Spring Street is a major street in the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the " cit ...

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 me ...

, Australia. It runs roughly north-south and is the easternmost street in the original 1837

Hoddle Grid Hoddle Grid is the contemporary name given to the approximately grid of streets that form the Melbourne central business district, Australia. Bounded by Flinders Street, Spring Street, La Trobe Street, and Spencer Street, it lies at an ang ...

. Spring Street is famous as the traditional seat of the

Government of Victoria 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 independent branches: the executive, the judicial, and t ...

, as well as being central to many of the state's major cultural institutions. The street's name is frequently used as a

metonym Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept. Etymology The words ''metonymy'' and ''metonym'' come from grc, μετωνυμία, 'a change of name' ...

to refer to the state's bureaucracy. Spring Street is also notable for its impressive

Victorian architecture Victorian architecture is a series of architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the styles known as Victorian w ...

, including Melbourne Parliament House, the Old Treasury Building, the Windsor Hotel (also known as ''Duchess of Spring Street'') and the Princess Theatre. The street is thought to be named after Baron Thomas Spring Rice, Chancellor of the Exchequer under

Lord Melbourne William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, (15 March 177924 November 1848), in some sources called Henry William Lamb, was a British Whig politician who served as Home Secretary (1830–1834) and Prime Minister (1834 and 1835–1841). His first prem ...

. An alternative theory is that the name is due to the golden wattle trees in full bloom during

Richard Bourke General Sir Richard Bourke, KCB (4 May 1777 – 12 August 1855), was an Irish-born British Army officer who served as Governor of New South Wales from 1831 to 1837. As a lifelong Whig (Liberal), he encouraged the emancipation of convicts and ...

's visit.

Geography

The street runs from Flinders Street in the south to Victoria Street and the

Carlton Gardens The Carlton Gardens is a World Heritage Site located on the northeastern edge of the Central Business District in the suburb of Carlton, in Melbourne, Australia. A popular picnic and barbecue area, the heritage-listed Carlton Gardens are home ...

in the north. Nicholson Street branches off from Spring Street, slightly south of its intersection with

Lonsdale Street 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 ...

Notable buildings

Spring Street has a number of architecturally notable buildings and important gardens, with many featuring 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. ...

and/or

National Trust of Australia The National Trust of Australia, officially the Australian Council of National Trusts (ACNT), is the Australian national peak body for community-based, non-government non-profit organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's I ...

. These include:

Victorian Heritage Register

Parliament House Parliament House may refer to: Australia * Parliament House, Canberra, Parliament of Australia * Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament of South Australia * Parliament House, Brisbane, Parliament of Queensland * Parliament House, Darwin, Parliame ...

(1856)* * Old Treasury Building (1862)* * Treasury Gardens (1867)* * Gordon Reserve (1870)* * Hotel Windsor (1885)* * Princess Theatre (1886)* * Alcaston House (1929) an early apartment building designed by A&K Henderson in the

palazzo A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

style to complement the wider area *

Royal Australasian College of Surgeons The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) is the leading advocate for surgical standards, professionalism and surgical education in Australia and New Zealand. Known by its common acronym RACS, it is a not-for-profit organisation, sup ...

(1935)* ''*Also classified by the National Trust''

National Trust

* Holy Name Sisters (1913)

Other Prominent Structures

Parliament railway station Parliament railway station is an underground railway station in Melbourne, Australia. It is one of the five stations (and one of the three underground) on the City Loop, which encircles the Melbourne CBD. In 2017/2018 it was the fourth busiest ...

(1983) an underground railway station built for the City Loop * 1 Collins Street (1985) a post-modern tower by Denton Corker Marshall amongst the city's first to incorporate heritage buildings * Casselden Place (1992) a tall office building which is home to government offices *

Shell House Shell House is an area of coastal cliffs located between Red Bluff and Bluff Point in Kalbarri National Park in Mid West Western Australia. They are highly regarded for their scenery, and also for the exposures of geological strata, which incl ...

(1988) at the corner of Spring and Flinders Street is a notable granite clad office tower designed by Harry Seidler in a similar style to his buildings in Sydney and

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. The building's floor plates are in the shape of a shell as it was the Australian Head Office of

Royal Dutch Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New ...

Parks and gardens

Spring Street forms the western border of the Treasury Gardens. Gordon Reserve, a small triangle of parkland featuring heritage listed statues, is also located on Spring Street. Another small

Chinese garden The Chinese garden is a landscape garden style which has evolved over three thousand years. It includes both the vast gardens of the Chinese emperors and members of the imperial family, built for pleasure and to impress, and the more intimate ...

, known as the Tianjin Garden, is also located at the northern end of Spring Street. It is a symbol of Melbourne's close friendship with its sister city,

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...

, China.

Transport

A number of tram routes run along Spring Street for all or part of its length, including the City Circle Tram, route 48 and route 96.

, connecting to most suburban Melbourne train lines as part of the underground City Loop, lies directly beneath and parallel to Spring Street.

References

{{Melbourne landmarks Streets in Melbourne City Centre