Harry Norris (12 June 1888 – 15 December 1966) was an Australian

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, one of the more prolific and successful in

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 metro ...

in the interwar period, best known for his 1930s

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

commercial work in the Melbourne CBD. His designs were informed by his regular overseas trips, especially to the United States, which he visited at least every 18 months from perhaps the late 1920s; and he was one of the first architects to introduce the Art Deco style to major commercial projects. He had a strong and long relationship with the wealthy Nicholas family, designing not only the

Nicholas Building The Nicholas Building is a landmark historic office and retail building located at 37 Swanston St, at the intersection of Swanston Street and Flinders Lane, in the Melbourne central business district, Victoria, Australia. Designed by architect H ...

, but the Aspro factory in South Melbourne, the spectacular mansion '

Burnham Beeches Burnham Beeches is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest situated west of Farnham Common in the village of Burnham, Buckinghamshire. The southern half is owned by the Corporation of London and is open to the public. It is also a Na ...

' in the Dandenongs for Alfred Nicholas, and various additions and alterations to Wesley College following a bequest from the family. He also had a long relationship with G. J. Coles, designing branches of their eponymous Coles Stores from the late 1920s, numerous matching Art Deco branches in the 1930s, and some of their earliest supermarkets in the 1950s, as well as a country house for E. B. Coles in 1938. He refused membership of the RVIA for many years until finally joining on the 21 February 1946. Harry Norris retired on his 78th birthday in June 1966 and died six months later.

Notable Projects

Nicholas Building Address: 27-41

Swanston Street Swanston Street is a major thoroughfare in the centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is one of the main streets of the Melbourne central business district and was laid out in 1837 as part of the original Hoddle Grid. The street vertical ...

Date of construction: 1925–26, 1939–40 (extension) The Nicholas Building is one of the most distinctive interwar office blocks in Melbourne. The facade is an essay in the Commercial Palazzo or Stripped Classical on a grand scale, with classical elements such as tall ionic pilasters and Doric columns and a wide cornice, all executed in architectural terra cotta, known in Australia as

faience Faience or faïence (; ) is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip of a lead glaze, was a major ...

. The Cathedral Arcade is located on the ground floor and its glazed

leadlight Leadlights, leaded lights or leaded windows are decorative windows made of small sections of glass supported in lead cames. The technique of creating windows using glass and lead came to be known as came glasswork. The term 'leadlight' could ...

barrel vault A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...

ed ceiling is a main feature of the building. Norris had his architecture practice here from 1926 until moving to 136 Jolimont Road East Melbourne in the 1950s. The Nicholas Building was originally used as offices and retail, and as of the 2010s is known for specialist retail and creative industries. G.J. Coles Building FORMER

Address: 298-304 Bourke Street Date of construction: 1929–30, 1938-40 (extension), 1984 Bates Smart McCutcheon (conversion to David Jones) Builder: Clements Langford Pty. Ltd. Engineer: Mr. Clive S.Steele The building is noted for its use of colorful Jazz Moderne detailing, the unusual mauve colour of the

facade and an overall verticality created by the use of prominent vertical piers, a form known locally as "Commercial Gothic". It was one of the first large scale examples of Art Deco design in Melbourne both inside and out, opening in March 1930 to expectant crowds. Block Court Address: 288-292 Collins Street Date of construction:1929-30 Block Court was a remodelling project, introducing a

shopping arcade A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known collec ...

to the ground floor of an older building (the 1890 Athenaeum Club, connecting Collins Street with the

Block Arcade The Block Arcade is an historic shopping arcade in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Constructed between 1891 and 1893, it is considered one of the late Victorian era's finest shopping arcades and ranks among Melbou ...

. Block Court is noted for its extensive use of

detailing, such as the zigzag decoration to the copper shop window frames, patterned

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

highlight windows, patterned multi-colour terrazzo flooring and elaborate ceiling decoration with stepped geometric shapes and floral motifs. Opening in October 1930, it was one of the earliest notable examples of Art Deco design in Melbourne (preceded by Norris's Coles Store), and remains the most ornate Art Deco interior in the city. MITCHELL

Burnham Beeches Address : Sherbrooke Road, Sassafras, Date of construction : 1931–33 A large country house built for Alfred Nicholas, it is the most outstanding mansion in the Art Deco style Victoria. Built over three levels, set in extensive landscaped grounds, it included numerous bedrooms, living spaces, sunrooms and a rooftop deck, with large windows overlooking the hillside. The expression is in a white horizontal Streamlined Moderne mode, with decorative Jazz Moderne detailing including motifs of

koala The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the ...

s and

possums Possum may refer to: Animals * Phalangeriformes, or possums, any of a number of arboreal marsupial species native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi ** Common brushtail possum (''Trichosurus vulpecula''), a common possum in Australian urban ...

in moulded relief panels. Mitchell House Address: 325-362

Lonsdale Street, Melbourne Lonsdale Street is a main street and thoroughfare in the city centre of Melbourne, Australia. It runs roughly east–west and was laid out in 1837 as one of Melbourne's original boundaries within the Hoddle Grid. The street extends from ...

Date of construction: 1937Mitchell House
at National Trust (Victoria) database. Accessed 21 October 2013 Mitchell House is located at the corner of Elizabeth Street and Lonsdale Street. The building is a fine example of

Streamline Moderne Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In industrial desig ...

, featuring horizontal bands of windows wrapping around the curved corner, broken by a contrasting vertical element topped by the gold lettering of the building's name. CARLOW

Selected projects

*Tattersall's Club premises (now Curtin House), 248–258 Swanston Street, Melbourne, 1922 * Deva House, 327 Bourke Street, Melbourne, 1924 *

, 27-41 Swanston Street, Melbourne, 1926 * Majorca Building, 258-260 Flinders Lane, 1929 *Former Kellow Falkiner Showrooms, 375-379 St.Kilda Road, South Yarra, 1928 (altered) *Block Court Arcade, 288–292 Collins Street, 1930 *G.J.Coles Stores, 299–307 Bourke Street, Melbourne, 1928–1930 *Northcote Town Hall auditorium and lobby refurbishment, 197–201 High Street, Northcote, 1930 *

, Sherbrooke Road, Sassafras, 1931–33 *Moonya, 9 Lakeside Drive, Country Club Estate, Emerald, c1937 *Silver Birches, 1 Mary St, Country Club Estate, Emerald, c1937 *Melford Motors Showroom, 615 Elizabeth Street, North Melbourne, 1937 *Mission to Seamen, 1 Beach Road, Port Melbourne, 1937 (dem c1992) *Former Capitol Bakeries, 625 Chapel Street, 1937 (dem 2017) *Hendra, 11 Williams Rd Mt Eliza, 1938 *Northern Bakery (later Tip Top), 170 Edward Street, East Brunswick, 1940 (altered) *Coles Store, Ivanhoe, 115–117 Upper Heidelberg Road, Ivanhoe, 1940 *Nicholas Hall, 148 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, 1940 *Ivanhoe Grammar School, The Ridgeway, Ivanhoe, 1954 * Fowlers Vacola Manufacturing Factory, 275 Burwood Rd, Hawthorn, 1955 (now The Works homewares store) *Australian and New Zealand Bank, 224-236 Queen Street, Melbourne, 1958 (altered) *Windsor Hotel, Spring Street (north extension), 1961 *Kodak Factory (1950s–60s) and administration building (1964) (dem 2011).

Notable Projects

Selected projects

References

Further reading