Correct me if I am wrong, but they are finally painting the ugly white side of what I think is called the Nicholas Building on Swanston Street opposite the cathedral. :) It's the one with heaps of neon signs hanging off it. Nice greeny grey colour to match the rest of the building and the approach to Melbourne up St Kilda road and over the bridge will look better when they have finished (it was two dudes hanging off the roof on ropes painting it by hand today).

What I think should happen along Swanston St between McDonalds and the Nicholas building is a slow, and gradual step up of buidlings to cover up that ugly wall. There are no buildings along that stretch of Swanston St worth preserving, so everything between McD's and Nicholas could go.

great 1926 Interwar palzzo style scraper!!

http://www.walkingmelbourne.com/images/nicholasbuilding.jpg

The facade in question!

21 March 1963
http://www.statelibrary.vic.gov.au/pictoria/a/4/4/im/a44162.jpg

The night-time show
http://www.statelibrary.vic.gov.au/pictoria/a/4/4/im/a44163.jpg

Why cant it look that good on all 4 sides of the building?

I know Tays is a big hater of the blank concrete wall and I agree in this case.

The Uniting Church collections must have been getting pretty lean at the time.

The reason it has such a big blank wall is because part of the wall of the Nicholas building used to be covered up by this cool little victorian office building next door:

http://statelibrary.vic.gov.au/sjones/0/0/0/im/sj000345.jpg

http://www.statelibrary.vic.gov.au/pictoria/b/0/5/im/b05999.jpg

Not much has changed since this photo was taken in 1977, the corner still looks like shit:

http://statelibrary.vic.gov.au/jcollins/0/1/9/im/jc019160.jpg

All of the buildings on both sides of Young and Jacksons should be demolished and a cutting edge modern building should be built around Young and Jacksons to the same height as the Nicholas and old SEC buildings.

I've always thought that tack was suited to the area. I've never minded the light show as it is the main area to find neons and billboards en masse. In fact, it has been toned down heaps since I lived in Melbourne - nowhere near as much bling-bling. :no:

...but the rest of Swanston St to Bourke is pretty blah, especially @ street level :| Bogan City!!

I've always thought that tack was suited to the area. I've never minded the light show as it is the main area to find neons and billboards en masse. In fact, it has been toned down heaps since I lived in Melbourne - nowhere near as much bling-bling. :no:

...but the rest of Swanston St to Bourke is pretty blah, especially @ street level :| Bogan City!!
You are not wrong about that streach of Swanston its pretty ordinary and encourages the low life that hang out there.I would have been a good spot for an open space at least the block from Degraves St to Flinders lane. The green colour however does make the Nicholas building look slightly better.

i see they punched windows into the blank wall of the nicholas - they should open up the wall and cover it all up with a glass wall! better for occupants, better for looks!

It's not usually wise to put windows on a boundary wall unless you have secured light and air easements over the neighbours property. There is usually something paid to the neighbour as compensation for the loss of development potential.

If the easments are not in place there is nothing to stop the neighbour building a wall across the windows. The building occupants would be pretty peeved if the natural light in their premises disappeared.