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Melbourne CBD

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The former ES&A Bank is sitting on the corner of Queen St and Collins St in Melbourne CBD with the main Entrance on Collins Street. The Gothic revival design of the former ES&A Bank was done by architect William Wardell and was modified by the General Manager of the bank, Sir George Verdon, who also commissioned the project. The contractors were Goss & Masson of Hawthorn. The final cost of the building was over £77,000 which was about twice the budget. The construction of the bank began in October 1883 and was opened in May 1887. It was combined in 1923 with the Former Melbourne Stock Exchange, which sits beside it on Collins Street, forming the famous ANZ Gothic Bank. The ground floor of former ES&A Bank building is now functioning as a normal …show more content…

It was placed in the banking precinct in Melbourne CBD, which was the business centre in Melbourne or even in Australia at the time. The building of the bank chamber was during the speculative days of Melbourne’s 1880s land boom. Large amount of money was poured into the CBD to build new office buildings. The former ES&A was not only used as banking chambers, but also as residence of the bank manager Sir George Verdon on the 1st and 2nd floor. This is the only example of combination of banking and residence in Melbourne CBD we could still …show more content…

Windows are decorated with pointed arches and traceries that support the glass and repeat on the facade.

The interior of the bank is far more ornate than the exterior. One of the features of the banking chamber is the appealing cast iron columns and decorated trusses. The cast iron columns and scallop brackets are locally made in a Carlton foundry. Each column capitals was designed differently with wrought copper flowers, foliage or vegetatbles. The cast iron metal trusses were painted and decorated to relate harmoniously to the colomns’ colouring. The practice of combining structural elements and decorations were accomplished in the Gothic idiom.

The ceiling panels are covered with white canvas and hand painted with five coats of oil paint and gold leaf. The decorations of ceiling was done by Lyon, Wells, Cottier & CoIn and costed 2305 dollars. the centre of each ceiling panel they put shields representing the arms of England, Scottland and Australia, the arms of the bank and principle cities which the bank operated in. The bolt heads and spandrel openings were picked out and the shafts of columns were gilded and decorated. The cornices were also intricate and added to the overall effect of

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