Melbourne Open House scheme offers peek behind closed doors
The Melbourne Open House scheme features 75 buildings that will be open this year on its July 30-31 weekend.
The scheme comprises mostly offices, but the residences on show include the ground floor and gardens of Bishopscourt (pictured, photo by Ken Ng), the 1853 East Melbourne mansion. Built for Bishop Perry, first Anglican Bishop of Melbourne, the bluestone house is the oldest in East Melbourne.
Tickets were required, and have now all been allocated for the Triptych at Southbank, a 24-level apartment tower designed as a series of eight three-storey "vertical villages" that aim for a sense of community.
There’s also be an opportunity to see two city properties built as homes but no longer lived in. The top floors of the 1887 ANZ Gothic-style bank in Collins Street, once the home of George Verdon, general manager of the bank for which it was built, will be part of tours that will include the richly decorated banking chamber.
Parts of three Charles Webb-designed terraces in Tasma Terrace, now home to the National Trust, will also be open.
Inspired by similar programs initiated in London and New York, Melbourne Open House has installed its own ambassador, Grand Designs host and architect Peter Maddison. Maddison favours the Town Hall, Lyons Architecture Office and the old Land Titles Office, which has a fireproof vault that Maddison marvels is an interwoven three-storey vertical space with narrow walkways and spiral stairs all made from hot riveted steel, solid-slate shelving and bluestone. It has not been touched since the 1880s.
“You can understand the emphasis we place on freehold land ownership when you visit this one," Maddison told The Age.
Of the 75 buildings on offer, entry to six was selected by earlier ballot.
