The Majorca Building is a
neo-Romanesque,
eight-storey tall building in
Melbourne,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, designed and constructed between 1928 and 1930. Located at 258-260
Flinders Lane, it was designed by
Harry Norris
Harry Norris (12 June 1888 – 15 December 1966) was an Australian architect, one of the more prolific and successful in Melbourne in the interwar period, best known for his 1930s Art Deco commercial work in the Melbourne CBD.
His designs were ...
, one of the most prolific architects in the city during the 1920s and '30s.
Norris's designs incorporated both emerging Australian and American architectural styles and the Majorca Building has been described as his best work incorporating
faience.
[Victorian Heritage Register]
H7822-1810
/ref>
History
The Majorca Building was built on a site at the end of the intersection of Flinders Lane and Degraves Street. Flinders Lane was in the heart of the rag trade in Melbourne and acted as a beacon for the area. During the 1920s, property values rose as ground floors were increasingly given over to tailoring/clothing stores and upper floors to soft-goods merchants. The Majorca Building was originally designed as office space.
Design
Architect Harry Norris incorporated many American styles into his work. He was inspired by the then popular Spanish Colonial Revival style after visits to the United States. The building is laden with Spanish/Moorish
The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a distinct or se ...
features, including blue faience tiles; foliated (leaf shaped) and rope moulded ornament, painted in gold and a foyer featuring terrazzo and inlaid stone. A Heritage Victoria database entry for Majorca House, says: "The Moorish influence in its terracotta façade places it firmly within the Melbourne tradition of exotic architecture in the late 1920s."Kellow Houses Kellow is a surname of British origin; it may be from a Cornish place called Kellow; or in some cases from places called Kelloe in County Durham or Berwickshire. (Former Kellow Falkiner Showrooms) on St Kilda Road
St Kilda Road is a street in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is part of the locality of Melbourne which has the postcode of 3004, and along with Swanston Street forms a major spine of the city.
St Kilda Road begins at Flinders Street, in ...
, South Yarra, a car showroom completed in 1928.[Watermark Architectural Guides, Melbourne architecture.Philip Goad. Published 1999, Watermark Press, Boorowa, NSW, AUS]
Current usage
A retail store is located on the ground floor. The remainder of the building is privately owned residential apartments.
Gallery
File:The Majorca Building from street level on Flinders Lane, 2013.JPG, The Majorca Building viewed from Flinders Lane.
File:The Majorca Building street frontage, 2013.JPG, The building's street frontage.
File:The Majorca Building foyer, 2013.JPG, Majorca Building foyer, viewed from the street.
See also
* Alkira House
* Architecture of Melbourne
The architecture of Melbourne, the capital of the state of Victoria and second most populous city in Australia, is characterised by a wide variety of styles dating from the early years of European settlement to the present day. The city is part ...
References
{{Commons category
Buildings and structures in Melbourne City Centre
Art Deco architecture in Melbourne
Heritage-listed buildings in Melbourne
Commercial buildings completed in 1930
1930 establishments in Australia