The Austral Hotel and adjacent shops a complex unique on Rundle Street for its size and composition.
In 1880, architect William McMinn was commissioned to design 14 shops and a hotel covering almost two town acres. The complex was established for the South Australian Company, one of the most important commercial enterprises in the colony due to its role in the founding of the settlement.
The complex was built between 1880 and 1883, beginning with the hotel at the eastern section. It was first known as the Family Hotel, and the name was changed three times after that. It became the Austral in 1898, just before Australian Federation in 1901.
The hotel made headlines in the local newspapers in November 1915 when a horse, started by the strange noise of a motorcycle, bolted and crashed through a window into the front bar. Although there was much damage to the hotel, luckily the horse and patrons were largely unharmed.
Merchants Malcolm Reid and Co occupied the western end of the complex from 1909. A highly successful furnishing, drapery and ironmongery business, Malcolm Reid and Co. had branches in Port Adelaide, Broken Hill, Melbourne, London and Johannesburg. You can still see the company’s sign on the building today.
The complex is built of squared sandstone with stucco strings and surrounds to openings. The corner of the building adjacent to Bent Street was changed to include a tiered verandah and balcony of cast iron lacework. The lead light glass bearing the hotel’s name on the ground floor verandah was added later.
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Statement of Significance
Historically significant as part of a complex of shops erected in two stages for the South Australian Company, one of the most important commercial enterprises in the economic development of South Australia. Architecturally significant because the development is unusually large and distinctive for Adelaide. The whole was designed in outline by an important Adelaide architect, W McMinn, who was also responsible for the erection of the first stage. The facade exhibits the Classical detailing typical of the boom period and is impressively designed and executed. The interior and rear facade though not of particular architectural quality are unusually well preserved. The Hotel verandah, of a later date, is also well preserved, and an excellent example of its kind. The whole is an important element of the streetscape.
Description
The whole complex is well constructed. The facade is of squared sandstone with stucco strings and surrounds to openings. It is well detailed and well built. The style reflects McMinn's appreciation of Classical elements, in particular the semi-circular openings and Italianate cornices. The rear walls are built of bluestone with brick quoins. Above the ground floors the interiors are largely original. Details are made up of stock items. Floors and most interior partitions are of timber with lathe and plaster.
Condition and Integrity
The Austral Hotel and the four adjoining shops are in remarkably good condition although there are some structural cracks to the rear bluestone walls. The facade of the Austral Hotel has been unfortunately painted, the shops have not, otherwise the external integrity is high above the ground floor. Shop fronts and canopies are not original. Presumably at the same time as the balcony was added to the Hotel, the corner was re-built to form a chamfer.
Location
197-203 Rundle Street (Shops), 205 Rundle Street (Austral Hotel), south-western corner of Rundle and Bent Streets, Adelaide.
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