Heritage Citation Report – Former State Savings Bank and Residence

Heritage Citation Report

Name Former State Savings Bank and Residence

Address 30 Percy Street, Portland

Place Type Commercial

Citation Date 2 June 2016

Heritage listings None

Recommended heritage protection Glenelg Shire Planning Scheme (PS) Heritage Overlay (HO)

Figure 1 : Former State Savings Bank and Residence, facing east

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Figure 2 : Proposed HO extent

History and historical context

The State Bank started out as the Savings Bank of Port Phillip, which opened in in 1842. Charles Joseph La Trobe had recommended the Bank’s establishment and he was also on the first Board of Trustees (Museum 2016). By 1850 additional branches had opened in and .

The Savings Bank of Port Phillip Laws Amendment Bill was introduced in 1852 to continue the Port Phillip Bank as the Savings Bank of Victoria. This bill was related to the separation of the colony of Victoria from New South Wales. A consideration of the bill by a committee resulted in each branch of the Savings Bank being required to operate separately under a Board of Commissioners. In 1853 the Act to Consolidate and Amend the Laws Relating to Savings Banks came into effect. A head office for the bank opened in 1858 in Melbourne and several regional banks opened between 1857 and 1865. The regional banks were opened under the auspices of the State Savings Bank of Victoria. In 1896 the Savings Bank Act 1481 came into effect in an attempt to amalgamate the separately operating banks. The Post Office Savings Bank merged with the State Savings Bank in 1897. There were no more mergers until 1991, when the State Savings Bank of Victoria merged with the Commonwealth Bank (Museum Victoria 2016)

In Portland a branch of the Savings Bank of Port Phillip opened in Julia Street in 1848. This was the first branch of the bank to open after the main branch opened in Melbourne in 1842. Edward Henty, who arrived in Portland

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in 1834, opened the bank. Henty was from a banking family in Sussex, England, and saw the need for a bank in response to Portland’s growing trading associations. During the first 12 months of operation there were only eight accounts held at the bank, but by 1853 there were 37 depositors. In 1860 a site for a new bank was offered by the government but was rejected due to its close proximity to the jail. Instead the bank was re-located to a weatherboard building in Percy Street where it stayed for 20 years. In 1880 a new building was erected opposite the weatherboard bank in Percy Street, by which time there were 611 depositors. Shortly after this, in 1893, there was a substantial financial crash across the country. However, the Portland State Savings Bank seems to have recovered from this with 1,172 depositors in 1897. This grew to 2,500 depositors shortly after the end of the First World War and then to 4,072 in 1948 (Portland Guardian, 5 January 1948).

A newspaper article (Portland Guardian, 5 January 1948) reports that a new State Savings Bank building was built in 1941 to replace the 1880 building erected on the Percy Street site. However, the date on the façade of the building is 1940.

Land titles indicate that the current allotment was purchased in 1880 by the Commissioners of Savings Banks in the Colony of Victoria. These records also indicate that the building may have continued to operate as a bank until 1978. The building was being used to house the Old State Bank Gallery around 2011 (Thompson 2011). Currently, the building is used as a residence at the rear and a commercial space in the front portion.

In early regional banks throughout , the bank manager commonly lived in a residence behind the commercial part of the building, the banking chambers. Historically, banks provided housing for rural managers (Department of Environment and Heritage Protection 2016). Given that the Former State Savings Bank has a residential section at the rear, it is likely this was the case in Portland. This practice, which was common for businesses such as banks and shops, was phased out in the post-World War Two era when people started using cars to commute to work (Context 2012).

Relevant Historical Australian Themes 3 Developing Local, Regional and National Economies 3.18 Financing Australia 3.18.2 Banking and lending

Description

Physical description

The Former State Savings Bank and Residence has a commercial section at the front and a residential section at the rear. The building has brick external and internal walls.

Externally, the commercial section of the single storey building is red clinker brick on the lower section of the exterior walls with the upper section of the building stuccoed in a contrasting cream colour. The Interwar Period- style building has elements particular to the Moderne style, such as a small horizontal cantilevered hood over the double wooden door on the left of the façade, a strong horizontal banded design across the façade from the hood and extending across the front windows, the decorative and symmetrical upper façade with the stepped parapet concealing the roof, and a distinctive finial located in the centre of the building. The date of the building is located on a protruding panel in the centre of the façade.

The residential two storey section at the rear of the building is built of red brick with a tiled hipped roof. There appears to be at least two chimneys in the building. The narrow and tall windows above the side entrance have two timber double-hung windows with ornately designed glass panels featuring stained glass.

The inside of the building contains timber floorboards, sliding double timber and glass 12-panel doors (Figure 3), timber window frames, decorative ceiling cornices, original light fittings, timber picture rails, brick fireplaces with timber mantelpieces (Figure 4), wooden staircase (Figure 5) and original bank embossed double wooden and glass doors (Figure 6).

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To the left of the building at the rear of the property is a smaller rectangular shaped red brick garage with a driveway leading from the road to the garage. The garage has a tiled hipped roof and a wide wood and glass panelled entranceway. There is a timber framed double-hung sash window on one of the garage walls.

The front fence is built of the same bricks and upper decorative finish as the commercial section of the building. There is a decorative iron gate located to the left of the building which leads to the driveway to the garage.

There is a more recent timber building located in the rear of the property which is of no significance.

Figure 3 : Sliding timber and glass doors, fireplace in background

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Figure 4 : Fireplace with timber mantelpiece in commercial section of the building

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Figure 5 : Timber staircase

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Figure 6 : Timber and glass doors with embossed bank details

Physical condition

Good

Usage/Former usage

Bank/Residential

Art Gallery

Recommended management

Maintain generally as existing

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Comparative analysis

HO223 Commonwealth Bank, 374-76 High Street, Preston, Darebin City Council

The two-storey rendered brick Moderne branch of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia building is characteristic in composition, stylistically, and in its use of materials, to suburban and country branches built by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia during the Interwar period. The west (High Street) elevation and north (Roseberry Street) elevation have a plain rendered brick parapet with a slightly projecting cornice. The walls below are rendered brick, with subtle horizontal bands, and sit upon a brick base. The west elevation is symmetrically composed with a central entrance, which has had its original door(s) removed. The symmetry of the lower level has been diminished by the insertion of an automatic teller machine in one of the windows that flanked this central entrance. The fenestration that remains on the ground floor of the west elevation is an original double-hung sash window with horizontal glazing bars.

An unsympathetic cantilevered awning projects from the west elevation of the building above the ground floor. The upper level of the west elevation has at its centre a row of double-hung sash windows, slightly recessed and separated by brick pilasters, below a projecting hood. These windows have horizontal glazing bars, as do the double-hung sash windows that flank this central bay of windows. Above the hood is signage with the words 'Commonwealth Bank' and the institution’s emblem.

The north elevation of the bank is relatively plain, with bays of double-hung sash windows at regular intervals. These windows retain their horizontal glazing bars. There is a pair of windows, of similar detailing, to the east of this facade. One window on the ground floor, closest to High Street, has been obliterated by the insertion of two automatic teller machines into the window opening and the adjacent wall. Above these is an unsympathetic metal frame canopy. At the east end of the facade is a sympathetic single-storey addition, with similar detailing to the adjacent bank.

The Commonwealth Bank at 374-76 High Street, Preston, constructed by 1940 is significant. It is a two storey rendered brick building in the Moderne style typical of the buildings erected by the Commonwealth Bank in the Interwar and immediate post-war period.

Historically, it is significant as evidence of the expansion of the Commonwealth Bank during the late Interwar period, just prior to the cessation in branch building caused by the outbreak of World War Two and is one of an increasingly small number of the branches in Victoria constructed prior to 1950 that are still used by the Bank. It provides evidence of the continuing development of Preston as a city during the Interwar period after the interruption caused by the Great Depression. Architecturally, the Commonwealth Bank at 374-76 High Street, Preston is significant as a good example of a late Interwar bank in the Moderne style.

HO310 Commonwealth Saving Bank of Australia, Former, 267 Bridge Road, Richmond, Yarra City Council

The former Commonwealth Saving Bank of Australia at 267 Bridge Road, Richmond was created in 1939 for the Commonwealth Saving Bank of Australia and has other historical associations with persons such as local managers and staff of the Richmond branch of the Commonwealth Saving Bank of Australia. The place has a good integrity to its creation date.

Fabric from the creation date at the former Commonwealth Saving Bank of Australia is locally significant within the City of Yarra, compared to other similar places from a similar era. The Commonwealth Saving Bank of Australia is significant as a long term public building since 1939 and a significant Moderne design. This monumentally proportioned two storey rendered Art Deco (or Moderne) style building is given a strong vertical emphasis with the use of vertically proportioned window slots and two storey high pilasters articulating the facade.

HO155 Spotswood State Savings Bank (Former), 96 Hudsons Road, Spotswood, Hobsons Bay City Council

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The Spotswood State Savings Bank (former) is possibly designed by Smith & Ogg and constructed in 1928-29, at 96-98 Hudson Road, Spotswood. This two storey cemented and red brick bank and residence is a landmark in the area, prominently displayed on a corner site. The facade is designed in the Greek Revival manner popular in the 1920s, with a stepped parapet, and has a deep upper level balcony facing the street to serve the residence. It has been altered at ground level. Historically, it is significant as an illustration of the significant development of the Spotswood area during the Interwar period. Socially, it is significant for its strong associations with the Spotswood community over a long period as the major bank in this local centre. Aesthetically, it is significant as a superior example of an Interwar twentieth century bank in the Greek Revival manner. Sited prominently at a corner, it is a local landmark.

HO589 State Savings Bank and Residence, Former, 1395 Toorak Road, Camberwell, Boroondara City Council

The former State Savings Bank at 1395 Toorak Road, Camberwell, is a two-storey Greek Revival building with an attached residence at the rear. The bank sits on the north-east corner of Toorak Road and Melton Avenue, with no setback from the footpath. The residence is set back slightly from its frontage on Melton Avenue to allow for an entrance porch and side yard. Both parts have varicoloured brown glazed face brick, and terracotta tiles on the hip roofs.

The imposing banking chambers are set on a high plinth of rock-faced bluestone, harking back to nineteenth century banks. The ground and first floors are articulated by giant-order fluted Ionic pilasters on both frontages. Above them is a plain frieze, dentillated cornice and a simplified Greek pediment (a form that was very popular in the Interwar period for commercial buildings) which conceals the roof. The ground floor steel windows continue with this influence with Greek cross motifs in the window highlights. The first floor windows have a more typical late 1930s window type of two-over-two double-hung sash windows with horizontal glazing bars. The ground and first floor windows of each bay are encompassed in a single moulded architrave, adding to the vertical emphasis. The pilasters, cornice and pediment and mouldings around the windows are all of cement render. The residence is set behind the bank, with a separate entrance to Melton Avenue. The entrance porch is located next to the junction with the bank. This single-bay section is two-storeys - though lower in overall height than the bank - with a visible hip roof and geometric corbelled cornice. The upper level is not shown on the 1937 plans, but is seamlessly integrated into the building in the same glazed bricks and with the same type of sash windows and corbelled cornice. It is either an early and sympathetic addition, or an alteration to the 1937 plans and part of the original building campaign (there are other changes to the 1937 design of the residence, such as the windows, that support this theory). The entry is the most striking and detailed area of the residence. A flat-roof portico rests on short fluted square columns, which in turn rest of brick piers. The low entrance gate to the porch is of mild steel with Greek cross and circle motifs. The residence door has the upper two-thirds glazed with 12 panes of bevelled glass. It has two sidelight panels, each with another four bevelled panes. The windows to the residence are simple one-over-one double-hung sashes, and the chimney at the rear is unadorned and rectangular in form.

The former State Savings Bank illustrates the development of the (former) Village of Norwood during the Interwar period. While it was established in the late 1850s, its early commercial development was all but subsumed by Interwar and post-war development on the Toorak Road shopping strip. It also demonstrates the intensification of expanding bank branch networks in Boroondara during the late 1930s, by the State Savings Bank, Bank of Australasia, and Commercial Bank of Australia.

The former State Savings Bank is a representative example of the many new bank branches that were constructed in Boroondara as part of the bank’s expansion at the end of the 1930s. It also visually illustrates the provision of a bank manager's residence on site, which was a necessity in the pre-automobile era, and phased out in the post-war era.

The former State Savings Bank building exhibits the aesthetic characteristics of the Greek Revival used in a relatively free manner. These features include the giant-order Ionic pilasters, dentillated cornice, and pediments in a simplified Greek temple form.

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Both in comparison with other Interwar banks in the City of Boroondara and GB Leith’s Greek Revival State Savings Banks in other municipalities, the Toorak Road branch stands out due to its monumentality, high quality detailing and cladding materials, and high level of intactness.

The former State Savings Bank has associations with George Burridge Leith, the Chief Architect of the Savings Bank from 1920 to 1953. This bank branch is one of his most accomplished designs of the interwar period. Leith’s designs had an enormous impact on the face of interwar Victoria, both in Boroondara and beyond, not only with his bank branch designs seen in many suburbs and country towns, but in the thousands of bungalows built to his standard designs with State Savings Bank finance.

Aesthetically, the bank is a very accomplished example of the Interwar Greek Revival. Typical features of this style include the giant-order Ionic pilasters, dentillated cornice, and pediments in a simplified Greek temple form, which contrast with the modern glazed bricks. In comparison with other banks built in Boroondara during this period, it is also distinguished by its very high level of intactness. Architecturally, the bank is one of the most accomplished Greek Revival designs of architect George Burridge Leith. GB Leith was the Chief Architect of the State Savings Bank from 1920 to 1953. Leith’s designs had a major impact on Melbourne’s suburbs during the Interwar era – both through his design of bank branches such as this one and the standardised timber and brick bungalow designs built with State Savings Bank finance. Many of these houses still survive in Hawthorn, Kew, Camberwell and Glen Iris. Historically, the bank and residence demonstrate the intensification of expanding bank branch networks in Boroondara during the late 1930s, by the State Savings Bank, Bank of Australasia, and Commercial Bank of Australia. The provision of an integral manager’s residence also illustrates a common practice for all sorts of business (banks, shops, etc.) prior to the post-war dominance of the car and commuting to work.

Summary

The comparative analysis indicates that Interwar period State Savings Bank branches built in the Moderne style were not common in the Glenelg region. Banks were built during the Interwar period in a variety of architectural styles with those featuring Moderne characteristics generally found in Melbourne. Those found in Melbourne tended to not have the simplicity in the design of the Former State Savings Bank in Portland.

Statement of significance

What is significant?

Significant elements of the Former State Savings Bank and Residence include:  Prominently located within the centre of Portland township and within the historical area  External Moderne features including a striking contrasting façade, small horizontal cantilevered hood over the double wooden door on the left of the façade, a strong horizontal banded design across the façade from the hood and extending across the front windows, the decorative and symmetrical upper façade with the stepped parapet concealing the roof, and a distinctive finial located in the centre of the building  Internal Moderne features such as sliding double timber and glass 12-panel doors, timber window frames, decorative ceiling cornices, original light fittings, timber picture rails, brick fireplaces with timber mantelpiece, wooden staircase and original bank embossed double wooden and glass doors  Importance of the building in reflecting economic growth within a regional area and providing a service to the Portland community  Intactness of the building comprising both commercial and residential elements

How is it significant?

The Former State Savings Bank and Residence is of historical significance (HERCON criterion A), is rare (HERCON criterion B), demonstrates principal characteristics of a class (HERCON criterion D), aesthetic significance (HERCON criterion E) and associative significance (HERCON criterion G).

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Why is it significant?

The Former State Savings Bank and Residence is of historical significance as it was the first branch of the Savings Bank of Port Phillip to open outside of Melbourne. This bank then became the State Savings Bank. Although the Former State Savings Bank building is not the original bank building built in Portland, the organisation continued to offer a banking service to Portland from 1842 until this building was built in 1940. This is a reflection of the relative importance of Portland as a trading port.

The Former State Savings Bank and Residence is rare in Victoria as there are limited examples of bank buildings built at this time in the Interwar Moderne style, particularly those with attached managers’ residences.

The Former State Savings Bank and Residence is of aesthetic significance for its Moderne architectural style. The building, garage and fence are in good condition and there has been little modification to the external and internal features of this building. The Former State Savings Bank is located within the historical precinct of Portland, thus contributing to the overall aesthetic quality of the area.

The Former State Savings Bank and Residence is of significance for demonstrating the principal characteristics of banks built prior to the post-war period when commercial buildings included accommodation for the manager of the premises.

The Former State Savings Bank and Residence is of associative significance for its association with the Portland community over a long period of time as the main bank in the town.

Recommended Controls (2016) External Paint Controls Yes Internal Alteration Controls Yes Tree Controls No Fences & Outbuildings Yes Prohibited Uses May Be Permitted No Incorporated Plan No Aboriginal Heritage Place No

References

Context. 2012. State Savings Bank and Residence, former, 1395 Toorak Road, Camberwell: Citation. Boroondara City Council.

Department of Environment and Heritage Protection. 2016. Application to enter the English Scottish and Australian Bank Ltd Bank Building and Residence in the Queensland Heritage Register. http://www.ehp.qld.gov.au/assets/documents/land/heritage/applications/650031-application.pdf - accessed 8 June 2016.

Museum Victoria 2016. The State Savings Banks of Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria. http://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/articles/2470 - accessed 6 June 2016.

Thompson, David. 2011. Art Deco Buildings. http://artdecobuildings.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Portland - accessed 6 June 2016.

Newspapers

Portland Guardian, Portland, Victoria, 1876-1953

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