I posted this on Walking Melbourne and ended up writing some thoughts about what style it is and I thought I would re-post them here. It is an interesting little building, quite different to most of the 1930s apartment blocks in East Melbourne.
Called Bradoc House it was built in 1933 and is on George St between Simpson St and Hoddle St.
The info from the East Melbourne Historical Society http://emhs.org.au/history/buildings/ea ... adoc_house says it is Tudor-Byzantine with Spanish influence, but well, that just sounds a bit silly to me. I guess the white and dark colours is a bit Tudor, but is is also Spanish Colonial. I have no idea why Byzantine, I guess maybe the tower could be and the way the forms are massed together, and it has some hints at crenelations, but once again this all could come from a Spanish colonial influence as well. If anything it makes me think more of Romanesque style than Byzantine. Personally rather than Tudor-Byzantine I would say it has Spanish Colonial and Arts and Crafts influences. I don't think there are really hard and fast descriptions for 20th century architectural styles, especially in periods that experimented with a lot of revival styles. What do others think?
I ride past this quite often - at first I thought it was a substation or telephone exchange - my mind obviously distracted by impending gloom of approaching Hoddle Street. Thanks for the post - I shall take a moment to check it out more thoroughly next time.
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Its an interesting and unique building that I've often admired. The tower is almost Italianate and the geometry of it is great. But sadly the scalloping stucco finish kills it for me. Reminds me too much of the horror 70s suburban Spanish revival flats ....
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