General Post Office | |
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Melbourne | |
General Post Office building at dusk
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General information | |
Status | Complete |
Type | Post office |
Architectural style | Renaissance revival |
Location | Victoria |
Address | 2/350 Bourke Street, Melbourne |
Country | Australia |
Current tenants | H&M, Federal Coffee Palace, Mama’s Bưởi, Absolutely Altered & Tailored, Alto Event's Space, Designinc, Donald Cant Watts Corke, Ca de Vin, Gekkazan, Larsen Jewellery |
Construction started | 1859 |
Completed | 1907 |
Client | Government of Victoria |
Design and construction | |
Architect | A. E. Johnson & William Wardell |
Designations | Commonwealth Heritage Register & Victorian Heritage Register |
Website | |
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General Post Office, Melbourne is a former Post office situated on the corner of Elizabeth and Bourke Streets in Melbourne's Central Business District. Originally serving as the General Post Office for Victoria, the building was redeveloped into a Shopping centre in 2004 and is considered a grand example of adaptive reuse.
Melbourne's GPO, as it was renamed, is listed on both the Commonwealth Heritage Register and the Victorian Heritage Register, where it is noted for its historical functional significance and multilayered architecture. The location of the post office is still used as a point of reference for the measure of distances from the centre of Melbourne.
The General Post Office is historically significant as one of the foremost public buildings in Victoria. It facilitated postal communications and letter sorting in the early development of the Colony of Victoria, helping to continue links with Britain and Europe. The stairs and clock tower are city landmarks and have prominently featured in meetings, protests and Armistice Day celebrations.
The building occupies the north-eastern corner of the Elizabeth and Bourke Street intersection. The design overall expresses classical architecture due to its use of Doric columns in the first level,Ionic columns in the second and Corinthian columns in the third.