Final Harry the Hirer Evidence C149 RAWORTH

Former Repco Factory
81-95 Burnley Street, Richmond
Expert Witness Statement to Panel
Amendment C149 to the Yarra Planning Scheme
March 2013
bryce raworth pty ltd
conservation • urban design
19 victoria street, st kilda, vic 3182
telephone 9525 4299
Former Repco Factory
81-95 Burnley Street, Richmond
Expert Witness Statement to Panel
Amendment C149 to the Yarra Planning Scheme
March 2013
1.0
Introduction
This report was commissioned by the owners of the former Repco factory at 8195 Burnley Street, Richmond (presently occupied by Harry the Hirer). I have
been asked to comment on the proposal to apply a heritage overlay to this site
under Amendment C149 to the Yarra Planning Scheme.
This statement addresses the significance of the existing buildings on the site and
the appropriateness of their inclusion in the heritage overlay schedule to the
Yarra Planning Scheme.
2.0
Sources of Information
The analysis below draws upon a detailed inspection of the exterior and interior
of the site, along with research including Sands and McDougall Directories,
MMBW plans, historical photographs and Repco Ltd company records held by
the University of Melbourne Archives. I have also reviewed the Amendment
C149 documentation, including the statement of significance for the site prepared
by Graeme Butler & Associates, and the relevant heritage studies, including the
City of Yarra Heritage Review (Allom Lovell & Assoc., 1998), and the Richmond
Conservation Study (John & Thurley O’Connor, Architects & Ros Coleman &
Heather Wright Architects, 1985).
3.0
Author Qualifications
A statement of my qualifications and experience with respect to urban
conservation issues is appended to this report. Note that I have provided expert
witness evidence on similar matters before the VCAT, Heritage Council,
Planning Panels Victoria and the Building Appeals Board on numerous occasions
in the past, and have been retained in such matters variously by municipal
councils, developers and objectors to planning proposals.
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Expert Witness Statement – Amendment C149
4.0
81-95 Burnley St, Richmond
Summary of views
In summary, it is my view that the heritage overlay proposed for the site at 81-95
Burnley Street, Richmond should be reduced in extent, with regard to heritage
considerations, for the following reasons.
•
•
5.0
The subject site is of significance sufficient to warrant a heritage control,
although it is of only modest interest at the local level.
The extent of the listing proposed under Amendment C149 should be
reduced to reflect the fact that the focus of architectural and historical
interest is found with the buildings to Burnley Street, and the balance of
the site is of low interest.
Declaration
I declare that I have made all the inquiries that I believe are desirable and
appropriate, and that no matters of significance which I regard as relevant have to
my knowledge been withheld from the Panel.
BRYCE RAWORTH
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Expert Witness Statement – Amendment C149
6.0
81-95 Burnley St, Richmond
Listings and Controls
City of Yarra
As noted above, Council proposes to introduce a heritage control for this site as
part of Amendment C149 to the Yarra planning scheme. The proposed site
specific heritage overlay (HO385) covers all of the site occupied by Harry the
Hirer apart from a small parcel of land in the north-east corner associated with
existing heritage overlay for 26 Doonisde Street (HO252).
Figure 1
Extent of the heritage overlay proposed by Amendment C149. The dashed lined marks the
full extent of the Harry the Hirer site.
Figure 2
Current heritage overlay map
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Expert Witness Statement – Amendment C149
81-95 Burnley St, Richmond
Heritage Victoria
The subject site is not included on the Victorian Heritage Register.
National Trust of Australia (Victoria)
The subject site is not included on the Register of the National Trust of Australia
(Victoria).
Australian Heritage Council
The subject site is not included on the Commonwealth Heritage List nor is it on
the National Heritage Lister. Neither was the site listed on the Register of the
National Estate (this register has been discontinued).
7.0
History
Repco had its beginnings in 1922 when motor mechanic George Russell began
reconditioning engines in a Collingwood workshop. The business thrived but
Russell found it increasingly difficult to obtain and stock sufficient spare parts to
meet demand. To remedy this situation, Russell began to import and sometimes
modify a range of automotive spare parts.
In 1924, Russell moved to larger premises in Queensberry Street, Carlton, then
the centre of Melbourne's motor trade. Two years later he and a friend Bill Ryan
formed the Replacement Parts Co. (later abbreviated to become ‘Repco’). Their
office was located in Elizabeth Street. The company distributed automotive spare
parts, accessories and general equipment, stocking its own products and those of
other firms. Profitable trading enabled allied company Russell Manufacturing
Co. Pty Ltd to set up a piston casting foundry in North Melbourne in 1927.
In 1930, Russell Manufacturing relocated to a former plaster making factory on
the north-east corner of Burnley and Appleton streets, Richmond.1 The factory is
first listed in Sands and McDougall Directory in 1931 as Russell Manufacturing,
motor accessories, 89-95 Burnley Street. The site was previously occupied by the
Stucold Plastic Art Co., fibrous plaster manufacturers. North of the Russell
factory, the properties at 85 and 87 Burnley Street were occupied by dwellings.
On Appleton Street, there were residences east of the Russell factory, beginning
at 5 Appleton Street.2
Repco chose the Burnley site because it was bounded on three sides by roads, and
this allowed for a reasonably straight line production sequence.3 The foundry
buildings were open sided according to a 1933 description:
… climatic conditions are such that no glazing is necessary for the shops, nor is there
need for heating, whilst obviously, ventilation is automatic. The main foundry shop,
1 Allom Lovell, City of Yarra Heritage Review: Building Citations, p.122.
2 Sands and McDougall directory, 1931.
3 ‘A Modern Australian Foundry’, in Foundry Trade Journal, September 7, 1933, p.129. Repco Ltd
company records, University of Melbourne.
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Expert Witness Statement – Amendment C149
81-95 Burnley St, Richmond
which is 100 feet by 200 ft, is divided into two main bays, wherein the two main
products, pistons and rings are self contained units…4
In 1938, the Argus reported that Repco had built a ‘new foundry and warehouse’
at Richmond. The foundry was further extended in the period 1939-19405 when
new offices were built at 26 Doonside Street. 6 The residences at 5 and 7
Appleton Street disappear from Sands and McDougall directories in 1941. These
sites had presumably been absorbed into the Russell factory the preceding year as
part of the foundry expansion.
In March 1942, Russell Manufacturing purchased additional land and expanded
northwards along Burnley Street towards the Doonside Street corner.7 A new
building erected on this corner in the same year was illustrated in a contemporary
advertisement (Figure 3).
To meet wartime demand, Repco acquired additional foundry floor space in
1943, measuring 40 ft by 132 ft (12.2m x 40.2m).8 Related correspondence from
the Ministry of Munitions to Russell Manufacturing mentions that the company’s
pistons and piston rings were urgently required by the United States Army.9 The
factory expansion was described in a 1943 advertisement:
‘Repco is closely associated with Australia’s war effort on the industrial front and is
engaged in producing its quota of munitions and war equipment as well as a steady flow
of automotive parts for essential services. To meet the extra strain placed on the
manufacturing division, a new plant and extension of its foundry were completed…10
Figure 3
A 1943 illustration of the newly completed Repco building on the corner of Burnley Street
and Doonside Street. Source: Sands and McDougall Directory.
4 Ibid.
5 Sydney Morning Herald, 5 November 1940, p.7.
6 Allom Lovell and Assoc. City of Yarra Heritage Review, Building Citations, p.122.
7 Repco Company records, University of Melbourne Archives.
8 Repco Company records, University of Melbourne Archives.
9 Repco Company records, University of Melbourne Archives.
10 Sands and McDougall Directory, 1943, p. a58.
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Expert Witness Statement – Amendment C149
81-95 Burnley St, Richmond
The Russell factory appears to have reached almost its full extent of development
by the end of World War II, apart from some residential buildings on Appleton
Street visible in a 1945 aerial photograph (Figure 4).
Figure 4
A 1945 aerial photograph of the Repco factory. The current Harry the Hirer site
boundary is marked by a dashed line. Source: University of Melbourne library.
In the post war years Repco steadily increased its business, thriving on its
manufacture of parts for the Holden motor car. By 1958, the Russell factory had
expanded east along Appleton Street to take over sites at no.13 and 15. From
1962, Sands and McDougall directories list a Russell Manufacturing storage
facility at 21-27 Appleton Street.11
Figure 5
A 1957 photograph Repco building on the corner of Burnley Street and Doonside Street.
Source: ‘Repco Record’ (University of Melbourne Archives).
11 Sands and McDougall Directory, 1962.
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Expert Witness Statement – Amendment C149
81-95 Burnley St, Richmond
Repco moved into high-performance engine construction in the 1960s in
association with Formula 1 driver Jack Brabham. They developed a new V8
engine for Brabham, which had its first successful testing at the Burnley Street
factory in March 1965.12 The following year, Brabham won the French, British,
Dutch and German Grands Prix and World Formula One Driver's
Championship. Also in 1966, the Repco-Brabham engine building facilities at
Richmond were relocated to another Repco site at Maidstone.13
Figure 6
8.0
A c1962 illustration of the Repco factory. Areas shaded red have been demolished.
Source: University of Melbourne Archives.
Description
The subject site consists of a large area of land bound by Burnley Street to the
west, Doonside Street to the north, and Appleton Street to the south. The site is
occupied by a factory complex, principally constructed in stages during the 1930s,
1940s and 1950s but with some modern additions. The buildings vary from one
to two storeys in height and typically have brick walls to the perimeter and steel
framed sawtooth roofs. There are also a small number of hipped or gable roofed
elements.
The south-west corner of the site is occupied by a single-storey building with a
south facing sawtooth roof. It has brick walls to the street with regularly spaced
steel framed windows under a rendered parapet. The parapet has simple
interwar Moderne detailing in the form of horizontal incisions, found at either
end and at the corner. The stepped pediment on the Burnley Street frontage is
also typical of the Moderne style. The pediment seems to have originally marked
the location of the principal entry but this has been infilled with brick and
windows. There is also a plainly designed first floor addition at northern end of
12 www.motorsportsalmanac.com/mastuff/articles/RN_020310.pdf
13 http://repco.com.au/CA2571B70016E7AE/page/About+Us?OpenDocument&1=06About+Us~&2=~&3=~
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Expert Witness Statement – Amendment C149
81-95 Burnley St, Richmond
the Burnley Street frontage.
The physical evidence suggests the that Appleton Street corner building is not a
remnant of the former plaster factory taken over by Russell Engineering in 1930.
The Moderne detailing here is more consistent with a late 1930s construction
date, making it likely that this building is the ‘new warehouse and foundry’
described in the 1938 Argus article (refer section 7.0 of this report).
The north-west corner of the site is occupied by a double-storey interwar
Moderne style building erected in 1942. It is chamfered at the corner and has no
setback on both street frontages. External walls are constructed of face brick with
rendered dressings and a rendered parapet concealing the roofline. There are
regularly spaced multi-pane steel-framed windows on both sides, linked together
by continuous projecting concrete hoods. The corner entry is marked by vertical
glass brick windows with a rendered surround. The building remains broadly
intact externally to its 1942 state but alterations have been made which detract
from its overall appearance. These alterations include:
• An upper storey addition on the Doonside Street façade with a series
of narrow fixed sash windows (in contrast to the wide multi-pane steelframed windows on the original).
• Removal of original signage from the Doonside Street and Burnley
Street parapets. Early photographs show metal ribbon type signage in
these locations (refer figure 5 above). It is not clear if the ‘Repco’ sign
on the corner parapet was also removed, or if it survives behind the
present Harry the Hirer sign.
• Two first floor window frames on the Doonside Street façade have
been removed and the openings divided into smaller windows with
modern fixed sash glazing.
• Four of the ground floor windows on the Doonside Street façade have
been replaced by modern glass brick.
• All external wall surfaces have been overpainted a uniform blue colour
(obscuring the original design of face brick with contrasting light
coloured render).
• The corner flagpole has been removed.
The buildings occupying the western half of the site are broadly intact to their
mature post war state. Demolition has been more widespread across the eastern
half of the site. The double-storey gable roofed building on Appleton Street is
shown in a c1960s illustration extending much further east. Several of the
sawooth roofed bays behind the gable were also removed and their place a
modern tilt-slab structure has been erected. On the Doonside Street frontage,
factory buildings flanking the extant Moderne style offices at no.26 have been
removed. Also on Doonside Street, a brick building has been part demolished (as
evidenced by the three truncated window openings). Just behind this brick
building, the end walls have been removed from two sawtooth roofed bays,
exposing the steel frame.
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