Total House, 1984-5 CAD sheet 27 08
Melbourne Central Activities District (CAD) Conservation Study 1985 survey images: approx. 1200 Kodak colour negatives
NATIONAL TRUST OF AUSTRALIA (VIC)
`Total House, comprising the Total Car Park, Total Office building and basement Total Theatre, was built in 1964-5. It was built on land purchased by the City of Melbourne between 1959 and 1961for the purpose of providing car parking. The site was leased by early 1963 for 75 years to the Savoy Car Park Company, who built the structure. This company was associated with Gordon Banfield, whose architectural firm Bogle Banfield and Associates, were responsible for the design of Total House, with Bernard Joyce as the project architect. Banfield and his companies owned or developed many carparks and entertainment venues in the CBD in the 1960s and 70s. The creation of a theatre/nightclub in the basement was reported as an exciting innovation for the period. The carpark and office building have been in continuous use since the building's completion, while the nightclub has gone through a number of transformations. It opened as the Paris-style Lido nightclub, which provided a new type of entertainment for Melburnians. The Lido allowed patrons to enjoy dinner and drinks while watching elaborate floorshows. It hosted acts including Winifred Atwell, Eartha Kitt, Shirley Bassey, and risque 'nude revues' until 1972. Since 1980 it has been a music and dance venue known as The Billboard nightclub.
Most of the shopfronts and the entry were altered in the 1980s or 1990s, and the concrete balustrades of the carpark were painted in the 1980s.
The building is a reinforced concrete construction, with seven elevated parking decks, and four levels of offices over a smaller area elevated above the top deck. The carpark levels are utilitarian in design and horizontal in form, joined by a pair of ramps, with columns inset about two metres from all edges. The almost solid balustrades, relieved only by long horizontal slots, dominate the appearance of the building from the street and create a strong horizontal effect. The office block, which is raised high above the top carpark level on inset columns, takes the form of an almost solid box open only to the north and south through deeply inset curtain
walls. The effect has been likened to an old-style giant TV set. There are panels of brown brick at ground level on the Little Bourke Street and laneway sides, near the car entry, and around the lift doors, mostly painted. The carpark lifts are located on the rear boundary, though the Russell Street office lifts also once served the carpark.
The shopfronts have mostly been altered; those on Russell Street have been brought forward from their original setback alignment. The office/nightclub lift opens directly onto Russell Street through a small lobby. An angled glass canopy has been added at ground level along Russell Street obscuring the first level balustrade of the
carpark.''
Total House, 1984-5 CAD sheet 27 08
Melbourne Central Activities District (CAD) Conservation Study 1985 survey images: approx. 1200 Kodak colour negatives
NATIONAL TRUST OF AUSTRALIA (VIC)
`Total House, comprising the Total Car Park, Total Office building and basement Total Theatre, was built in 1964-5. It was built on land purchased by the City of Melbourne between 1959 and 1961for the purpose of providing car parking. The site was leased by early 1963 for 75 years to the Savoy Car Park Company, who built the structure. This company was associated with Gordon Banfield, whose architectural firm Bogle Banfield and Associates, were responsible for the design of Total House, with Bernard Joyce as the project architect. Banfield and his companies owned or developed many carparks and entertainment venues in the CBD in the 1960s and 70s. The creation of a theatre/nightclub in the basement was reported as an exciting innovation for the period. The carpark and office building have been in continuous use since the building's completion, while the nightclub has gone through a number of transformations. It opened as the Paris-style Lido nightclub, which provided a new type of entertainment for Melburnians. The Lido allowed patrons to enjoy dinner and drinks while watching elaborate floorshows. It hosted acts including Winifred Atwell, Eartha Kitt, Shirley Bassey, and risque 'nude revues' until 1972. Since 1980 it has been a music and dance venue known as The Billboard nightclub.
Most of the shopfronts and the entry were altered in the 1980s or 1990s, and the concrete balustrades of the carpark were painted in the 1980s.
The building is a reinforced concrete construction, with seven elevated parking decks, and four levels of offices over a smaller area elevated above the top deck. The carpark levels are utilitarian in design and horizontal in form, joined by a pair of ramps, with columns inset about two metres from all edges. The almost solid balustrades, relieved only by long horizontal slots, dominate the appearance of the building from the street and create a strong horizontal effect. The office block, which is raised high above the top carpark level on inset columns, takes the form of an almost solid box open only to the north and south through deeply inset curtain
walls. The effect has been likened to an old-style giant TV set. There are panels of brown brick at ground level on the Little Bourke Street and laneway sides, near the car entry, and around the lift doors, mostly painted. The carpark lifts are located on the rear boundary, though the Russell Street office lifts also once served the carpark.
The shopfronts have mostly been altered; those on Russell Street have been brought forward from their original setback alignment. The office/nightclub lift opens directly onto Russell Street through a small lobby. An angled glass canopy has been added at ground level along Russell Street obscuring the first level balustrade of the
carpark.''