Save articles for later
Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.
Key points
- Robur Tea House: The six-storey warehouse in Southbank was built in the 1880s and was used by the Robur Tea Company to store tea chests and for many years it was the tallest structure outside Melbourne’s central business district.
- Flinders Street Ballroom: The ballroom opened with Flinders street station in 1910 as a lecture and concert hall before morphing into a dancing hub. It closed in 1985 and is now only open for art exhibitions.
- ANZ Bank Vaults: The vaults opened in 1891 but its stained glass windows and ornate wooden booths have been largely deserted since ANZ closed the facility in 2017.
- Land Titles Office: The former Land Titles Office on Queen street was constructed in 1889 and is included in the Victorian Heritage Register in recognition of its “architectural, technical and historical significance to the state of Victoria”.
Melbourne’s former stock exchange building sat empty in all its grand, neo-gothic glory for 20 years until restaurateurs Rebecca and Al Yazbek opened the doors to Reine & La Rue this month.
Rebecca Yazbek says opening a business inside a heritage building is not for the faint-hearted, as the cost and effort of restoration is high.
Anton Tatarenko, restaurant general manager at Reine & La Rue in Melbourne. The building was empty for 20 years before the restaurant opened.Credit: Paul Jeffers
The ornate building, on the corner of Collins and Queens streets, was built in 1890 and designed by renowned Melbourne architect William Pitt.
The space that now houses Reine & La Rue was a “thinking room”, Yazbek says, where “you thought about the money you were trading” while a restaurant served customers from the basement.
The property developer spent $20 million restoring the building, and according to Yazbek, it took millions more and 2½ years to fit out the restaurant and kitchen while preserving the building’s heritage features.
“It was difficult… we couldn’t put wiring for lighting in the ceiling space, so we had to put this ingenious floor system in,” Yazbek says.
Yazbek says Melbourne is lucky to have so many heritage buildings and diners are enthusiastic about eating inside the 133-year-old space, with its soaring cathedral-like interiors.
“It would be hard to have a bad night surrounded with all that history and beauty,” she says. “Sydney has destroyed lots of its heritage buildings – they just don’t exist – and for that to sit unused and untouched here, it is just a gift for Melbourne.”
Charles Sowerwine, chair of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, says he is delighted to see the building back in use as it is a “serious problem” when historic buildings sit empty.
“There is not only the lost economic potential but also the practical thing – these buildings are expensive,” he says. “All buildings need major work at some point in their life cycle and with heritage buildings, you have probably passed that point at several times.”
Sowerwine says one of the biggest challenges for people dealing with heritage buildings is trying to find economic uses that are compatible with their heritage values.
The Age spoke to the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, the National Trust and the City of Melbourne to identify some of the city’s unused historical gems.
The Robur Tea House on Clarendon Street, Southbank. The building is mostly empty. Credit: Paul Jeffers
Robur Tea House
The six-storey warehouse in Southbank was built in the 1880s and used by the Robur Tea Company to store tea chests. For many years, it was the tallest structure outside Melbourne’s central business district.
The 3000sq m building is sitting largely unused, apart from a few offices used by property developer Monno.
Monno’s plans to partially demolish the Tea House and construct office, retail and residential buildings above it – including a 25-story apartment and hotel complex – were rejected by Heritage Victoria earlier this year, but the decision is being appealed and the building’s future hangs in the balance.
The shell of the main ballroom above Flinders Street Station. Credit: Justin Tai
Flinders Street Ballroom
The Flinders Street Ballroom opened in the train station in 1910 as a lecture and concert hall before morphing into a dancing hub.
It closed in 1985 and, despite a $100 million restoration of the station, the ballroom has not reopened permanently to the public since, remaining an empty shell.
Strict conditions in the franchise agreement with Metro Trains limit the use of the ballroom. These include restrictions on the number of people who can be in the space at any one time, limiting the use of the ballroom to art exhibitions in recent years, including by Patricia Piccinini, Rone and most recently, for Rising festival.
The stained glass windows inside the ANZ bank vaults. Credit: Justin McManus
ANZ bank vaults
Pedestrians walk past the door leading to ANZ’s old underground bank vaults on Queen Street every day without realising they are there.
The vaults opened in 1891 as the Melbourne Safe Deposit. Stained-glass windows and ornate wooden booths show the wealth of the customers who used the vaults during the gold rush.
The facility has been closed to customers since 2017 and it has sat untouched and largely deserted since.
Heritage Victoria refused an application to redevelop Melbourne’s former Land Titles Office.Credit: Chris Hopkins
Land Titles Office
The former Land Titles Office, also on Queen Street, was constructed in 1889 and is included in the Victorian Heritage Register for its architectural, technical and historical significance.
The civic building was designed by prominent Australian architect JJ Clark, but its future is unclear after plans for a satellite of Greece’s Benaki Museum were quietly shelved two years ago, and Heritage Victoria refused developer ISPT’s revised plans for an office tower.
The space is sitting unoccupied but Lord Mayor Sally Capp says it has “so much potential”.
“We absolutely want to see the investment in returning these places to their glorious potential,” she says.
“But we also need to work in a way that makes them useable; otherwise, they do sit empty for a very long time.”
Get the day’s breaking news, entertainment ideas and a long read to enjoy. Sign up to receive our Evening Edition newsletter here.
Most Viewed in National
From our partners
Source: Read Full Article