Harry Norris

Harry Norris (12 June 1888 – 15 December 1966) was an Australian architect, one of the more prolific and successful in Melbourne in the interwar period, best known for his 1930s Art Deco commercial work in the Melbourne CBD.

His designs were informed by his regular overseas trips, especially to the United States, which he visited at least every 18 months from perhaps the late 1920s;^[1] and he was one of the very first architects to introduce the Art Deco style to major commercial projects.

He had a strong and long relationship with the wealthy Nicholas family, designing not only the Nicholas Building, but the Aspro factory in South Melbourne, the spectacular mansion 'Burnham Beeches' in the Dandenongs for Alfred Nicholas, and various additions and alterations to Wesley College following a bequest from the family. He also had a long relationship with G. J. Coles, designing branches of their eponymous Coles Stores from the late 1920s, numerous matching Art Deco branches in the 1930s, and some of their earliest supermarkets in the 1950s, as well as a country house for E. B. Coles in 1938. He refused membership of the RVIA for many years until finally joining on the 21 February 1946. Harry Norris retired on his 76th birthday in June 1966 and died six months later.^[2]

Selected buildings

Nicholas Building, Melbourne

Nicholas Building

Address: 27-41 Swanston Street

Date of construction: 1925–26, 1939–40 (extension)

The Nicholas Building is one of the most distinctive interwar office blocks in Melbourne. The facade is an essay in the Commercial Palazzo or Stripped Classical on a grand scale, with classical elements such as tall ionic pilasters and Doric columns and a wide cornice, all executed in architectural terra cotta, known in Australia as faience. The Cathedral Arcade is located on the ground floor and its glazed leadlight barrel vaulted ceiling is a main feature of the building. Norris had his architecture practice here from 1926 until moving to 136 Jolimont Road East Melbourne in the 1950s. The Nicholas Building was originally used as offices and retail, and as of the 2010s is known for specialist retail and creative industries.

Block Court

Address: 288-292 Collins Street

Date of construction:1929-30

Block Court was a remodelling project, introducing a shopping arcade to the ground floor of an older building (the 1890 Athenaeum Club, connecting Collins Street with the Block Arcade. Block Court is noted for its extensive use of Art Deco detailing, such as the zigzag decoration to the copper shop window frames, patterned stained glass highlight windows, patterned multi-colour terrazzo flooring and elaborate ceiling decoration with stepped geometric shapes and floral motifs. Along with the Coles Store, also designed by Norris, it was amongst the earliest notable examples of Art Deco design in Melbourne, and remains the most ornate Art Deco interior in the city.^[3]

G.J. Coles Building

David Jones Store(Former G. J. Coles Store), Melbourne

Address: 298-304 Bourke Street

Date of construction: 1929-30, 1938-40 (extension), 1984 Bates Smart McCutcheon (conversion to David Jones)

Builder: Clements Langford Pty. Ltd.

Engineer: Mr. Clive S.Steele

The building is noted for its use of colorful Jazz Moderne detailing, the unusual mauve colour of the faience facade and an overall verticality created by the use of prominent vertical piers, a form known locally as "Commercial Gothic". It was one of the first large scale examples of Art Deco design in Melbourne both inside and out, opening in March 1930 to expectant crowds.^[4]

Mitchell House, Melbourne

Mitchell House

Address: 325-362 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne

Date of construction: 1937^[5]

Mitchell House is located at the corner of Elizabeth Street and Lonsdale Street. The building is a fine example of Streamline Moderne, featuring horizontal bands of windows wrapping around the curved corner, broken by a contrasting vertical element topped by the gold lettering of the building's name.

Carlow House, Melbourne

Notable projects

• Tattersall's Club premises (now Curtin House), 248–258 Swanston Street, Melbourne, 1922
• Deva House, 327 Bourke Street, Melbourne, 1924
• Nicholas Building, 27-41 Swanston Street, Melbourne, 1926
• Majorca Building, 258-260 Flinders Lane, 1929
• Former Kellow Falkiner Showrooms, 375-379 St.Kilda Road, South Yarra, 1928 (altered)
• Block Court Arcade, 288–292 Collins Street, 1930
• G.J.Coles Stores, 299–307 Bourke Street, Melbourne, 1928–1930
• Northcote Town Hall auditorium and lobby refurbishment, 197–201 High Street, Northcote, 1930
• Burnham Beeches, Sherbrooke Road, Sassafras, 1931–33
• Moonya, 9 Lakeside Drive, Country Club Estate, Emerald, c1935
• Silver Birches, 1 Mary St, Country Club Estate, Emerald, 1937
• Melford Motors Showroom, 615 Elizabeth Street, North Melbourne, 1937
• Mission to Seamen, 1 Beach Road, Port Melbourne, 1937 (dem c1992)
• Former Capitol Bakeries, 625 Chapel Street, 1937 (dem 2017)
• Hendra, 11 Williams Rd Mt Eliza, 1938
• Northern Bakery (later Tip Top), 170 Edward Street, East Brunswick, 1940 (altered)
• Coles Store, Ivanhoe, 115–117 Upper Heidelberg Road, Ivanhoe, 1940
• Nicholas Hall, 148 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, 1940
• Ivanhoe Grammar School, The Ridgeway, Ivanhoe, 1954
• Fowlers Vacola Manufacturing Factory, 275 Burwood Rd, Hawthorn, 1955 (now The Works homewares store)
• Australian and New Zealand Bank, 224-236 Queen Street, Melbourne, 1958 (altered)
• Windsor Hotel, Spring Street (north extension), 1961
• Kodak Factory (1950s–60s) and administration building (1964) (dem 2011).

References

Further reading

• Freeland, J. M. (1968) Architecture In Australia - A History. Penguin Books.
• Goad, P & Plaxe, K. (2002) A Short History of Melbourne Architecture. Pesaro Publishing.
• Goad, P. (1999) Melbourne Architecture. The Watermark Press.
• Grow, R. (2009) Melbourne Art Deco. Ripe Off The Press.