Architecture

Cities, town urbanism, town planning, pretty photos of buildings, and the stories behind them.

Summerlands – the suburb that penguins reclaimed

As a young kid who spent his spare time flicking through the Melway street directory, there was a place on Phillip Island that always intrigued me – a suburb called ‘Summerlands’, and the mysterious “This area is subject to a Government acquisition program” note alongside. Melway Edition 22 Map 431 (1993) Paying a visit to […]

Modern rooming houses in Melbourne

When I think of “rooming houses” in Melbourne I picture massive run down Victoria-era houses, with lean-tos tacked onto the sides and verandas filled in to create more bedrooms. But it turns out new rooming houses are actually being built around Melbourne, and look almost indistinguishable from the townhouses next door. Development in the south-eastern […]

The ghost of Rosedale Estate in Melbourne’s west

This is the tale of Rosedale Estate in Chartwell, a failed subdivision on the western plains of Melbourne, midway between Werribee and Rockbank. Google Maps Early years The neat grid of streets stand out against the flat grasslands, 7 km south of Rockbank and 10 km north of Werribee. Land Victoria All with British names: […]

My Open House Melbourne 2019 round up

I can’t remember the last time that I did the rounds of Open House Melbourne, let alone upload the photos I took, but this year I decided to pull my finger out and do something about it! First stop – the MIRRAT terminal at Webb Dock. Where every car in Victoria is now unloaded. Up […]

Southern Cross Station – what could have been

With all of the recent talk about Southern Cross Station’s failings – in particular failed escalators and gross overcrowding in peak times – what better time than now to look at what could have been. The backstory On February 28, 2000 then-Premier Steve Bracks announced the Linking Victoria program, which included a joint private/public sector […]