide to Little Hero.

People are fascinated with tunnels. In fact a reader recently pointed out that information from an article in one of newsletters a number of years ago about Melbourne’s underground tunnels has become embedded in several Wikipedia pages. The article was an April Fools Day prank so the information was bogus. It will be interesting to see how many years it takes for Wikipedia to figure this out. Anyway, if tunnels are your thing you may wish to check out the Royal Melbourne Hospital Tunnels.

However, if you are serious about learning how this city works, White Hat can recommend the forthcoming open days that form part of Engineering Week. Let us know if you would like further details.

Architecture & Design Studios

For those who would like to visit a working design or architecture studio there is the Geyer Studio, Lyons Office, Hassell Studio, ROTHELOWMAN and the Bates Smart studios in the Orica Building

Tying it all together

As you might expect MOH has a strong emphasis on the grander heritage buildings of Melbourne without for instance including any of the more humble pre gold rush buildings. If you would like to receive our iPad version of our (occasionally irreverent) descriptions and suggestions of things to look out for, let us know. We will also include some suggestions of other buildings to visit at a different time to help round out your overview of Melbourne buildings.

You will probably miss out on some of the things you wanted to see, but don’t worry – MOH seems to now to be firmly embedded as an annual event.

White Hat travels courtesy of hansom cab and our White Top Hat is supplied by Melbourne City Hatters.