APA Building

APA Building
A postcard featuring The APA Building (centre left)
General information
Type	Office
Location	Melbourne, Australia
Completed	1889
Demolished	1980
Height
Roof	53 metres
Top floor	47 meters
Technical details
Floor count	12
Design and construction
Architect	Henry Kemp
References
www.walkingmelbourne.com/building3_apa-building-the-australian-building.html

The APA Building was a 12 storey Victorian "skyscraper" in Melbourne, Australia; at 12 storeys and 57m to the tip of its spire, was the tallest commercial building in Australia at the time of its construction in 1888-9, a title it held until the addition of a tower to the next home of the APA, a building in Collins Street, Melbourne in 1929. It was later reputed (erroneously) to have been the world's tallest at the time. Originally known as the Australian Building, it was located at 49 Elizabeth Street, on the corner of Flinders Lane in Melbourne, it was notable for its very vertical proportionals, enhanced by the steep roof, spires and gables of the Queen Anne architectural style top floors.

The building was constructed in 1888-9 by the Australian Property Investment Co., and called the Australian Building. Melbourne was then in the throes of the 'landboom' of the 1880s, fueled by easy credit and steep increases in the price of land, especially in the central city. The announcement of the construction noted that it was said to be taller than any private building in London at the time, and would stand amongst the tallest in New York and Chicago. It was reputed to have been originally planned to have fifteen stories, and was to have been twice as wide, but was built with 12 levels, the top one mostly attic space.

In 1920 the Australian Provincial Assurance Association Ltd, an insurance company, bought the building as their Melbourne base, and the renamed it the APA Building.

The APA Building was Melbourne's tallest for 30 years, until the company decided to move, and purchased and remodelled a building on the corner of Collins and Queen Streets as their new headquarters, adding a very tall tower in 1929 (this was also known as the APA Building, and was demolished in the late 1960s). Some time in the 1950s, the spire, turrets and gables of the top floors of the earlier APA Building were removed, leaving it with a truncated mansard roof.

The building was demolished in 1980, and replaced by a five story office building.

The building was designed by the short-lived partnership of Oakden, Addison & Kemp in association with John Beswicke. The design has strong influences of the English Queen Anne revival, then a new style in Melbourne. This is seen in the use of red-brick with rendered stripes, and the picturesque turreted and gabled roofscape.