No 2 Goods Shed
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No. 2 Goods Shed is a large railway freight shed in the former Spencer Street rail yards off Flinders Street Extension,
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, Australia. It was constructed in 1889, originally called 'A Goods Shed', and at the time was the longest single building in Australia. Its address is at 733
Bourke Street Bourke Street is one of the main streets in the Melbourne central business district and a core feature of the Hoddle Grid. It was traditionally the entertainment hub of inner-city Melbourne, and is now also a popular tourist destination and ...
, Docklands.


Description

The polychromatic face brick structure with outside walls solid brick, bluestone sills, slate tiled gable roof, three gabled roofs with clerestories or lanterns is supported on cast iron columns at nine metre intervals with angle iron truss-framed roofs, central trusses span 15 metres side spans 9 metres. Terracotta lumber is used in the upper floor for fire prevention. Twenty six arched doors are on the east side and twenty eight on the west side with loading platforms for horse-drawn vehicles on the outside, and rail platforms to three tracks internally. the building has an overall length of 370m. The two-storey office block at south-east corner has a central tower with stucco decoration to the main door surround and the VR insignia with a crown above the east facade and a pediment with the construction date '1889'. The clock face was not in original contract but was installed latter as at Ballarat.


History

The No 2 Goods Shed was built in 1889–90 to replace previous timber and corrugated iron structures which had proved inadequate for the increased freight experienced in Melbourne during the boom years of the 1880s. The contract was awarded to builders A.P. Tozer and Company on 19 August 1889 for £72,943 17s 5 1/2d. The office section was extended to the north in 1907. No 2 Goods Shed was one of several construction projects at the time, which reflected the expansion of the Victorian Railways system. The Railways Headquarters Building in Spencer Street was constructed between 1888 and 1893, while the
Flinders Street Viaduct The Flinders Street Viaduct is a railway bridge in Melbourne, Australia. Made up of six tracks of varying ages, it links Flinders Street station to Southern Cross station and forms the main link between the eastern and western parts of the Vict ...
, Flinders Street Extension and the
retaining wall Retaining walls are relatively rigid walls used for supporting soil laterally so that it can be retained at different levels on the two sides. Retaining walls are structures designed to restrain soil to a slope that it would not naturally keep to ...
just south of the goods yards were also constructed around this time.


Redevelopment

As part of the redevelopment of
Melbourne Docklands Docklands, also known as Melbourne Docklands, is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. Docklands recorded a population ...
, the shed was cut in half with the construction of the Collins Street extension. The northern part of the shed was redeveloped by
Places Victoria Places Victoria, was the Victorian Government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three indepe ...
, with the construction of a tall black glass 'Lantern' building and refurbishment of the interior, designed by
Elenberg Fraser Elenberg Fraser is an Australian architecture firm, based in Melbourne with regional hubs in Brisbane and Ho Chi Minh City. It was established in 1998 by Zahava Elenberg and Callum Fraser, both RMIT University graduates. Notable projects include ...
. The southern half (known as The Goods Shed, 707 Collins Street) was developed by the Walker Corporation, and has been restored and converted to offices for Pearson Australia, and Penguin Random House. It is classified by the
National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
(B6435) and included on the
Victorian Heritage Register The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. ...
(H0933)
Victorian Heritage Register The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. ...

on line
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References


External links


Facade photo
on Flickr
Hill, Ian H. 1962– ''Flinders Street south facade of "No.2 goods Shed"'' looking 1997–1998, National Library of Australia

Ian Harrison Hill 1962– ''West face of No. 2 Goods Shed looking north'', September, 2000 National Library of Australia

Ian Harrison Hill 1962–, ''Interior of No. 2 Goods Shed looking south to show 'Fast Rail' freight handling area'' 2000 Sep. National Library of Australia
{{Melbourne landmarks Rail infrastructure in Victoria (state) Heritage-listed buildings in Melbourne Landmarks in Melbourne Buildings and structures in the City of Melbourne (LGA) 1889 establishments in Australia Buildings and structures completed in 1889 Port of Melbourne