Central Telephone Exchange

Switch board room, top floor of the Central Telephone Exchange[1]

The Central Telephone Exchange, Melbourne is a building in Central Melbourne, Australia, constructed between May 1907 and early 1909 by the Reinforced Concrete & Monier Pipe Construction Co.[2] headed by engineer Sir John Monash, and designed by architect Samuel Charles Brittingham. The building includes an early example of a reinforced-concrete saw-tooth roof.[3][1]

The building was commissioned by the Public Works Department of the Commonwealth of Australia to house the new telephone service, which came under the recently formed Post Master General's Department following Federation of the Australian Colonies in 1901. the contract for construction was let in February 1908.[4]

The Lonsdale Street facade of the exchange was a two-storey Italianate style office block with stone facing with a long, narrow, three-storey building behind. This housed the exchange plant. The design employed reinforced concrete suspended floors supported on the load-bearing brick masonry walls and a centre row of reinforced concrete columns.[3]

The building was the scene of the Australian novel Murder In The Telephone Exchange by June Wright (1919-2012).[5]

References

  1. 1 2 Reinforced Concrete and Monier Pipe Construction Co. Pty Ltd (c. 1909). "Central Telephone Exchange". [1964.0012] Records and photographs of the Reinforced Concrete and Monier Pipe Construction Co. Pty Ltd, BWP Album 0142. University of Melbourne Archives. UMA-ITE-1964001200957. Retrieved 26 August 2026.
  2. ↑ Reinforced Concrete and Monier Pipe Construction Co. Pty Ltd (7 December 1907 – 4 May 1909). "Central Telephone Exchange [Job file]". University of Melbourne Archives. Melbourne, Australia: University of Melbourne. UMA-IT-000045875. Retrieved 26 August 2026.
  3. 1 2 A. John Holgate. "Engineering Projects Prior to WW1: Notes on Building Projects". Archived from the original on 2019-12-30. Retrieved 26 August 2026.
  4. ↑ "NEW CENTRAL TELEPHONE EXCHANGE". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 19, 210. Victoria, Australia. 12 February 1908. p. 9. Retrieved 5 March 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ↑ Janet Walker (2014). "Janet Walker Rediscovers – Murder in the Telephone Exchange". The Culture Concept Circle. Archived from the original on 2022-11-26. Retrieved 26 August 2026.

External Sources


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