Architectural treasures open this weekend

Lovers of heritage, architecture and history can join us for a peak inside two of Bayside's most notable buildings this coming weekend.

The Bayside Arts and Cultural Centre at the former Brighton Town Hall and Brighton Council Chambers will be open to the public as part of Open House Melbourne.

The Gallery, Town Hall, Brighton Theatre Company, Brighton Historical Society, Council Chambers and associated meeting rooms will be open - join us a for self-guided tour on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 July from 1-5pm each day, no bookings necessary. 

The former Town Hall is a large two-storey Classical Revival building, and is the historical and visual focus of the precinct, built right to the footpath and balanced by the Town Hall gardens and the Victorian streetscape. 

The Bayside Council Chambers is part of the Bayside Arts and Culture precinct, completed in 1961 and designed by architect Kevin Knight. The interior of the circular foyer – (now removed to make way for the Brighton Library which opened in 1997) – Council Chamber, and two circular meeting rooms were designed by Grant Featherston and are an intact example of late 1950s interior design in Victoria. Featherston was a leading Australian industrial designer who earned a popular acceptance unique in the history of the industrial design movement in this country.

The Chambers is of architectural importance as an expression of the influence in Australia of the work of internationally renowned American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The building, with its prominent curved and tapering 'drum' form, recalls Wright’s design for the Guggenheim Museum (1946–1959) in Fifth Avenue, New York, which successfully combines curved and planar forms and integrates landscaping into the building fabric through the use of planter retaining walls. The Civic Centre represents a successful translation of the Organic International style of architecture into a suburban public building in Victoria.

For further information about Open House Melbourne visit our event page or  www.openhousemelbourne.org