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Heritage Register
Commonwealth Offices,
Melbourne, VIC
Finance ID
Number
Commonwealth
Heritage List
Place ID
Number
Ownership
DFD-61020
105453
Owned by Finance on
behalf of the
Commonwealth
Department of Finance, date unknown.
Location
The Commonwealth Offices are located at 4 Treasury
Place, Melbourne Victoria.
The Commonwealth Offices building is associated with the
foundation of the Commonwealth of Australia and with
Melbourne as the Seat of the Federal Government until 1927.
Source: Department of Finance, date unknown.
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Description of the Place
Commonwealth Offices Building is a Commonwealth Administrative Building located at 4 Treasury
Place, East Melbourne VIC. The property is located east of the Melbourne city centre near State
Parliament House and overlooks Treasury and Fitzroy Gardens.
Other significant buildings in the area include Royal Exhibition Building and Melbourne Museum,
both located within Carlton Gardens 1km north-east of Commonwealth Offices Building. To the
south is also the Melbourne Cricket Ground, while Saint Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral and Holy Trinity
Lutheran Church lie 200m to the north.
Commonwealth Offices Building was designed for and has only ever been used as a Commonwealth
Administration Building.
Physical Characteristics
The Commonwealth Offices lie in a precinct of public buildings dating from 1858, with the style of 4
Treasury Place drawing on its existing neighbours and providing a series of elegant public office
buildings.
The building was designed in the Edwardian Baroque style, and was constructed using three colours
of marble brought in from Gippsland. The more decorative detail of the building lies at its entry, as
well as the concrete staircase and foyers of the floors.
History and Summary of uses of the Place
The Commonwealth Offices building at 4 Treasury Place was the first office building constructed by
the Commonwealth after Federation. The building’s use reflected the fact that Melbourne was the
seat of the Commonwealth Government until Federal Parliament was opened in Canberra in 1927.
A signed agreement in 1910 commenced design and construction of the
building, which took place between1911-13. Original designs conformed
to the design of the nearby Victorian Department of Agriculture building.
Minister King O’Malley discarded the State of Victoria’s designs and
commissioned the design to be carried out by the Commonwealth. This
design was more ornamental and also included plans to house a new
Federal Treasury premises.
Commonwealth Parliamentary Offices,
Melbourne, 3.10.1969
National Archives of Australia.
Barcode number: 11723300
With the intention to store gold reserve and bank notes in a Strong Room in the basement, the
floors and structure of the building were constructed in reinforced concrete for fire protection.
The building was initially occupied by the Prime Minister’s office, the Attorney General, the
Treasurer’s Department and the Post Master General.
The building continues today in its function as a Commonwealth Office building, and is owned and
managed by the Commonwealth.
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Statutory Heritage Values
Commonwealth Heritage List
The Commonwealth Offices is a Commonwealth Heritage place
and protected under the Environment Protection and
Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
Statement of Significance
The Commonwealth Offices building is associated with the
foundation of the Commonwealth of Australia and with
Melbourne as the Seat of the Federal Government until 1927. It
was the first office building constructed by the Commonwealth
and has been used as the Melbourne offices of the Prime
Minister and Cabinet and the Governor General since 1912.
The Commonwealth offices were
designed by notable Commonwealth
architect John Smith Murdoch.
Source: Department of Finance, date
unknown.
Criterion A
Process
The offices represent the Commonwealth Government's
willingness to embrace new technology through the use of
reinforced concrete construction. The offices are associated with
and represent a major work of, significant Commonwealth
architect John Smith Murdoch. The Commonwealth building
complements other notable buildings in this important
Melbourne precinct and is a significant element in the
streetscape.
Gazetted Commonwealth Heritage values
The Commonwealth Offices building is associated with the
foundation of the Commonwealth of Australia and with
Melbourne as the Seat of the Federal Government until 1927. It
was the first office building constructed by the Commonwealth
and has been used as the Melbourne offices of the Prime
Minister and Cabinet and the Governor General since 1912. The
Offices are also associated with the application of Labor
principles by Home Affairs Minister King O'Malley through the
establishment of paid wet weather time for workers on the site.
Commonwealth Parliamentary Offices,
Melbourne, 3.10.1969. National
Archives of Australia.
Barcode number: 11723276
Criterion B
Rarity
Criterion D
Characteristic
Gazetted Commonwealth Heritage values
The Commonwealth Offices is a rare and outstanding example of
a Commonwealth building designed in the Edwardian Baroque
style, as seen in features such as the exaggerated keystones,
occuli, cartouche, heavy cornicing and giant arches. The Offices
are distinctive internally for the use of three colours of marble
from the Bruthen district of Gippsland, contrasting joinery and
cantilevered concrete curved staircase.
Gazetted Commonwealth Heritage values
The Commonwealth Offices building is designed in the
Edwardian Baroque style, as seen in features such as the
exaggerated keystones, occuli, cartouche, heavy cornicing and
giant arches. The offices represent the Commonwealth
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Government's willingness to embrace new technology through
the use of reinforced concrete construction.
c1914 view of the newly constructed
Commonwealth Offices south block.
(Source: State Library South Australia)
Criterion E
Aesthetic
Gazetted Commonwealth Heritage values
The Commonwealth Offices is an outstanding example of a
Commonwealth building designed in the Edwardian Baroque
style, as seen in features such as the exaggerated keystones,
occuli, cartouche, heavy cornicing and giant arches. The Offices
are distinctive internally for the use of three colours of marble
from the Bruthen district of Gippsland, contrasting joinery and
cantilevered concrete curved staircase. The Commonwealth
building complements other notable buildings in this important
Melbourne precinct and is a significant element in the
streetscape.
Exaggerated keytones are a key design
attribute of the Edwardian Baroque
style.
Source: Australian Heritage
Photographic Library, 2002.
Source: The Department of
Environment
Barcode number: rt65459
Criterion H
Significant People
Non-Statutory Heritage Listings
Register of the National Estate
National Trust Register of
Significant Places
Gazetted Commonwealth Heritage values
The offices are associated with and represent a major work of,
significant Commonwealth architect John Smith Murdoch.
The Commonwealth Offices was included in the Register of the
National Estate in 1980. In February 2012, the RNE became a
non-statutory archive.
The Commonwealth Offices has been classified by the National
Trust as significant heritage place.
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Property or Information Access
Restrictions or Requirements if
any
Conservation Documents or
References
The building provides secure government accommodation. It is
not accessible by the general public.
MCC Notable Building Citation
Australian Construction Services, 1991, Conservation Plan
Volumes 1 and 2: Commonwealth Offices 4 Treasury Place,
Melbourne, Victoria.
McDonald, D.I., 1989, 'John Smith Murdoch', in Nairn, Bede and
Serle, Geoffrey, eds, Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol.10.
Melbourne University Press, Melbourne.
Record last updated
30 October 2013