Rendezvous Hotel, Melbourne

The Rendezvous Hotel at 328–332 Flinders Street is one of Melbourne’s most distinctive heritage buildings. Originally completed in 1913 as the Commercial Travellers’ Association Building, it is understood to be Australia’s first building with a glazed-brick facade, using cream-glazed bricks manufactured in Leeds and shipped to Melbourne.

Exceptionally advanced for its time, the building incorporated innovative construction methods, including an early concrete-encased steel frame, welded-wire reinforcement and the unusual “Mack slab” internal wall system.

Ironbridge Engineering undertook detailed rope-access inspections of the facades, together with roof and basement inspections, to assess deterioration affecting masonry, render, coatings, windows, steelwork and waterproofing elements. We then prepared the technical restoration specification, including repair methodologies, material requirements, trials, quality assurance hold points and the engineered reinstatement of decorative facade mouldings.

We are privileged to contribute to the conservation of a building whose architectural significance is matched by the ingenuity of its original construction.