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Unlike many other historic buildings in the city the [[National Trust of Australia (Victoria)|National Trust]] did not list the Federal and chose not to oppose the demolition, at the time it was concerned mainly with preserving of earlier colonial era buildings and houses,<ref>{{Citation | author1=Casey, Maie | title=Early Melbourne architecture, 1840 to 1888 | year=1975 | publication-date=1953 | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn=978-0-19-550507-8 }}</ref> though in 1971 it had listed the nearby much smaller 1890 [[Rialto building group, Melbourne|Olderfleet]] in response to its acquisition by developers, one of few similar type of buildings to be Trust listed. No [[green ban]] was attempted.
Unlike many other historic buildings in the city the [[National Trust of Australia (Victoria)|National Trust]] did not list the Federal and chose not to oppose the demolition, at the time it was concerned mainly with preserving of earlier colonial era buildings and houses,<ref>{{Citation | author1=Casey, Maie | title=Early Melbourne architecture, 1840 to 1888 | year=1975 | publication-date=1953 | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn=978-0-19-550507-8 }}</ref> though in 1971 it had listed the nearby much smaller 1890 [[Rialto building group, Melbourne|Olderfleet]] in response to its acquisition by developers, one of few similar type of buildings to be Trust listed. No [[green ban]] was attempted.


Disinterest in preservation of the Federal can be explained in part by its failure to compete as hotel accommodation despite attempts at modernisation and the stark contrast of the patchwork interiors between the modern and remaining Victorian features. According to historian Robyn Annear elaborate Victorian buildings were “really on the nose” and the Federal's creaky floorboards and lack of ensuites were an "extreme embarassment" in a city desperate for progress in the late 1960s and early 1970s.<ref>[https://www.cbdnews.com.au/themes/user/site/cbdn/pdf/CBD92.pdf How cultural cringe spelled the end of Marvellous Melbourne buildings, and how locals eventually fought back] by David Schout for CBD News. November 2022, Issue 92 17</ref> However it was mostly due to its prominent association with the speculative land boom. Elaborate buildings including the Federal were painted in a negative light at the time as they were constructed speculatively with excessively large amounts of borrowed funds many of which were never paid back. In particular, the association with James Munro carried with it strong links to the city's total economic collapse and corruption prior to the [[Australian banking crisis of 1893]]. Michael Cannon's influential 1966 book 'Land Boomers' was frequently cited as justifications to rid Melbourne of the embarassment of the land boom era, his book had whole chapters dedicated to the speculative financial backing behind the Federal Coffee Palace.<ref>{{cite book | last=Cannon | first=Michael | title=The Land Boomers | publisher=Melbourne University Publish | date=1995 | isbn=0-522-84663-7}}</ref>
Disinterest in preservation of the Federal can be explained in part by its failure to compete as hotel accommodation despite attempts at modernisation and the stark contrast of the patchwork interiors between the modern and remaining Victorian features. According to historian Robyn Annear elaborate Victorian buildings were “really on the nose” and the Federal's creaky floorboards and lack of ensuites were an "extreme embarrassment" in a city desperate for progress in the late 1960s and early 1970s.<ref>[https://www.cbdnews.com.au/themes/user/site/cbdn/pdf/CBD92.pdf How cultural cringe spelled the end of Marvellous Melbourne buildings, and how locals eventually fought back] by David Schout for CBD News. November 2022, Issue 92 17</ref> However it was mostly due to its prominent association with the speculative land boom. Elaborate buildings including the Federal were painted in a negative light at the time as they were constructed speculatively with excessively large amounts of borrowed funds many of which were never paid back. In particular, the association with James Munro carried with it strong links to the city's total economic collapse and corruption prior to the [[Australian banking crisis of 1893]]. Michael Cannon's influential 1966 book 'Land Boomers' was frequently cited as justifications to rid Melbourne of the embarassment of the land boom era, his book had whole chapters dedicated to the speculative financial backing behind the Federal Coffee Palace.<ref>{{cite book | last=Cannon | first=Michael | title=The Land Boomers | publisher=Melbourne University Publish | date=1995 | isbn=0-522-84663-7}}</ref>


In response to public regret of the demolition of the Federal and other significant buildings at the time including the Menzies, the Historic buildings act 1974 and [[Historic Buildings Preservation Council]] were introduced.<ref>{{Citation | title=Historic Buildings Preservation Council | publication-date=1975 | publisher=Ministry for Planning, between 1975 and 1979] | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/22383343 | accessdate=10 October 2014}}</ref> Ironically justifications cited for not saving the Federal were used to support the preservation of the [[Hotel Windsor, Melbourne|Windsor]] just years later, the Windsor's preservation benefiting from its proximity to Parliament and the new laws introduced following the demolition of the Menzies, Federal and others which saw the Windsor become the last surviving luxury hotel of the Victorian era.
In response to public regret of the demolition of the Federal and other significant buildings at the time including the Menzies, the Historic buildings act 1974 and [[Historic Buildings Preservation Council]] were introduced.<ref>{{Citation | title=Historic Buildings Preservation Council | publication-date=1975 | publisher=Ministry for Planning, between 1975 and 1979] | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/22383343 | accessdate=10 October 2014}}</ref> Ironically justifications cited for not saving the Federal were used to support the preservation of the [[Hotel Windsor, Melbourne|Windsor]] just years later, the Windsor's preservation benefiting from its proximity to Parliament and the new laws introduced following the demolition of the Menzies, Federal and others which saw the Windsor become the last surviving luxury hotel of the Victorian era.

Revision as of 19:36, 13 March 2024

Federal Hotel and Coffee Palace
Federal Coffee Palace, 1890s
General information
LocationMelbourne, Victoria, Australia
Address555 Collins Street
Opening1888
Demolished1973
Cost£150,000
OwnerFederal Coffee Palace Company
ManagementFederal Coffee Palace Company
Height165 ft (50 m)
Technical details
Floor count9
Design and construction
Architect(s)Ellerker & Kilburn in partnership with William Pitt
DeveloperFederal Coffee Palace Company
Other information
Number of rooms560
Number of suites370

The Federal Coffee Palace was a large elaborate French Renaissance revival style 560 room temperance hotel in the city centre of Melbourne, Victoria, built between 1886 and 1888 at the height of Melbourne's 1880s land boom, and controversially demolished between 1972 and 1973.[1] Located on Collins Street, Melbourne's premier thoroughfare, on the corner of King Street, near Spencer Street Station (the address is now 555 Collins Street), it is prominent in lists of the buildings Melburnians most regret having lost.[2]

Though narrowly missing the title of Australia's second skyscraper, the 9 storey building had a 7 storey height to roof of 156 ft (48 m) and to the additional 2 storey habitable tower of 165 ft (50 m) making it briefly Melbourne and Australia's tallest building, exceeding Fink's Building in 1888 and until completion of the Australian Building in mid 1890.[3] Despite the lack of a steel frame, and partly due to tall ceilings, its height to roof was also among the highest in the world in 1888, rising a similar height to the tallest of the world's first skyscrapers in New York and Chicago.

The Federal Coffee Palace was by far the largest and grandest product of the late 19th century temperance movement in the southern hemisphere. The Age wrote that the £150,000 hotel was one of "Australia's most splendid" buildings; in fact, it was "one of the largest and most opulent hotels in the world".[4][5]

History

Design and construction

Illustration of Elleker & Kilburns 1886 competition winning design by engraver F. A. Sleap

In June 1885, the local businessmen and politicians James Mirams and James Munro established the Federal Coffee Palace Company, and announced their intention to issue £100,000 of shares to buy the plot on the corner of Collins and King, and build a seven-storey temperance hotel to the design of Tappin Gilbert and Dennehy, that would be 'the finest in the city'.[6] In November 1885, perhaps not satisfied with that design, the Company held a competition, with 13 entries; the first prize was awarded to Ellerker & Kilburn, and the second to William Pitt,[7][8] who then worked together to design 'the massive edifice', though the exterior is much as Ellerker & Kilburn designed it.[9] It was designed in French Renaissance revival.[10]

The builders were T. Cockram and W. Comely.[10] Construction began in early 1886,[11] and it opened in July 1888,[12] in time for Melbourne's Centennial Exhibition, which opened at the Exhibition Buildings on 1 August.

The building had 560 rooms in total.[10] The exterior stucco facades included sculpted figures, and multiple setbacks to relieve its great bulk, dominated by a lofty corner domed turret that was 165 ft high, and topped by mansard roofs. The interior had a huge sunlit, four storey lobby with vaulted roof and grand staircase, and a main hall reached via a long arcade loggia of 14 Ionic colums.[10] It also featured impressively appointed dining and entertaining rooms. The hotel had 370 guest bedrooms, with a penthouse suite in the tower at the top of the building. The construction took five million bricks and cost £110,000.[13] The building was serviced by a passenger lift, one of Melbourne's earliest which was popular with visitors.[10]

The Federal Coffee Palace opened in time for Melbourne's Centennial Exhibition in July 1888.[4] The first floors included billiards, dining, lounging, reading, and smoking rooms.[4][5] Its decor was so unique that the building became a tourist attraction.[4] Its upper five floors included nearly 400 luxury bedrooms.[5] The Age wrote that the £150,000 hotel was one of "Australia's most splendid" buildings; in fact, it was "one of the largest and most opulent hotels in the world".[4][5]

Hotel Operation

In 1897 the Federal gained a wine licence, and changed its name to the Federal Palace Hotel,[14] and in 1923 after years of attempts, it finally became fully licensed.[15]

Located at the warehouse /shipping end of the CBD, far from the shopping and recreation centres, and with a decline in country railway passengers arriving at Spencer Street Station, the Federal struggled to remain viable.[citation needed]

Attempts to modernise and decline in popularity

Many of the interiors rooms were modernised in the interwar period including the dining room which was to be insulated with asbestos fibre for soundproofing in 1936.[16]

The Federal was listed in 1948 as one of the key sites for the modernisation of Melbourne.[17] The site, along with the adjoining Australian Estate Company wool store, was purchased for £78,500 and earmarked for replacement with a new modern hotel building,[17] however the new hotel construction did not proceed. The owners would instead attempt to modernise some of the bars and accommodation.

Federal Hotel in the 1950s. Modification to and removal of many of the building's external ornamental features at this time is evident.
View of the building from the street in the 1950s

The upper stories were modified in the 1950s including the removal of iron cresting, the widow's walk with its viewing portals, truncation of the chimneys, the removal and enlarging of windows including modification of many of the pediments.

The modern Southern Cross Hotel completed in 1962, along with the arrival of several other modern hotels had taken much of the business from the Menzies, Federal and Windsor, contributed significantly to their lack of viability as residential hotels.

Photos from the Wolfang Sievers Collection show that during this time the reception lobby and convention conference rooms had been gutted and modernised, along with most of the accommodation rooms, in an effort to compete with the more modern hotels.[18] The huge Victorian era vestibule however remained a popular feature with visitors.

The Federal, like many similar hotels relied on the Six o'clock swill which by the 1970s and had given way to a saturation of smaller discos and nightclubs.

The Australian Women's Weekly featured a 1967 article on socialite Peter Jansen who leased the vacant upper levels and converted them into an expansive apartment in 1967 including a bedroom in the dome of the tower with an attic window from which the entire city centre could be viewed and a rooftop courtyard garden.[19]

  • Federal Coffee Palace 1890s
    Federal Coffee Palace 1890s
  • Federal Coffee Palace postcard 1908
    Federal Coffee Palace postcard 1908

Notable Guests

Its guests included Alexander Graham Bell, Herbert Hoover, and Mark Twain.[4]

Early Skyscraper

Skyscrapers by contemporary definition are 10 storeys tall and exceed 50 metres. The Federal at 9 storeys narrowly misses the criteria for floors but qualified for height when the tower is included. It had a 7 storey height to roof of 156 ft (48 m) and to the additional 2 storey habitable tower of 165 ft (50 m) making it briefly Melbourne and Australia's tallest building, exceeding Fink's Building in 1888 and until completion of the Australian Building in mid 1890.[20] Despite the lack of a steel frame, and partly due to tall ceilings, its height to roof was also among the highest in the world in 1888, rising a similar height to the tallest of the world's first skyscrapers in New York (Wilder Building and Potter Building) and Chicago (Chicago Board of Trade Building and Rookery Building) of that year.

Demolition and Legacy

One of John T Collins photos in 1972 prior to its demolition
Statuary salvaged from the building on display at McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery
A cast-iron stair balustrade (with 'FCP' in the pattern) salvaged during demolition is on display at the Melbourne of Victoria

Federal Hotels P/L, seeking funds to develop Hobart's Wrest Point Casino sold it to developers Artagen Property Group in 1971 for $3,730,794.[21] Closure and demolition for a $12 million 23 storey office development was announced, commencing March 1972[21] and completed in 1973.

Unlike many other historic buildings in the city the National Trust did not list the Federal and chose not to oppose the demolition, at the time it was concerned mainly with preserving of earlier colonial era buildings and houses,[22] though in 1971 it had listed the nearby much smaller 1890 Olderfleet in response to its acquisition by developers, one of few similar type of buildings to be Trust listed. No green ban was attempted.

Disinterest in preservation of the Federal can be explained in part by its failure to compete as hotel accommodation despite attempts at modernisation and the stark contrast of the patchwork interiors between the modern and remaining Victorian features. According to historian Robyn Annear elaborate Victorian buildings were “really on the nose” and the Federal's creaky floorboards and lack of ensuites were an "extreme embarrassment" in a city desperate for progress in the late 1960s and early 1970s.[23] However it was mostly due to its prominent association with the speculative land boom. Elaborate buildings including the Federal were painted in a negative light at the time as they were constructed speculatively with excessively large amounts of borrowed funds many of which were never paid back. In particular, the association with James Munro carried with it strong links to the city's total economic collapse and corruption prior to the Australian banking crisis of 1893. Michael Cannon's influential 1966 book 'Land Boomers' was frequently cited as justifications to rid Melbourne of the embarassment of the land boom era, his book had whole chapters dedicated to the speculative financial backing behind the Federal Coffee Palace.[24]

In response to public regret of the demolition of the Federal and other significant buildings at the time including the Menzies, the Historic buildings act 1974 and Historic Buildings Preservation Council were introduced.[25] Ironically justifications cited for not saving the Federal were used to support the preservation of the Windsor just years later, the Windsor's preservation benefiting from its proximity to Parliament and the new laws introduced following the demolition of the Menzies, Federal and others which saw the Windsor become the last surviving luxury hotel of the Victorian era.

Some elements of the building were carefully removed by Whelan the Wrecker; three of the four female statues by modeller Charles William Scurry were relocated to the then new Chateau Commodore in Lonsdale Street, and when that changed hands over 20 years later, they were donated to the McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery in Langwarrin outside Frankston, Victoria in 1996, and a panel of the cast-iron stair balustrade (with 'FCP' in the pattern) was donated by Myles Whelan to the Museum of Victoria in 1992.

The Federal's replacement, the 23 storey Enterprise House was completed by 1975.

Enterprise House the 1975 brutalist building on the right just in front and left of the much taller Rialto Towers as seen in 2008, like the Rialto was built offset to the street at 45 degrees. It was itself demolished in 2020-2021.

In 2017 approval to replace Enterprise Houes with a 46 level hotel and apartment tower was granted.[26] In 2019 the design changed to a 35 level office building with retail at ground level.[27]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Federal Coffee Palace.

References

  1. ^ History of the Hotel Federal : (formerly the Federal Coffee Palace), [s.n.], 1963, retrieved 11 August 2019
  2. ^ "Forget me not: Melbourne's glorious buildings". www.heraldsun.com.au. 7 October 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  3. ^ [The Age, Melbourne. 1 June 1888 p9
  4. ^ a b c d e f Hay, James Grant (2 March 2019). "Lost Melbourne: 10 Landmark Buildings Demolished Forever". Medium. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d Chapman, Heather; Stillman, Judith (2015). Lost Melbourne. London: Pavilion. ISBN 9781910496749.
  6. ^ "THE FEDERAL COFFEE PALACE". Bendigo Advertiser. Vol. XXXII, no. 9, 342. Victoria, Australia. 27 June 1885. p. 3. Retrieved 11 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "THE NEW FEDERAL COFFEE PALACE". The Age. No. 9597. Victoria, Australia. 21 November 1885. p. 13. Retrieved 11 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ "FEDERAL COFFEE PALACE". The Herald. No. 3035. Victoria, Australia. 14 November 1885. p. 2. Retrieved 11 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ "Federal Hotel". Australian Building and Contracting News. 27 August 1887.
  10. ^ a b c d e "The Federal Coffee Palace". Weekly Times. No. 987. Victoria, Australia. 11 August 1888. p. 3 (SUPPLEMENT TO THE WEEKLY TIMES). Retrieved 23 February 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ "THE CITY'S PROGRESS WESTWARDS". Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954). 8 June 1886. p. 6. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  12. ^ "THE FEDERAL COFFEE PALACE". Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957). 31 July 1888. p. 5. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  13. ^ "Federal Coffee Palace". Encyclopaedia of Melbourne. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  14. ^ "THE FEDERAL COFFEE PALACE". Age. 25 February 1897. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  15. ^ "FEDERAL COFFEE PALACE. hotel license applied for". Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957). 22 November 1923. p. 9. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  16. ^ Overend, J. D. (1936). Proposed Acoustic Treatment Regent Dining Room Federal Hotel Collins Street Melbourne [picture] / H. Vivian Taylor.
  17. ^ a b "NEW CITY BUILDING WILL CHANGE MELBOURNE SKYLINE". The Herald. No. 22, 274. Victoria, Australia. 11 October 1948. p. 4. Retrieved 13 February 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  18. ^ Sievers, W. (1965). [Reception desk and lobby, Federal Hotel, Collins Street, Melbourne] [picture].
  19. ^ "THE MAN IN THE FIVE-STOREY TOWER". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 35, no. 19. Australia, Australia. 4 October 1967. p. 18. Retrieved 22 February 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  20. ^ [The Age, Melbourne. 1 June 1888 p9
  21. ^ a b "The Federal Hotel will be pulled down soon". The Age. 20 January 1972.
  22. ^ Casey, Maie (1975), Early Melbourne architecture, 1840 to 1888, Oxford University Press (published 1953), ISBN 978-0-19-550507-8
  23. ^ How cultural cringe spelled the end of Marvellous Melbourne buildings, and how locals eventually fought back by David Schout for CBD News. November 2022, Issue 92 17
  24. ^ Cannon, Michael (1995). The Land Boomers. Melbourne University Publish. ISBN 0-522-84663-7.
  25. ^ Historic Buildings Preservation Council, Ministry for Planning, between 1975 and 1979], 1975, retrieved 10 October 2014
  26. ^ "Enterprising Singaporean developer starts work on 555 Collins Street". The Age. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  27. ^ "Charter Hall Lodges Plans for $1.5bn Collins Street Development". The Urban Developer. 19 April 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2020.

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