Ballarat Buildings

Carillon Tower – cnr Bath Lane and Armstrong Street, Ballarat Central

Carillon Monument cnr Bath Lane and Armstrong Street Ballarat

The Carillon Tower viewed from Armstrong Street Sth across Bath Lane to the south.

The Carillon Tower is an interactive monument which was erected next to the Ballarat City Hall complex in 1988 to mark the Australian Bicentenary and was built to exhibit the restored carillon which dating back to 1869 is the oldest Australia and the only municipal carillon and monument of its kind in the country.

Pancake Parlour (former Ballarat Gas Company Offices): 2 Grenville Street South, Ballarat Central

Viewed across Lewis Street from the south

Ballarat’s Pancake Parlour franchise is located in a great historic building which commands its position on the corner of Grenville and Lewis Streets.

The two storey classical design with splayed corner and piano nobile base is an excellent example of the early boom style which characterises much of Ballarat. The exterior and interiors have been heavily modified. Built on a bluestone base, the ground storey features quoins, vermiculated keystone arches and vouissors and cast iron railings with a heavy dentilled cornice separating the upper storey. The upper storey windows whilst retaining their unusual balustrade patterns, corinthian pilasters are missing the window hoods, once triangular and segmented pediments, which were removed sometime in the mid 20th Century. The effect is to visually elongate the upper storey which disrupts its balance and increase the heaviness of the angular classical cornice. The upper storey corner arched window retains its columns and keystones and the corner entrance is no longer used.

Queens Head Hotel: 146 Humffray St Nth, Ballarat East

The current Queens Head Hotel is a single storey building erected on Humffray Street Nth in 1907, however the hotel itself dates back to 1862, one of a number of hotels opened in proximity to the Ballarat East Railway Station (about 500 metres to the west but since demolished) after the completion of the Geelong-Ballarat railway.

The hotel’s name has a common origin and is predated by several hotels of the same name in Melbourne, along with a notable one in Geelong opened several years earlier.

Point to Sky Sculpture: Corner Sturt and Camp Street, Ballarat Central

Point to Sky Sculpture looking north east to Camp Street from Sturt Street

The intentionally futuristic chrome and gold Point to Sky sculpture on the corner of Camp and Sturt Street was designed by Akio Mkigawa and erected between 1999 and 2000. Selected as the winner of the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery and City of Ballarat’s “Pride of Place” competition from 36 entries, the artwork is said to represent elements of Ballarat’s history including the Eureka Stockade and future growth with two football shaped “seeds” at its peak. ¹ Some adopted it as an abstract tribute to Ballarat bred AFL champion Tony Lockett.²

Former The Ballarat Courier Office: 24-26 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central

Former Courier Office: 24-26 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central viewed from the south side of Sturt Street

With a facade that appears like a classic Art Deco piece from the 1930s with its glazed terracotta parapet and austere moderne brickwork, the real history of this piece of Sturt Street is obscured. This was actually the head office of Ballarat’s most popular newspaper – The Courier – during its publishing heyday, until 1982. A pair of Victorian buildings modified over many years and the current facade, giving the impression of a single building actually dates to 1956.