Near the south bank of Birrarung/Yarra looms the elaborate, tall, and impressive warehouse known as the Robur Tea House. Close by the wharves of the Birrarung/Yarra, it was constructed in 1888 and was an ambitious property investment after Victoria’s second goldrush. For many decades its six stories towered over the industrial and warehousing district of South Melbourne with a view north across the river to the city and port of Melbourne.

Such construction on south bank of Birrarung/Yarra was, and is, a challenge. Leaving aside nineteenth-century port schemes, over millennia, the river changed radically; swamps and billabongs emerged or drained, sea levels in nearby Port Phillip Bay fluctuated, and immense deposits of sediment built-up. Unlike the north bank, the south bank is characterized by unstable geology and this presented construction challenges for bridges and buildings, particularly a building like the Robur Tea House. As late as the mid-1880s, the original owners of the site, the stationery manufacturers Fergus and Mitchell, were advised against building this large project on swampy land south of the river. Nonetheless engineer John Grainger, architect Nahum Barnet, and builder James More devised a foundation system which overcame the many challenges; 450 ironbark piles topped with concrete rafts would support the six-storey structure. Such foundations were remarkably difficult to achieve at that time. No other buildings were constructed in Melbourne using this system until post WW1.

Timing and economics are critical to such a project, and the splendid Robur Tea warehouse was built when Melbourne’s maritime trade and port infrastructure was incrementally shifting downstream as cargo commodities, freight and logistics changed. Nevertheless, river trade persisted on the Birrarung/Yarra until 1929 when the Spencer Street Bridge was constructed. The purpose and role of the Robur Tea House also changed over time but its integrity as a significant building has remained. In 1982 it was added to the Victorian Heritage Register (HO526) for its scientific (technical), architectural and historic significance.

Today the Robur Tea House stands surrounded by multiple high-rise towers reflecting a more contemporary commerce. The Tea House is surrounded by modern showcase buildings, in what is now an office, leisure, and entertainment district. Plans persist which will detract from the heritage value of the Robur Tea House by incorporating or linking it to surroundings. However, the survival of this splendid warehouse exemplifies the on-going tension in preserving the historical significance of Melbourne’s maritime trade infrastructure, which has been the foundation of Melbourne’s prosperity.

FURTHER READING

• Victorian Heritage Database, https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/1037
• Royal Historical Society of Victoria, https://www.historyvictoria.org.au/heritage-matters-rhsv-heritage-committee/current-advocacy-projects/landmark-robur-tea-house-under-threat-again/

IMAGE CREDITS
Image 1: Robur Tea House and the new Spencer Street Bridge, photographer W.D. Chapman, 1929, State Library Victoria
Image 2: The Tea House, Sohe 2008, https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/1037