Foundations of Architecture Graphic Building Analysis

ABPL20030 GRAPHIC BUILDING ANALYSIS ・ MITCHELL SU ・ 660192 ・ CLAIRE MILLER ・ TUTORIAL 18

FLINDERS STREET STATION

Proposed in 1899 by James Fawcett and finally started in 1901, then completed in 1910, Flinders Street Station is one of the five main metropolitan stations in the Melbourne CBD area.

Before the advent of the city loop system in 1985, it served as the central station for all of the area.

The building is composed of a main structure bordering Flinders Street with the main entrance being at the corner of Swanston and Flinders Street, the concourse along Swanston Street which was added largely later on and the platforms below that sit against the Yarra River.

Culture Victoria, 2010

The phrase ‘under the clocks’ has become synonymous with the steps of the main entrance of Flinders Street, a phrase everyone who lives in Melbourne comes to recognize. This colloquialism stems from the iconic feature of the main dome of Flinders Street Station - the clock faces that sit under the grand arch and give an at a glance view of the train timetable. Flinders Street Station serves as the centerpiece of a metropolitan rail system with the grandeur of the structure displaying its significance. Not only is the structure itself of significance, but also the location - the corner of Swanston and Flinders Street, one of the most heavily trafficked intersections of the Melbourne CBD, positioning it as a gateway for the public into the CBD (Left).

At the inception of the building’s creation, a secondary intention for the building as part of the public realm was for it to be a space for locals to use, not just a train station where one roams

definitively in and out of. Spaces beneath the main dome and around it provided by the then Victorian Railways Institute include a ballroom, gymnasium, a former library with accompanying reading rooms, a smoking room, a billiard room and a concert space as well.

However, all of these spaces have fallen into disrepair and disuse as time progressed and the Victorian Railways moved out of the administrative building.

Planning for the Flinders Street Station began when it was realized that the railways construction boom of the 1880’s in Melbourne left Melbourne without a ‘centerpiece’ or landmark station within the network. The current situation left the Melbourne CBD with a makeshift sort of station that had structures progressively annexed to it to accommodate growth (Above). To address this, a design competition was held in 1899 to determine the outcome of what would be Flinders Street Station resulting in 17 submissions.

After much debate, James Fawcett who was in partnership with railway engineer HPC Ashworth won the competition in 1900. However, construction did not begin until 1901 and not without a number of alterations to the design as construction progressed. This included the addition of a basement level below train platforms and a fourth level to the administrative building. The addition of a fourth level resulted in the diminishment of the facade’s dominating effect on the street level by compacting visual elements to a smaller scale to compensate.

ABPL20030 GRAPHIC BUILDING ANALYSIS ・ MITCHELL SU ・ 660192 ・ CLAIRE MILLER ・ TUTORIAL 18

Culture Victoria, 2010

A key point of issue to note is that a large portion of Fawcett’s design - the final form of the structure of the platforms as well as the concourse facing Swanston Street remains incomplete. The original intention was for there to be multiple arched iron roofs with glass paned walls enveloping the sides so as to complement the symmetry seen in the rest of the administrative building (Above). This has resulted in the addition of the east concourse area built mainly in 1983 with an unsympathetic design which distracts from the form of the administrative building and its strong visual symmetry.

Flinders Street Station consists of three different parts; the administrative building built in 1910, the concourse area bordering Swanston Street built in 1983 and the general platforms below for trains. Although claimed by the Architects to be inspired by French renaissance architecture, many of the visual elements present suggest more of a confluence of varying Western styles popular around the time the station was built. These include the strong symmetrical composition of major elements, large copper domes and highly detailed wall reliefs influenced by Beaux Arts architecture; the grouping of window under arches along with the heavy base were derived from Romanesque Revival architecture; as well as a range of material finishes including rendered bright yellow concrete and red bricks typical of buildings in Melbourne of similar time origin.

The administrative building itself is an imposing structure that dominates a considerable portion of Flinders Street between Swanston and Queen Street.

Large repetitive rows of windows and wide structural arches that

span over multiple levels follow a composition bound by regulated lines along the facade of this side of the station, creating a visually striking appearance, lending to the monumental scale intended of Flinders Street Station (Below).

However, the portion of the building at the intersection of Swanston and Flinders Street commands even higher visual precedence than the portion occupying Flinders Street.

The facade of the administrative building at this location is positioned 45 degrees against the intersection with strict symmetry of all major elements, creating a visual tension enhanced by the archway that draws crowds out of the station and into this ‘framed’ view of the city’s surroundings. Adding to this is the copper dome with a flagpole on top that reinforces the line of symmetry that dictates the composition of the facade. A careful hierarchy of spaces platform to concourse to atrium to steps to road intersection - has been dictated largely by this portion of the station with the intention of creating a gateway into the public domain of the CBD being highly apparent.

Plant inspired motif on stained glass windows.

Internally, many of the wall reliefs and finishes under the dome can be considered a derivation of Art Nouveau motifs. In particular, the stain glass used on the main arch entrance at the Swanston and Flinders Street intersection employs significant use of Art Nouveau motifs such as plant-derived forms and flowing curvilinear patterns (Above). Not as a blatant in influence as the stained glass wall, the ceiling relief patterns make use of the same plant inspired motifs but more in line with French Rococo elements like with the friezes present on the external facade of the building.

Culture Victoria, 2010