Client Colonial First State Property Management
The Myer Mural Hall is located on the sixth floor of Myer Melbourne — an iconic building of cultural significance to the state capital. As part of an award-winning $300m refurbishment programme for the whole department store and the associated work done by Lovell Chen on the heritage aspects of the building’s fabric, the Hall has been restored as closely as possible to its 1935 appearance.
Originally designed as a formal dining room, Myer Mural Hall has been used for many types of events. Right from the beginning it was used for in-house fashion parades and was for many years a focus of the Melbourne fashion scene. The room is lined with a sequence of ten Napier Waller murals and features balconies at the north and south ends, plus a pair of ‘mannequin stairs’.
Later paint finishes have been removed, modern parquet flooring lifted and a damaged fibrous plaster ceiling removed. In their place are a reconstructed timber-strip floor and the original decorative scheme reinstated. The chandeliers have been re-wired, repaired and cleaned, followed by the application of a protective wax coating. New carpet runners and curtains are based on those shown in early photographs.
As part of the heritage interpretation scheme we devised for the building, the terminal point of the Lamsom pneumatic cash tube system that once serviced the retail floors has been moved from the basement to a display area adjacent to the Mural Hall. The workings of the system are explained and illustrated on panels.
The restoration and refurbishment works at Myer Melbourne were preceeded by the development of a conservation management plan for the Myer complex by Lovell Chen in 2005/6.
Heritage data
constructed 1933
victorian heritage register H 2100
photos : Sarah Anderson
photos of interpretation elements : Lovell Chen
SELECTED REPORTS HELD
full list : see REPORTS INDEX
The Myer Emporium: Conservation Management Plan
Lovell Chen / DECEMBER 2005 : CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT PLAN
Myer Mural Hall, 314 Bourke Street, Melbourne: Assessment of Heritage Significance
Allom Lovell & Associates / AUGUST 1996 : HERITAGE ASSESSMENT
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