Manchester Unity Building
| Manchester Unity Building | |
|---|---|
The building viewed from ground level looking north west.
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| General information | |
| Location | Melbourne, Australia |
| Coordinates | 37°48′55″S 144°57′59″E / 37.8154°S 144.9664°ECoordinates: 37°48′55″S 144°57′59″E / 37.8154°S 144.9664°E |
| Completed | 1932 |
| Opening | 1932-12-13 |
| Height | |
| Antenna spire | 64 metres (210 ft) |
| Roof | 40.2 metres (132 ft) |
| Top floor | 12 |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 12 |
| Lifts/elevators | 3 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Marcus Barlow |
| Main contractor | W E Cooper Pty Ltd |
| Website | |
| www |
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The Manchester Unity Building is a Art Deco Gothic inspired landmark building in Melbourne, Australia, constructed in 1932 by the Manchester Unity I.O.O.F. in Victoria.
The site, on the north-west corner of the intersection of Collins Street and Swanston Street, was purchased by the Manchester Unity of Odd Fellows of Victoria in 1928, reportedly for the sum of £250,000. Architect Marcus Barlow designed the building, which was built by W E Cooper Pty Ltd, contracted for the price of £215,000. Construction commenced at midnight on 1 January 1932 with the demolition of the prior buildings on the site, and proceeded around the clock in eight-hour shifts.
For the first time in Australia a construction progress schedule was used to track and manage the construction of the building:
"Upon [the schedule graph] is shown the progress of every section of the building as it must go forward... the exact time in which the excavation must be completed, when the escalators will be completed, and when the external painting will be finished... Progress payments to the builders are made upon the architects' certificate that the work is going forward to schedule."
Such was the speed of construction that in May the basement and ground floor arcade were structurally complete and ready to be fitted out, and by the end of July the roof had been laid, floors having been added at the rate of one a week on average. The shopping areas in the ground floor arcade, the basement and on the first floor were opened on 1 September.
A dinner for several hundred guests was held on 12 December 1932 in the building's basement to celebrate its opening, with Sir Stanley Argyle, the Premier of Victoria, giving a speech. On declaring the building open, Argyle pressed a button which turned on, for the first time, the lights illuminating the tower and spire.
During World War II, it was used by the Australian Army, Victorian Lines of Communication, Southern Command HQ. Once the war was over, the government moved other departments into the building that had been distributed over Melbourne.
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Wikipedia