Lombard Building
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The Lombard Building is a
Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...
building built between 1889 and 1890, within the
Melbourne CBD The Melbourne central business district (colloquially known as "the City" or "the CBD", and gazetted simply as Melbourne) is the city centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. As of the 2021 census, the CBD had a population of 54,941, and is ...
in
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. It was designed by the architectural practice of Reed, Henderson & Smart (1883–1890), now known as
Bates Smart Bates Smart is an architectural firm with studios in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1853 by Joseph Reed, it is one of Australia's oldest architectural firms. Over the decades, the firm's practices involving architecture, interior ...
. The building was built to house several office practices, which it still operates as today.


History

Built between 1889 and 1890, the Lombard Building is a seven-storey office building including a basement level designed by the architecture firm at the time Reed, Henderson & Smart ( Joseph Reed, Anketell Henderson & Francis Smart). Constructed for Balfour, Elliott & Co. the building was built in the
Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...
with a free classical style and sits on a
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
city block in Queen Street, . During its lifetime the building has changed hands and has been renovated many times. In July 1957 the building was traded at a price tag of $204,000 and was renovated on the upper floors and the lower ground in 1981 and 1985. By July 1987 the traded price had already risen to a value of $2.7 million, and was bought by Swiss Reinsurance Australia Ltd for $5 million in April 1990. During this time the entire building was renovated at a cost of $7 million, which was the highest cost for the building so far. Eventually the building was sold to its current owner, Lombard House Pty Ltd for $9.3 million. The building is currently used to lease office space. Between 1958 and 1970, prominent Jewish lawyers Maurice Slonim, Leon Velik and Joseph Emanuel (Slonim, Velik & Emanuel) operated their highly successful legal practise from the Lombard Building. The firm's affiliate realestate group, known as Development Consolidated (later
Hanover Holdings Hanover Holdings Limited was a real estate development and investment group based in Melbourne, Australia. It was originally established as a publicly listed finance company by the Allans Music, Allans Music Group but was later taken over by a gr ...
), was also headquartered here for a brief period.


Architecture

Built during the Victorian era, the building reflects the late boom style design where elements of the classical are arranged in a more free excessive way, hence being called free classical. The building sits on 15-17 Queen Street, Melbourne CBD with a site area of 590 m2 and has a frontage of 15.62 m. Built with 6 levels and a basement, the building reflects the Victorian era of skyscraper and is among the first buildings in Melbourne to have lifts. The floors are centered around two lifts and a central staircase, giving each level an approximate floor area of 350 m2 and a total approximate floor area of 2373 m2. The building is constructed of load-bearing brick walls with internal structural iron and a stucco façade. The façade is complex as the building was designed to reflect the wealth of its owners at the time through the free classical style incorporating elements of arched openings, pediments, pilasters, a Hellenistic frieze and a large Diocletian window. The indication of new Queen Anne Revival style is evident in the picturesque roofline with a pedimented parapet and bold flanking chimney stacks. As with many buildings at the time, the basement is hidden behind iron balustrading at the ground floor level. In 1926 an electric lift was installed adjacent to the original hydraulic lift.


Occupants

List of current occupants within the Lombard Building: * Lower Level 1 - Webber Design Structural Engineers * Ground Level - Encoo * Level 1 - Live Performance Australia & Peter Ryan Architects * Level 2 - Godfrey Pembroke Financial Consultants Ltd, Portfolio and Wealth Management Pty Ltd & Johansson Solicitors * Level 3 - Peter J Woodford Pty Ltd & AusBiotech * Level 4 - Lion Selection Group (African and Asian Lion) * Level 5 - LGR Telecommunications * Level 6 - Great Vision Shipping & Tel Investment Trust


Gallery

File:Lombard Building Facade.jpg, Street facade Image:Lombard Building, Queen street, Melbourne.jpg, Upper façade Image:Melbourne Lombard building basement from outside.jpg, Melbourne Lombard building basement from outside Image:Interior looking down atrium, Lombard Building.jpg, View from level 5 of the Lombard building looking down the atrium to the basement. Image:Light well, Lombard Building.jpg, View from basement looking up the atrium between offices. Image:Top of the atrium with skylight, Lombard Building.jpg, Closer view from level 05 of the top of the atrium with skylight. Image:Current typical floor plan, 2013.jpg, A basic floor plan of levels 1–5 in the Lombard building. Image:Lombard Building Sketch1.jpg, Perspective sketch of the Lombard Building from Queen Street Melbourne Image:Lombard Building Sketch3.jpg, Perspective sketch of the Lombard Building from Queen Street Melbourne


References

{{coord, 37, 49, 6.5, S, 144, 57, 43, E, display=title Office buildings in Melbourne Heritage-listed buildings in Melbourne Office buildings completed in 1890 1890 establishments in Australia Buildings and structures in Melbourne City Centre