Country Australia Architecture firm Romberg & Shaw | Completed 1940s Town or city Melbourne, Victoria | |
 | ||
Address 44 Walsh street, South Yarra Architectural style Mid 20th century Expressionism style Architects Frederick Romberg, Mary Turner Shaw Similar Luna Park - Melbourne, MacFarland Library - Ormond, Newburn Flats, Sacred Heart Girls' School - O | ||
Yarrabee Flats is a building located at 44 Walsh street, South Yarra, Melbourne, Australia consisting of five flats. It was designed by the Australian architecture firm, Romberg & Shaw, consisting of Mary Turner Shaw and Frederick Romberg, both Australian architects. The building is known for its architectural style and innovation. Yarabee Flats was built in 1940 for two musicians.
Contents
Romberg
Frederick Romberg (b. 1912, Tsing-tao, China - d. 1992, Australia ) was a Swiss trained architect who emigrated to Australia in 1938. He soon became established in Melbourne as an independent architect. His work is characterised by its forward looking design features and transcendence of the rules of architecture of old Europe.
Shaw
Mary Turner Shaw (b. 1906, Victoria, Australia - d. 1990 ). Mary (Mollie) Turner Shaw had found it difficult to complete her architecture studies at the University of Melbourne, and instead became an architect via articled studentship. She worked for various Architectural Firms in Australia (1931-1936) and the UK (1937), and traveled Europe meeting many key Modernist architects. After working for others again in Australia (1938), she formed an architectural firm, Romberg & Shaw, with the Modernist architect Frederick Romberg. The firm operated from 1939 to 1942. During that period they produced "some of the most celebrated blocks of flats in Australia", including the Yarrabee Flats, and the Newburn Flats, South Melbourne, Victoriain 1939. Shaw continued to practice architecture until her retirement in 1969.
Description
Yarabee Flats takes a familiar form but its plan in elevation shows detail that is unusual in Melbourne buildings. Romberg demonstrates concern for natural light and a subtle materiality in the form of delicate, unrendered brickwork at the exterior walls. The building has crisp, rectangular blocks resting on the piloti. Striped awnings block direct sunlight. Each level has a rounded balcony constructed of curved corrugated iron. The window size is generous. The top floor flat has a large stone chimney in the lounge room.
Similar buildings
Yarrabee Flats is one of a series of pre war buildings designed by Romberg in association with Mary Turner Shaw. They were both employees of Stephenson and Turner. Two comparable buildings from the period are Newburn flats and Stanhill flats in South Melbourne. Similarities include the open, cantilevered balconies, the generous windows, and the detailed facade
Key influences
Yarrabee Flats has a sculptural quality that gives reference to European modernist architecture. These elements include curved lines and bold horizons. The influence of the work of Erich Mendelsohn, an expressionist and Walter Gropius (the Berlin housing estate) is also seen.
Renovation
Yarrabee Flats has been refurbished and its unrendered brickwork painted. The original plan of the building has been altered to suit its current use.