Melbourne Flinders Lane 308, 302-306 warehouses, later Leicester House CAD 1985 - Sheet 29-2 159

            Melbourne Central Activities District (CAD) Conservation Study 1985 survey images: approx 1200 Kodak colour negatives- B&W versions 
___________________________
GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDY 
 
Statement of Significance 
History 
Warehouses, 302-306, 308 Flinders Lane
Built: 1886, 1909
Thomas  J Crouch designed three three-storey warehouses on this site  (302- 306) in 1886 for L Benjamin of Beehive Chambers (qv).  His builder was Page McCulloch  of Carlton.  One Clarke owned another three-storey warehouse  to the  west  of  the group (1885).   Connibere Grieve and Connibere  (E  W  R Connibere,  J  Grieve and C W Connibere) occupied 304 from the  mid  1890s, after a variety of tenants,  acquiring it and the others (306- 308) by 1908.  Nahum  Barnet  designed a steel-framed warehouse for Connibere  at  301-311 Flinders  Lane  (1914)  so it is likely that he was the architect  for  the added  floor to 302- 306 and the reconstruction of 308 to  five  levels,  in 1909.
With  Connibere's departure,  the remaining occupiers were united under the name  Ferrando's  Building,  named after G Ferrando and Co.,  a  soft  goos merchant.  Although Ferrando and Co. were still in occupation, now as olive oil importers,  the building's name had become Leicester House by World War Two.   The few major tenants included Harrington's photographic suppliers   but the balance were smaller firms than had been before.
 
Description
Appearing  to be from the late Victorian period and designed in a  Medieval revival  mode,  the extension of the buildings has been matched to the 1886 levels of 302-306.  Given the previous separate ownership  and earlier date of 308,  it is probable that it was a total reconstruction (rather than  an addition) to match both facade and floor levels of 302-306 and, truly unite the buildings for one occupation.
Gothic  detail  is  applied  at the fourth level  and  Romanesque  inspired foliated  colonette and column capitals prevail  elsewhere.   Beyond  these details the facades are ordered in the classical manner and the cornice and string moulds, bracketting and balustrading follow the Renaissance revival.  The   cemented  details  are  as  impressive  as  they  are  contradictory, complementing  the  intricate  fenestration pattern  of  both  facades.   A previous study noted marble and panelling at the entry at 308 (1976).
 
Integrity
Generally externally original (302-306) the ground level is altered and the upper storey appears gutted (308).
 
Streetscape
The   two  buildings  relate  closely  and  contribute  to  the   warehouse streetscape precinct adjoining.
 
Significance
An ornate,  proficient and almost complete design with details derived from Italian medieval sources to provide an unusual elevation, distinct from the Italian Gothic of the Rialto and Olderfleet.
 
   

Taken on: April 1, 2024

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