Malvern Median PriceThe House price is 3% lower than last year.
Surrounding suburbs| Armadale | $1,834,800  | | Caulfield North | $1,827,100 | | Glen Iris | $2,079,300  | | Hawthorn | $2,343,700 | | Hawthorn East | $2,266,400 | | Malvern East | $1,841,200  | | Toorak | $2,045,700 |
Malvern Median RentThe House rent is 9% higher than last year.
| | Map | Street view | Nearby property price | | Planning History: | | | Registered as Victorian heritage | Last updated on - May 27, 2008
Completed in 1959, the former English, Scottish and Australian (E.S. & A.) Bank is of architectural and historic significance at a State level as being one of the finest of a series of banks designed by the then head of the bank's architectural department, Stuart McIntosh; as representing one of the most innovative and sophisticated architectural responses to the bank as a building type in the 1950s; and as representing a radically fresh and progressive image sought by a traditionally conservative client. The design is also indicative of moves by architects in the late 1950s toward greater use of decorative material, veneer and sculptural modelling in an attempt to satisfy needs beyond simply the functional and structural. The bold abstract design conceived with the assistance of architect Robert Garner is composed of what appears from Glenferrie Road to be a solid mass clad in Gosford sandstone which hovers above a plane of black granite laid with visually prominent white horizontal joints. On the street corner, a series of six dramatically cantilevering horizontal planes spaced 450mm apart interlock onto this massive form. They provide sun protection to the north and west windows of the five metre high banking chamber within and result in a series of deeply cast shadows emphasising the sculptural nature and horizontality of the building composition. The sun hoods epitomize the period interest in the "brise solel" and its frequent exaggerated expression. Below these 1.2m deep fins and separated by a band of glass is a base of horizontally coursed Castlemaine slate which inside houses a garden of indoor plants. On the High Street elevation, the composition of interlocking forms is completed by another plane of black granite.
The bank interior is also significant in that it contains the abstract sculptural reliefs cut from steel and finished in brass and copper designed by the great Melbourne artist Charles Bush.
The major relief which follows the theme of "Man and his Aspirations" is located above the counter while sandwiched between the teller counters are rectangular panels elaborated with similar designs. A daring touch is the use of pink glass to the north and west windows which softens the interior colour scheme and contrast with the reflected light from the pale blue soffits and strong blue green roofs of the external horizontal fins.
The bank's prominent corner siting directly opposite the imposing classical lines of Malvern Town Hall (1885) further adds to the building's significance. A striking contrast in architectural modes of composition is established which is nonetheless compatible with the adjacent mix of building types lining the shopping strips of Glenferrie Road and High Street and the institutional and residental buildings to the building's rear. The design of this suburban bank has in Victoria only one other and contemporary equal in |
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