Temperance hotel
| Country | Australia |
|---|---|
| Introduced | 1880's |
In Australia, a coffee palace was a temperance hotel built during 1880s. They were hotels that did not serve alcohol, built in response to the temperance movement and, in particular, the influence of the Independent Order of Rechabites in Australia. James Munro was a particularly vocal member of this movement. Coffee Palaces were often multi-purpose or mixed use buildings which included a large number of rooms for accommodation as well as ballrooms and other function and leisure facilities.
The beginnings of the movement were in 1879, with the first coffee palace companies founded in the cities of Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide. The movement in particular flourished in Melbourne in the 1880s when a land boom that followed the Victorian gold rush created an environment in which it was the construction of lavish buildings and richly ornamental high Victorian architecture, often designed in the fashionable Free Classical or Second Empire styles to attract patrons. Many of the larger establishments were bestowed prestigious names such as "Grand" or "Royal" in order to appeal to the wealthier classes.
Coffee palaces were popular in the coastal seaside resorts and for inner city locations attracting catering for families as well as interstate and overseas visitors.
Ironically as the temperance movement's influence waned, many of these coffee palaces applied for liquor licences. Many have since been either converted into hotels or demolished; however, some significant examples still survive.
Hotel Windsor (formerly the Grand Coffee Palace)
Victoria Hotel – now private apartments
The George, St Kilda – now private apartments
Auburn Hotel
St Kilda Coffee Palace – now backpackers hostel
Mentone Coffee Palace – now Kilbreda Girls' School
Collingwood Coffee Palace in 1879
Melbourne Coffee Palace in 1882
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Wikipedia