Art Deco Style Burnham Beeches

Located adjacent to Sherbrooke Forest in the Dandenong Ranges outside Melbourne is the well known 22.5 hectare property, Burnham Beeches. This magnificent Art Deco mansion, known as the Norris building, was designed by Harry Norris and built in 1933 for the Nicholas family.

A rare, elaborate example of its type in Australia, it is comparable with works in Britain and the United States The vast three storey house is built in reinforced concrete and surrounded by significant gardens containing a mix of indigenous and exotic plantings designed by Hugh Linaker.

The original concept, with substantial outbuildings, was a self-sustaining estate. Architect Harry Norris was a prominent Melbourne Architect at the time who designed many iconic buildings. The property is classified by the National Trust and is Heritage listed.

By 1965 a large proportion of the landscaped gardens became too difficult to maintain, so the lake along with 32 acres of garden was donated to the Shire of Sherbrooke (now the Yarra Ranges Shire Council) and named the Alfred Nicholas Memorial Gardens, open to the public. Three acres at the front of the property became a miniature village in the early 1970s and has since been transferred to Parks Victoria.

Celebrity chef Shannon Bennett and developer Adam Garrison now own the property and have applied to redevelop the estate, hoping to bring it back to its original purpose and to become a tourist attraction. The proposed removal of about 13 beech trees at the entrance met with local protests and have recently been saved, with approval being given for the development of the site but not the removal of the trees. Plans include the restoration of the Norris building to become a six-star hotel and the addition of a microbrewery, shop and new restaurant inside the existing Piggery Cafe.

The decorative mouldings that create a handsome and sleek finish to the art deco style in the Norris building were originally made of concrete. These days the Finishing Touch can supply art deco decorative mouldings in a lightweight material that is easy to transport and install, making it a very viable option for a modern build, capturing the elegance of the art deco period.

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Toorak Apartments to Look Like a French Provincial House

Architectural decorative mouldings can turn a plain building into a glamorous, elegant or sophisticated building. A project the Finishing Touch currently have under development in Toorak will make extensive use of decorative mouldings to make an apartment block look like a large French provincial home (example of a French provincial home above). The building is on three levels. The lightweight, easy to install decorative mouldings by the Finishing Touch required for the top and second floors are:

82 metres of French provincial eave mouldings, custom designed as per the Architect’s request, sized at 410mm x 376mm. 340 French provincial corbels will be attached to the eave mouldings, also custom designed and measuring 210mm x 85mm x 80mm.  Two different sizes of custom designed parapets will be used, 86 metres sized at 265mm x 60mm and 173 metres sized at 150mm x 40mm.

Further decorative finishes are created with the addition of 65 metres of French provincial stringer moulds, custom designed, sized 100mm x 60mm, 24 metres of custom designed French provincial flatband, sized 250mm x 30mm and 96 metres French provincial quoining, model # Q300, sized 320mm x 30mm. the windows will be decorated with 196 metres custom designed French provincial flatbands for the architraves, sized at 150mm x20mm and 18 keystones.

On the ground floor a large corbel will feature, 720mm high x 900mm deep x 200mm wide as well as 9 balusters, 660 mm high. Further decorative finishes will be created by 120 metres of quoining, model # Q300, sized 320mm x 30mm with 124 metres of custom designed flatbands for architraves, sized 150mm x 20mm and 13 keystones decorating the windows. The fencing will be elegantly finished with 4 Edwardian pier caps and 12 sections of fence capping, 240mm wide.

 

Edwardian Decorative Mouldings in Demand

Edwardian pier caps.

Often the Finishing Touch are kept busy supplying French provincial decorative mouldings for the ever popular architectural style. But last week Edwardian pier caps and wall capping seemed to be most in demand.

A builder in Kiama, NSW was supplied with six custom sized Edwardian pier caps. Four were sized at 440mm x 400 mm whilst two were 640mm x 640mm. Another builder was supplied with six Edwardian pier caps, sized 600mm x 600mm and 7.8 metres of Edwardian wall capping, 240mm wide for a build of a post-modern home in Malvern. 120 metres of flatband decorative mouldings, model # DGB075, sized at 75mm x 20mm also lifted the finish for this home.

A house in Evans Road, Kew is being renovated by the owner. Old decorative mouldings on the building from twenty years ago now need replacing. The Finishing Touch supplied 9.6 metres of parapet mouldings, model # P8300, sized at 300mm x 235mm and 36 meters of parapet mouldings, model # P8200, sized at 200mm x 155m. Six custom made Edwardian pier caps, sized 500mm x 500mm and 9.6 metres of custom made Edwardian wall capping, 260mm wide give an elegant finish to fencing, whilst 24 metres of stringer mouldings, model # M22, sized at 100mm x 45mm help decorate the al fresco pool area.

A post-modern, 2 storey house in Keysborough features faux weatherboard panels on the top storey with brickwork underneath. Bricks are rendered immediately below the weatherboard panels and exposed on the bottom section. Flatband decorative mouldings, model # DGB1003, sized 100mm x 30mm were supplied to be used as a stringer at the junction of the rendered brick and exposed brickwork.

An owner/builder needed eight custom designed columns, each 1700 mm high by 450mm diameter together with Doric bases and Tuscan capitals for a home in Reservoir, which will create a splendid façade. Ninety metres of window architraves, model # W19D, sized 120mm x 55mm completes the decorative finish.