User:Mordechai Benshemesh

Edgewater Towers, 12 Marine Parade, St Kilda (1960)

Mordechai Benshemesh is an Australian architect best known for his work in the seaside suburbs of Melbourne in the 50s and 60s. Mordechai who was a migrant, migrated from Tel Aviv and arrived in Australia in 1939. Although the 'Edgewater Towers' in St Kilda are arguably his notable and successful project, Mordechai essentially remembered as the designer of multistorey apartment blocks in south eastern Melbourne; especially around the coastal town of St Kilda where he was based.

Personal life

Mordechai Benshemesh (born 16 January 1911) was an Australian Architect from Tel Aviv Palestine. [1] Polytechnical School in Tel Aviv between 1930-33 before travelling to London where he completed diplomas from Institute of Engineering Technology) and International Correspondence School. [2] Australia where he produced his most notable work. When Benshemesh arrived on 13th of June he spent the first decade working in numerous Melbourne architects; most notably Arthur W Plaisted (1940-41) H R Johnson (1946-49). He opened his own practicing firm in 1950, where he gained reputation for multi-storey apartment designs, primarily within the St. Kilda area.[1] Benshemesh died on the 22nd.

Ground and typical floorplans of Edgewater Towers (1960)

Edgewater Towers

Edgewater Tower constructed in 1959-1960, located at 12 Marine Parade, St Kilda. When construction was complete the tower was advertised in the AGE as `everything you'd find in a Manhattan building’ (3). The apartment block was important at the time as it was one of the first multistorey apartment blocks not only in St Kilda but also through out the suburbs. The tower supports 100 one bedroom and two bedroom apartments all with patios, laundry and garbage disposal chutes, lounge rooms and dinettes. Through out the 1960’s numerous planning permits were permitted to allow enclosed baloneys (4). The design of the Edgewater Towers is considered in the style international modernism and is constructed largely out of reinforced concrete.

Apartment drawing showing conversion from restaurant on ground floor of Edgewater Towers

The Motel Palm Lake

The four storey motel palm lake is located in Queens Road, Melbourne. Overlooking the vast landscape of the Albert Park Lake and prominent perimeter plantings of palm trees it was named Palm Lake. Opened in December 1962 by the Lord Mayor, the motel was one of Melbourne's most prestigious motels at the time. It originally had 84 suits which substantially enlarged to 164 suits. The Palm Lake Motel also provided parking fir each suit, lavish conference facilities, nightly dinner dance and licenced restaurant. It remained in operation under a new name. Although a new facade, Two more storeys and a multi-level car park -surrounding the swimming pool terrace- was added in phases, the former palm lake motel has retained its original character; including the frontage palm trees which were planted in1961 in the opening day (by Melbourne' s Lord Mayor)

List of Buildings

• 1951 -Factory, Blackshaws Road, Spotswood
• 1953 -Flats (Barkly Lodge), 289 Barkly Street, St Kilda (three storey)
• 1955 -Flats (Elizabeth Lodge), St Kilda Road, Melbourne
• 1957 -Flats (Gilbert Court), 26W Toorak Road, Toorak (four storey)
• 1959 -Flats, 43-44 Marine Parade, St Kilda (three storey)
• 1959 -Flats, 11 Marine Parade, St Kilda (four storey)
• 1960 -Flats for Edgewater Towers Pty Ltd, 12 Marine Parade, St Kilda (13 storey)
• 1960 -Flats for Pavic Investments, Toorak Road, South Yarra (11 storey) (Designed and not constructed)
• 1960 -Danglow Wing, Montefiore Home for the Aged, St Kilda Road, Melbourne
• 1960 -Flats for Westbury Co-operative Housing Society Ltd, 8 Westbury Street, St Kilda East
• 1961 -Flats (St Ives), 166 Toorak Road, South Yarra (ten storey)
• 1962 -Palm Lake Motel, 52 Queens Road, Melbourne
• 1963 -Flats (Questa Heights), 21 Upper Esplanade, St Kilda (ten storey)
• 1967 -Office building for General Insurance Company, 610 St Kilda Road, Melbourne
• 1971 -Office building, 98-100 Albert Road, South Melbourne
• 1971 -Office building (Nilex House), 10 Queens Road, Melbourne
• 1973 -Cool store for BSC Containers, Appleton Dock, Footscray

Gallery

• 
  Office building, Melbourne
• 
  Plan of a restaurant

References

1. Australian Motel Owner’s Journal, December 2010, page 10
2. http://www.builtheritage.com.au/dua_benshemesh.html
3. 'Age', 'Sun', 4 November 1960
4. City of Port Phillip Heritage Review, citation no: 2049
5. Reeves ,S , 'A Tale of Two City Motel’, Australian Motel Owner's Journal, December 2010, page 10
6. 'http://issuu.com/adbourne/docs/mo_11_2 , 2 may 2014