106 Holden Street, Fitzroy North

This building, constructed in 1911, is a single storey cruciform plan school building. The central section which reads as a polygon from the outside is little more than a square with chamfered corners and internally has a false ceiling. It is not possible to discern the nature of the original space. Externally the roof is surmounted by a small louvred ventilating lantern of a slightly unrefined baroque character. The building is constructed of red brick decorated by a three course band of cream brick at still height and cement bands elsewhere. The front (north) wing has a basilican cross section. The two side wings are surmounted by a cement parapet with corbelled turrets at the corners. The parapet is decorated by loopy semicircles (filled with vertical strips) which are suspended from the top of the parapet. This detailing is similar to the work of MacKintosh, and is found on his Glasgow School of Art building (1897-9). The front gable end is of a mixed eclectic character, again not of high quality. There is a cross at the top (with strange foliated decoration at the base), which caps a pediment. There is a suggestion of vertical half timbering at the top part of the gable end. Below, there is a triple light ventilator with two further fake panels on either side, with some strange ornamental work. The interior has completely modernised) (North Fitzroy Conservation Study, 1978, p.97). (Glossary)

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