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Our Projects

550 – 552 Queensbury Street, Carlton

In June 2014, the VHRF Committee of Management offered a grant of $12,000 towards the reinstatement of the cast iron verandah. The verandah design, which has been approved by the City of Melbourne is of a standard North Melbourne type already applied to a number of commercial buildings in the area.

The verandah reinstatement works greatly enhances the presentation of this building and contributes to improving the heritage appearance of the Queensberry Street streetscape.

This mosaic mural is located on the east elevation of Hosie’s Hotel at the corner of Flinders Street and Elizabeth Street. The mural is by Richard Beck and was installed in 1955. The Hosie’s Hotel was completed in 1955 designed by Mussen, McKay and Potter in the Internationalist, modern style. The new Hotel had a glass fronted podium and a tower behind it. It retained an echo of the European Di Stijl style with its smooth finishes and the integration of art and architecture with the inclusion of Beck’s mural as a major feature of the building. The architects always planned to incorporate a mural into the Elizabeth Street facade of the building. Beck’s work is four storeys high and made of ceramic tile panels. The abstract image of 3 glasses (or pots) clinking together, was considered bold at the time and the colours, since faded, were bright and highly contrasted. The mural is of historic importance for its connection to the modernist movement in architecture and design in Melbourne. This modernism was important as the city of Melbourne attempted to present itself to the world as a modern, contemporary city at the time of the 1956 Olympic Games. The mural is of aesthetic significance as one of the few large scale abstract works on public display in Melbourne. It is also of importance for its association with Richard Beck an important Australian commercial graphic designer of the 1950s who worked on design projects for the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne. The mural is included on the Victorian Heritage Register H2094.

The VHRF funding application was for conservation of the mural, including removal of previous bad repairs, stabilisation of detaching tiles, regrouting of tiles and preparation of a photographic record of the mural.
In November 2019, the VHRF Committee awarded a grant of $55,000 towards the conservation of the Richard Beck mural. This was part of the City of Melbourne Landmark and Community Buildings funding stream run in the 2020 financial year.

Conservator Andrew Thorn undertook the conservation work between September and December 2021. The most impactful work undertaken was the careful removal of a white film that had formed over almost the entire mosaic. This film was removed using a poultice. The removal of the film has brought back the colour and vibrancy of the original mural. Other work involved removal of fixings for previous signage on the mural and repair of penetrations relating to the fixings. Crack and tile and mortar repairs were also undertaken in specific locations across the mural.
The transformation of the appearance of the mural as a result of the conservation work is remarkable and the process of conservation was meticulously undertaken and documented.

This property contains a bi-chrome brick Victorian residence with an early terracotta tiled verandah.
The proposed works for funding involved removal of the existing terracotta verandah floor tiles and relaying of a slab underneath and then re-laying of the tiles. The tiles are rare intact examples of an early type of verandah tiling. Some of the tiles required replacement but most of the tiles were intact. It was necessary to re-lay the substrate as it was uneven and causing the damage and deterioration of the remaining tiles.
In April 2022, the VHRF Committee of Management agreed to offer a grant of $3,000 towards restoration of the original terracotta verandah tiles on the condition that the existing tiles are re-laid and replacements only provided where absolutely necessary.
The project was completed in August 2022 with the original tiles in good condition, retained and re-laid and compatible replacement tiles placed at either end so that the patina of the tiled floor has been retained. The re-laid substrate also means this tile floor will survive for many more years into the future to continue to demonstrate this early tile paving type.

This is one of a row of single storey attached terrace houses with varying detailing. This terrace is substantially intact and is single fronted with polychrome brickwork in a zig-zag pattern.
The application for funding was to reinstate a Victorian style fence to the front of the property. The existing fence dated from the 1960s and was in poor condition and detracting from the appearance of this property as viewed from the street. The design of the replacement fence was based on surviving original fences to similar buildings in the row of terraces and was therefore considered reinstatement of an original feature.
In November 2020, the VHRF Committee of Management agreed to offer a grant of $5,000 towards the reinstatement of a Victorian iron palisade fence. The reinstatement of the original fence, completed in 2021, greatly improves the contribution this property makes to the heritage streetscape and returns an important part of the property to its earlier appearance.

This is the end house in a row of five Victorian style brick terrace houses constructed in 1887. The row is substantially intact and demonstrating key features of the Victorian style including bi-chrome brickwork, timber sash windows, hipped roofs, bracketed eaves and rendered chimneys. The funding application for the end terrace was for removal of previous bad mortar repairs and re-pointing of the façade. The previous repairs were unsightly and undertaken with cement rich mortar and much of the original tuckpointing had also been lost.
In 2021 the VHRF Committee of Management agreed to offer a grant of $5,000 towards mortar repairs and re-tuckpointing the façade. The works were completed in 2022 and greatly improve the appearance of the façade in the streetscape and ensure that the brickwork is protected into the future.

This is an impressive Victorian brick residence with an unusual recessed arched entrance.
The proposed works for funding involved restoration of the two chimneys, which are prominent original features of the residence. The chimneys were in poor repair and required some mortar repair work and replacement as the mortar joints were visibly deteriorated and causing bricks to dislodge. A scaffold was required to restore the chimneys, making the project more expensive to undertake. The quotes provided for the chimney restoration works both outlined use of a lime based mortar for the joint repairs/repointing.
In September 2022, the VHRF Committee of Management agreed to offer a grant of $3,000 towards restoration of the two front chimneys using a lime based mortar. The works were completed in 2022 and have stabilised the chimneys and improved the appearance of the building as viewed from the street.