Thursday 22 August 2013

FORMER AMP BUILDING

The former AMP society building is a manifestation in Melbourne of 1920’s American traditions in high rise office building design and is comparable with the work of McKim, Mead and White, and Richardson and Sullivan at this time. This conservatively styled structure, deriving from the Italian Renaissance, is an exemplar of masonry veneer construction with outstanding and original details within the impressive ground floor chamber and above. The building is a distinguished work of Bates, Smart and McCutcheon, and stands on a historic Melbourne site. The ground floor chamber has all the essential detail preserved with the office floors above adapted to changing office requirements.

Much of the lower part of the building is now the Silk Road Restaurant and Bar. Drawing from the historic trading route, the Silk Road, the eponymous bar sets a new standard for the local bar scene. Chinese silk and 16th Century European opulence mix and European, Middle Eastern and Asian design and food are on offer. Silk Road features eight bars, including a wine and cheese room, and a cognac, champagne, cocktail and caviar room. For something to eat, you have a choice from the Chinese chop shop, the European Meze table, the sushi counter or the Teppanyaki grill.

The building is on the site where John Pascoe Fawker, one of the founders of Melbourne purchased land in the second Melbourne land sale in 1837.

This post is part of the Signs, Signs meme.





4 comments:

  1. Interesting little corner of history!!!

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  2. I always make a point of reading these blue historical plaques. Nice, succinct information.

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  3. I love your content and just wanted to leave a note to say thanks.

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  4. Hi, I read your blog post details.It is really awesome post and I found good and useful information here. Thanks for sharing it.

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