Majorca Building

The Majorca Building is a neo-Romanesque,[1] eight-storey tall building in Melbourne, Australia, designed and constructed between 1928-30. Located at 258-260 Flinders Lane, it was designed by Harry Norris, one of the most prolific architects in the city during the 1920s and '30s.

Majorca Building
The building viewed from Degraves Street.
General information
TypeOffices and Apartments
LocationMelbourne, Australia
Coordinates37.8164°S 144.9666°E / -37.8164; 144.9666
Construction started1928
Completed1930
OwnerL.R. Reed
Height
Roof32.1 metres (105 ft)
Top floor8
Technical details
Floor count8
Design and construction
ArchitectHarry Norris

Norris's designs incorporated both emerging Australian and American architectural styles and the Majorca Building has been described as his best work incorporating faience.[1]

History

The Majorca Building was built on a site at the end of the intersection of Flinders Lane and Degraves Street. Flinders Lane was in the heart of the rag trade in Melbourne and acted as a beacon for the area. During the 1920s, property values rose as ground floors were increasingly given over to tailoring/clothing stores and upper floors to soft-goods merchants.[2] The Majorca Building was originally designed as office space.[3]

Design

Architect Harry Norris incorporated many American styles into his work. He was inspired by the then popular Spanish Colonial Revival style after visits to the United States. The building is laden with Spanish/Moorish features, including blue faience tiles; foliated (leaf shaped) and rope moulded ornament, painted in gold and a foyer featuring terrazzo and inlaid stone. A Heritage Victoria database entry for Majorca House, says: "The Moorish influence in its terracotta façade places it firmly within the Melbourne tradition of exotic architecture in the late 1920s."[1]

The Majorca Building is a natural progression from Norris’s other celebrated building in this style, the Kellow Houses (Former Kellow Falkiner Showrooms) at St Kilda, South Yarra, a car showroom completed in 1928.[4][5]

Current usage

A retail store is located on the ground floor. The remainder of the building is privately owned residential apartments.

  • The Majorca Building viewed from Flinders Lane.
  • The building's street frontage.
  • Majorca Building foyer, viewed from the street.
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See also

References
  1. Victorian Heritage Register: H7822-1810
  2. "Flinders Lane - Entry - eMelbourne - The Encyclopedia of Melbourne Online". eMelbourne. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  3. "Majorca Building - 258-260 Flinders Lane. MELBOURNE [Walking Melbourne Building Information]". Walkingmelbourne.com. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  4. Watermark Architectural Guides, Melbourne architecture.Philip Goad. Published 1999, Watermark Press, Boorowa, NSW, AUS
  5. "Former Kellow Falkiner Showrooms (Heritage Listed Location)". On My Doorstep. 7 October 2005. Archived from the original on 30 April 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2013.

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