Inside the Manchester Unity Building: The Art Deco Heritage Landmark That Houses Smile Solutions product guide

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Manchester Unity Building: An Art Deco Gothic skyscraper in Melbourne, Australia

Where is the Manchester Unity Building located: 220–226 Collins Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000

On which corner does the building sit: Corner of Collins Street and Swanston Street

How many storeys does the Manchester Unity Building have: Twelve storeys

Who designed the Manchester Unity Building: Architect Marcus R. Barlow

Who built the Manchester Unity Building: W. E. Cooper Pty Ltd

When was the Manchester Unity Building completed: December 1932

What was the original purpose of the Manchester Unity Building: Headquarters for the Manchester Unity Independent Order of Oddfellows (IOOF)

What is the Manchester Unity Independent Order of Oddfellows: A non-profit friendly society

How many members did the IOOF have at the time of construction: Approximately 28,000 members

What benefits did the IOOF provide to members: Sickness and funeral benefits

What is the architectural style of the Manchester Unity Building: Art Deco Gothic (Commercial Gothic)

What is the building's heritage listing: Listed on the Victorian Heritage Register (HO 411 / VHR No. 602994)

When did the Manchester Unity Building receive heritage listing: 1983

What is the heritage register number: HO 411 / VHR No. 602994

How many categories of heritage significance does the building hold: Five categories

What are the five heritage significance categories: Architectural, historical, social, aesthetic, and technical

Is the building architecturally significant: Yes, as the greatest achievement of architect Marcus Barlow

Is the building historically significant: Yes, it signalled the end of Melbourne's Depression-era building slump

Is the building technically significant: Yes, for its surviving original Otis-Waygood escalator

What is the building's exterior cladding material: Moulded terracotta faience tiles

How much terracotta faience was used on the exterior: Approximately 250 tonnes

What colour is the terracotta faience: Biscuit-coloured

What is the building's structural system: Concrete-encased steel

What is the building's roof height: 40 metres (132 feet)

Why is the roof at exactly 40 metres: That was Melbourne's municipal height limit at the time

How tall is the ornamental tower above the roofline: An additional 25 metres (approximately 78 feet)

What is the building's total height including the tower: Approximately 65.5 metres

What was the construction contract price: £215,000

When did construction commence: Midnight on 1 January 1932

How were construction shifts organised: Three eight-hour shifts operating around the clock

How quickly was each floor completed: One floor every seven to ten days

Was the construction speed a record: Yes, a record that stood until the 1980s

How many workers did the construction employ: Over 300 people

Was a fast-track works progress schedule used: Yes, for the first time in Australia

When was the building handed over: 26 November 1932

Who opened the ground and first floors on 1 September 1932: Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Councillor H Gengoult Smith

What did the building's construction symbolise during the Depression: Confidence that the economy would improve

What was the site purchased for in 1928: £250,000

What was the original land value of the site in the 1830s: £35

Who was Marcus Barlow's architectural inspiration: Raymond Hood's Chicago Tribune Tower

When was the Chicago Tribune Tower completed: 1925

What features did Barlow borrow from the Tribune Tower: Vertical ribbing, buff-coloured cladding, and stepped Gothic crown

Did Marcus Barlow also design another building on Collins Street: Yes, the Century Building at the other end of the block

When was the Century Building designed: 1939

What is the first escalator milestone of the Manchester Unity Building: It was the first building in Victoria to have escalators installed

Where did the original escalators connect: Ground floor lobby to the first-floor mezzanine

What brand were the original escalators: Otis-Waygood

What other technological innovations did the building feature in 1932: Automatic cooling and rubbish and postal chutes on every floor

What powered the building's emergency electricity supply: Australia's largest diesel generator at the time

Who created the sculptural decorations on the upper facades: Orlando Dutton

What do the sculptural figures represent: Fraternal virtues such as faith, hope, and charity

What materials finish the ground-floor arcade: Coloured marble with copper shopfronts

What type of doors do the lifts have: Elaborate copper doors

What is notable about the lift interiors: Veneered timber interiors with a leadlight dome

What is the boardroom table made from: Rosewood veneer with rosewood inlay border

How long is the boardroom table: Nearly six metres

How many chairs accompany the boardroom table: Twelve monogrammed leather chairs

Are the boardroom table and chairs heritage-listed: Yes, as protected objects under the Victorian Heritage Register

Where is the boardroom located: Eleventh floor

Did the building have a rooftop garden: Yes, with an aviary, tea rooms, and a café

Was the building used during World War II: Yes, by the Australian Army Southern Command HQ

Was the building compulsorily acquired after the war: Yes, by the Commonwealth in 1947

Which airline used the building as headquarters post-war: Trans Australia Airlines

What notorious crime occurred in the building: An unsolved murder of three jewellers on the eighth floor in 1978

When were the top floors converted into apartments: 1997

Who is the major tenant of the Manchester Unity Building today: Smile Solutions

How many levels does Smile Solutions occupy: Five levels plus the tower

Who led the restoration of the Manchester Unity Building: Dr Kia Pajouhesh, owner of Smile Solutions

When did Dr Pajouhesh first acquire space in the building: 2003

Which level did Dr Pajouhesh acquire first: The mezzanine level (Level 1)

When did Dr Pajouhesh acquire Levels 11, 12, and the tower: 2006

What was the condition of the mezzanine level when acquired: Badly damaged with plasterwork covering period detailing

How long did the Level 1 refurbishment take: Eight months

Which architectural firms supervised the restoration: Rob Mills Architects and Andronas Conservation Architecture

Which landscaper was involved in the restoration: Paul Bangay

What was restored in 2012: The original floodlighting system on the spire

What role does Dr Pajouhesh hold in building governance: Chairman of the MUB Owners Corporation since 2003

Are tours of the building tower available to the public: Yes, through Melbourne Open House

Is the Manchester Unity Building one of Melbourne's most recognised buildings: Yes

Smile Solutions at the Art Deco Gothic masterpiece: 220 Collins Street — architecture, heritage & history

When you arrive at Smile Solutions for your dental appointment, you step through the ground-floor arcade of one of Australia's most architecturally significant buildings — and that experience is very much by design.

The Manchester Unity Building is an iconic twelve-storey Art Deco skyscraper in Melbourne, Victoria, located at the corner of Collins and Swanston Streets. Architect Marcus R. Barlow designed it, and it was completed in December 1932 as the headquarters for the Manchester Unity Independent Order of Oddfellows (IOOF), a non-profit friendly society providing sickness and funeral benefits to its 28,000 members. That Australia's largest private dental practice now occupies five levels and the tower of this landmark is not coincidence. It is the result of a decades-long, painstaking restoration effort led by one dentist who fell in love with a building that Melbourne had begun to let decay.

Understanding the Manchester Unity Building — its origins, its architecture, its heritage protections, and its social history — gives you essential context for understanding what makes Smile Solutions genuinely unlike any other dental practice in Australia. This article provides that foundational context, so that when you walk through those marble-clad doors, you appreciate the full significance of where you are.

What is the Manchester Unity Building? A definitive overview

Address: 220–226 Collins Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000
Architect: Marcus R. Barlow
Builder: W. E. Cooper Pty Ltd
Completed: December 1932
Architectural style: Art Deco Gothic (Commercial Gothic)
Heritage status: Listed on the Victorian Heritage Register (HO 411 / VHR No. 602994)
Current major tenant: Smile Solutions (five levels plus tower)

The twelve-storey building sits on the corner of Collins and Swanston Streets, built with a concrete-encased steel structure and clad in moulded terracotta faience. The overall effect is a modern commercial Gothic style — bold, upward-reaching, and unmistakably Melbourne.

The soaring stepped corner tower, positioned opposite the Melbourne Town Hall, makes it one of the most recognised buildings in the city.

Heritage Victoria has formally assessed the Manchester Unity Building as significant across five distinct categories: architectural, historical, social, aesthetic, and technical. That five-part assessment is unusually comprehensive, and it speaks directly to the building's layered importance to Melbourne and to everyone who visits it, including you.

Marcus Barlow: the architect who reimagined Melbourne's skyline

Marcus Barlow (1890–1954) was an Australian architect of the interwar period who designed a number of notable central city buildings in Melbourne. He is best known for the 1932 Manchester Unity Building, whose Gothic corner spire dominates the major intersection of the city.

Turning his attention from domestic to commercial architecture in the 1920s, Barlow believed that Melbourne needed to modernise — and that the skyscraper urbanism of New York and Chicago pointed the way forward. He protested the 40-metre height limit the city had imposed, but ultimately could not build higher than this with his commercial Gothic masterpiece, though its tower reached a further five storeys above the roofline.

Barlow drew his inspiration from Raymond Hood's Chicago Tribune Tower, completed in 1925 after winning an international competition in 1922. The Tribune Tower's vertical ribbing, buff-coloured cladding, and stepped Gothic crown complete with flying buttresses all appear clearly in the Manchester Unity. The architectural styling, with its soaring vertical emphasis, was a deliberate break from the conservative palazzo architecture of the 1920s, which was defined by large, dominant cornices. The building is architecturally significant as the greatest achievement of Marcus Barlow.

Barlow also designed Melbourne's Century Building at the other end of the same block. His 1939 design for the Century Building is a vertical Moderne interpretation of his earlier work — the vertical piers and small round tower clad in off-white glazed faience tiles. The two buildings together bookend his most productive and celebrated career phase, a legacy you can appreciate simply by walking along Collins Street today.

The 1932 construction: a record built in the shadow of the Depression

The story of how the Manchester Unity Building was constructed is as remarkable as the building itself.

Built on the site of Stewart Dawson's corner plus the adjoining site, it was the new headquarters of the Manchester Unity Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF), a non-profit friendly society with the motto "Friendship, Love and Truth." The site, on the north-west corner of Collins and Swanston Streets, was purchased by the MUIOOF in 1928 for £250,000 — a striking figure given that the same land had changed hands for just £35 in the 1830s, and a measure of how central this corner had become to Melbourne's commercial life.

By the time construction was ready to begin, the full effects of the Great Depression were being felt. The Directors pressed ahead anyway, because all the preparations had been made and, being a benevolent society, they felt it was important to show confidence that the economy would improve — and to provide employment. In announcing its new accommodation, the Order declared itself "undepressed by the Depression," adding that the new undertaking showed the clouds of financial gloom were already lifting.

Construction speed: an Australian record

Architect Marcus Barlow designed the building, which was built by W. E. Cooper Pty Ltd for the contracted price of £215,000. Construction commenced at midnight on 1 January 1932 with the demolition of the prior buildings on the site, and proceeded around the clock in three eight-hour shifts.

By 1 September, the ground floor and first-floor mezzanine were open for trade. One floor was completed every seven to ten days — a record that stood until the 1980s. The construction employed over 300 people at the height of the Depression.

For the first time in Australia, a detailed fast-track works progress schedule coordinated labour, materials, and timelines across 24-hour operations to ensure completion in just under twelve months. The completed building was handed over on 26 November 1932.

The opening was a genuine civic event. Fanfares filled the Swanston–Collins corner as a crowd gathered on 1 September 1932 to hear politicians and dignitaries praise the workers. In front of 100 invited guests who rode the escalator for the first time, the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Councillor H Gengoult Smith, pronounced the new building "a lasting monument to Australian courage, Australian industry and Australian science, art and labour" — and a lesson in thrift.

Architectural anatomy: what makes the building distinctive

The terracotta faience exterior

The building has a concrete-encased steel structure, with the exterior clad in approximately 250 tonnes of biscuit-coloured terracotta faience tiles. The faience is intricately moulded to produce continuous narrow columns and shafts rising up the façade, emphasising the building's verticality.

This was deliberate. The Commercial Gothic style, as Heritage Victoria notes, was a direct rejection of the horizontal heaviness of the preceding palazzo era. Every element of the exterior — the narrow window mullions, the rising shafts, the buttressed tower — draws your eye upward in a way that feels both energising and reassuring.

The tower and spire

The building's roof reaches 40 metres (132 feet), which was Melbourne's height limit at the time of construction. The ornamental tower and spire extends a further 25 metres (approximately 78 feet) above that, as was permitted for non-habitable portions of buildings, bringing the total height to approximately 65.5 metres. The tower incorporates receding octagonal storeys, diminishing flying buttresses, pinnacles, and a crowning spire.

Barlow's proposal took full advantage of the allowance for uninhabited elements above the height limit. The Melbourne City Council had only just modified the rules to require a vote on any such structure; this was the first one to come before Council, in September 1930, and it passed unanimously "as an asset to the architecture of the city."

The sculptural programme

Sculptural decorations by Orlando Dutton grace the upper façades, featuring symbolic figures representing fraternal virtues — faith, hope, and charity — positioned in groups above oriel windows on the Collins and Swanston elevations. These elements, along with sculptured company emblems running up corner bays over several storeys, reflect the building's origins with the Manchester Unity Independent Order of Oddfellows. When you look up as you enter, these details reward your attention.

The ground-floor arcade and interior finishes

The ground level includes an L-shaped arcade connecting Collins to Swanston Street, opening out to form the lift lobby. The arcade is richly finished in coloured marble, with copper shopfronts and a larger cornice with panels depicting the activities of the society, a view of "old Melbourne," and the building itself. The lifts have elaborate copper doors and veneered timber interiors with a leadlight dome.

Heritage Victoria's assessment notes that the intricate plaster panel cornices and ceilings, the use of marble, and the inlays to the lift cars and sliced timber veneers in the boardroom all display a standard of artistic workmanship without equal for a building of this period. As a patient at Smile Solutions, you experience these interiors firsthand — they are not preserved behind glass but actively in use around you.

Melbourne's first escalators

The Manchester Unity Building was the first in Victoria to have escalators installed. The original Otis-Waygood escalator between the ground floor lobby and the first-floor mezzanine survives, and its survival is one of the reasons the building carries technical significance under its heritage listing.

Beyond escalators, the building was a showcase of early-twentieth-century technological ambition: one of the first Victorian buildings with automatic cooling, rubbish and postal chutes on every floor, and an emergency power supply drawn from what was then Australia's largest diesel generator, located in the sub-basement.

The boardroom: a heritage object in its own right

The boardroom table was constructed in situ and is nearly six metres long, finished with a rosewood veneer and rosewood inlay border, with a moulded and carved edge. Twelve monogrammed leather chairs accompany it. The table and chairs were almost certainly designed by Marcus Barlow's office as part of the building's total design.

Remarkably, the furniture carries its own heritage listing. The boardroom table and twelve boardroom leather chairs on the eleventh floor are explicitly listed as protected objects under the Victorian Heritage Register — an unusual distinction that speaks to the building's completeness as a heritage artefact. The survival of a boardroom table of this scale and grandeur from this period, complete with its original chairs, is rare in Victoria, and you can appreciate this extraordinary space as part of your experience at Smile Solutions.

Heritage listing: what it means and why it matters

In 1983, the building received heritage listing on the Victorian Heritage Register (HO 411 / VHR No. 602994), imposing strict preservation requirements on future alterations.

Heritage Victoria's statement of significance identifies five distinct categories:

Architectural significance — as one of Melbourne's tallest buildings at completion, and as the greatest achievement of Marcus Barlow
Historical significance — as the project that convinced Melburnians the Depression-era building slump was ending
Social significance — as a civic landmark that challenges the Melbourne Town Hall in scale and presence
Aesthetic significance — for its intact interiors and exceptional standard of artistic workmanship
Technical significance — for the surviving original Otis-Waygood escalator and innovative construction methods

The fast building programme was controlled by a works progress schedule, an innovation to the local building industry at the time, and this too is recognised in the heritage assessment.

When you visit Smile Solutions, you are entering a building under the highest level of heritage protection available in Victoria. That recognition shapes everything about how the building is maintained, restored, and cared for.

The Manchester Unity Building has not merely been a backdrop to Melbourne's history — it has been an active participant in it.

During World War II, it was used by the Australian Army, Victorian Lines of Communication, Southern Command HQ. After the war, the government moved departments that had been distributed across Melbourne into the building, and it was compulsorily acquired by the Commonwealth in 1947. It became the headquarters for Trans Australia Airlines and housed centralised offices for the Department of Munitions and Department of Aircraft Production.

Its tenant history spans the full breadth of Melbourne commercial life. Alongside Manchester Unity staff, tenants ranged from Averillite's, a clothing manufacturer, to Rene Henri, a high-society hairstylist, as well as numerous jewellers. The most notorious episode in the building's history was the unsolved 1978 murder of three jewellers on the eighth floor.

The rooftop had its own vibrant social chapter. The commercial spaces including the boardroom, executive offices, and Grand Secretary's office occupied Level 11, and above them sat the rooftop terrace — a beautiful space with an exotic garden, an aviary, tea rooms, and a café. Many Melburnians visited to enjoy the expansive views from what was then the tallest building in Melbourne, with a cup of tea and scones.

By the late twentieth century, however, the building had begun to deteriorate. In 1997 the top two floors were bought by a developer and converted into apartments, with a new rooftop residence constructed incorporating the tower. The conversion fragmented the building's original spatial logic and obscured many of its finest period details — a situation that would not be allowed to continue indefinitely.

Dr Kia Pajouhesh and the Smile Solutions restoration

The modern chapter of the Manchester Unity Building's story begins in 2003, with a dentist whose commitment to excellence extends well beyond clinical care.

Though it continued to be an iconic Melbourne building, many parts had fallen into disrepair by the time Dr Kia Pajouhesh, owner of Smile Solutions, bought into it. In 2003, he acquired the mezzanine level. Originally a series of retail stores, this level had been badly damaged — the gallery and shops combined into an open-plan space, with plasterwork covering period detailing and timber.

The 2003 refurbishment of Level 1 alone took eight calendar months, the same time it had taken to construct the entire building structure in 1932. That comparison gives you a sense of the complexity of heritage restoration work, and of the meticulous approach that defines everything Smile Solutions does.

Having fallen in love with the building, in 2006 Pajouhesh acquired Levels 11, 12, and the tower, all of which had been converted into luxury apartments in the 1990s with original period finishes and detailing obscured or destroyed. Dismantling those apartments and reinstating the original grandeur of the executive offices was both challenging and genuinely rewarding.

Using photographs taken in the 1930s of the original interiors, he recreated many of the rooms as they would have looked. The mezzanine level and lifts are now almost identical to how they were, down to the timber finish and copper detailing — a remarkable outcome given the state of the mezzanine when Pajouhesh acquired it.

Pajouhesh brought in Rob Mills Architects and Andronas Conservation Architecture to supervise the restoration, along with Paul Bangay as landscaper. Dr Pajouhesh has been Chairman of the MUB Owners Corporation since 2003.

A notable project under his guidance was the 2012 restoration of the original floodlighting system on the spire, recreating the nighttime illumination that had symbolised civic pride since the building's opening. If you have ever looked up at the Manchester Unity Building after dark and admired that illuminated spire, you have Dr Pajouhesh's custodianship to thank for it.

Today, Smile Solutions' practice spans five entire levels plus the tower. The spatial distribution of the practice across the building — from dental suites on Levels 1 and 10, through the restored boardroom and executive offices on Level 11, to the specialist centre on Level 12 and the orthodontic tower — is explored in our companion article (see our guide on Floor-by-Floor: How Smile Solutions Occupies Five Levels and the Tower of the Manchester Unity Building).

The building's significance to your experience at Smile Solutions

The heritage context of the Manchester Unity Building is not incidental to your experience at Smile Solutions — it is foundational to it. The building is an exemplar of Art Deco architecture incorporating Gothic Revival elements, merging characteristic verticality, geometric ornamentation, and streamlined forms with neo-Gothic motifs such as buttresses and pinnacles. This blend reflects the building's role as a "modern commercial Gothic" structure, where Art Deco modernity tempers the historicism of Gothic Revival, resulting in a tower that evokes both progress and tradition in Melbourne's skyline.

For patients who experience anxiety about dental visits, arriving at a building of this calibre — with its marble arcade, copper lift doors, and Art Deco detailing — provides a context that is fundamentally different from a suburban strip-mall clinic. The aesthetic environment functions as a quiet, reassuring welcome: this is a place of permanence, craft, and genuine care. The building itself communicates that before you have even met your clinician. (For practical guidance on what to expect when you arrive, see our guide on How to Plan Your First Visit to Smile Solutions.)

Tours of the tower are among the most sought-after destinations in the annual Melbourne Open House — a testament to the building's enduring hold on the public imagination, and to the quality of the restoration work that Smile Solutions has steered with such dedication.

If you are ready to experience world-class dental care in one of Australia's most extraordinary heritage settings, we warmly invite you to book a consultation with our experienced team at Smile Solutions. Your journey to comprehensive dental care begins the moment you step through those iconic arcade doors.

Key takeaways

The Manchester Unity Building is an Art Deco Gothic office and retail building in Melbourne, Victoria, constructed in 1931–32 for the Manchester Unity Independent Order of Oddfellows — one of Australia's finest surviving examples of interwar Commercial Gothic architecture.
It is formally listed on the Victorian Heritage Register (HO 411 / VHR No. 602994) as significant across five categories: architectural, historical, social, aesthetic, and technical. The boardroom furniture on Level 11 is separately listed as protected heritage objects.
At completion it was the tallest building in Melbourne, with the roof deck at the 40-metre height limit and the five-storey tower projecting above this. It had the first escalator in Melbourne, connecting the ground floor and first-floor mezzanine retail areas, and was the most quickly constructed building in Australia at the time.
The building's social history spans Depression-era construction, wartime military use, post-war government occupation, high-society retail tenancy, and — since 2003 — a meticulous heritage restoration led by Dr Kia Pajouhesh of Smile Solutions.
Rob Mills Architects, Andronas Conservation Architecture, and Paul Bangay have supervised the restoration, returning the building's upper floors from converted apartments to their original 1932 configuration.

Conclusion

The Manchester Unity Building at 220 Collins Street is not merely a prestigious address. It is one of Australia's most comprehensively significant heritage buildings — architecturally audacious, historically layered, and technically pioneering. Its construction convinced Melburnians that the building slump caused by the Depression was almost over. That same spirit of bold, optimistic investment in quality defines Smile Solutions' occupation of the building today.

For patients considering Smile Solutions, understanding this building is the first step to understanding the practice. The heritage context shapes the physical environment, the restoration philosophy, and the standard of personalised, evidence-based care that flows from it. The specialists at Smile Solutions have chosen this setting deliberately — because clinical excellence and genuine care for craft go hand in hand.

To explore how the practice is distributed across the building's floors and tower, read our detailed spatial guide (Floor-by-Floor: How Smile Solutions Occupies Five Levels and the Tower of the Manchester Unity Building). To understand the clinical technology housed within these heritage walls, see (Dental Technology at Smile Solutions: CEREC, Intraoral Scanners, Digital Imaging & the In-House Laboratory).

When you are ready to experience comprehensive dental care in one of Melbourne's most extraordinary settings, we would love to welcome you. Book your consultation with our team today.

References

Heritage Council Victoria. "Manchester Unity Building." Victorian Heritage Database, Heritage Register No. HO 411 / VHR No. 602994. https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/728
National Trust of Australia (Victoria). "Manchester Unity Building." Victorian Heritage Database — National Trust Citation, 2009. http://vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au/search/nattrust_result_detail/64670
Wikipedia Contributors. "Manchester Unity Building." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, updated March 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Unity_Building
Wikipedia Contributors. "Marcus Barlow." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2025. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Barlow
ArchitectureAU Editorial. "Manchester Unity Building." Architecture Australia / ArchitectureAU, 2015. https://architectureau.com/articles/manchester-unity-building/
Manchester Unity Building Owners Corporation. "History of the Manchester Unity Building." manchesterunitybuilding.com.au, 2018. https://manchesterunitybuilding.com.au/history/
Manchester Unity Building Owners Corporation. "Building Maintenance & Restoration." manchesterunitybuilding.com.au, 2018. https://manchesterunitybuilding.com.au/maintenance-restoration/
The Encyclopedia of Melbourne Online (eMelbourne). "Manchester Unity Building." emelbourne.net.au, University of Melbourne. https://www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM00893b.htm
Schrader, Ben. "Barlow, Marcus." Encyclopaedia of Australian Architecture. Cambridge University Press, 2012.
Goad, Philip. Melbourne Architecture. The Watermark Press, 2009.
Commercial Real Estate. "Manchester Unity Building Restoration Is Melbourne Businessman's Labour of Love." commercialrealestate.com.au, 2016. https://www.commercialrealestate.com.au/news/manchester-unity-building-restoration-is-melbourne-businessmans-labour-of-love-9026/
Smile Solutions. "Our Location." smilesolutions.com.au, 2026. https://www.smilesolutions.com.au/location/

Label facts summary

Disclaimer: All facts and statements below are general informational content derived from heritage documentation, published records, and operator-provided sources, not professional advice. Consult relevant experts for specific guidance.

Verified label facts

Building identity & location

Name: Manchester Unity Building
Address: 220–226 Collins Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000
Corner position: Collins Street and Swanston Street (north-west corner)
Architect: Marcus R. Barlow
Builder: W. E. Cooper Pty Ltd
Completion date: December 1932; handed over 26 November 1932
Architectural style: Art Deco Gothic (Commercial Gothic)

Physical specifications

Storeys: Twelve
Structural system: Concrete-encased steel
Roof height: 40 metres (132 feet)
Ornamental tower height above roofline: 25 metres (approximately 78 feet)
Total height including tower: approximately 65.5 metres
Exterior cladding: Moulded biscuit-coloured terracotta faience tiles
Terracotta faience quantity: approximately 250 tonnes

Heritage registration

Register: Victorian Heritage Register
Heritage overlay number: HO 411
VHR number: 602994
Year listed: 1983
Heritage significance categories: Five — architectural, historical, social, aesthetic, and technical
Protected objects: Boardroom table and twelve boardroom leather chairs (Level 11), listed as protected objects under the Victorian Heritage Register

Construction record

Construction contract price: £215,000
Site purchase price (1928): £250,000
Original land value (1830s): £35
Construction commencement: Midnight, 1 January 1932
Construction method: Three eight-hour shifts, 24-hour operation
Floor completion rate: One floor every seven to ten days
Workers employed: Over 300
Scheduling method: Fast-track works progress schedule (first use in Australia)
Ground and first floors opened: 1 September 1932; opened by Lord Mayor Councillor H Gengoult Smith

Interior specifications

Ground-floor arcade finish: Coloured marble with copper shopfronts
Lift doors: Elaborate copper
Lift interiors: Veneered timber with leadlight dome
Boardroom location: Eleventh floor
Boardroom table length: Nearly six metres
Boardroom table finish: Rosewood veneer with rosewood inlay border, moulded and carved edge
Boardroom chairs: Twelve monogrammed leather chairs
Sculptural programme: Orlando Dutton; figures representing faith, hope, and charity; located above oriel windows on Collins and Swanston elevations

Technology (as at 1932)

Escalator distinction: First building in Victoria to have escalators installed
Escalator brand: Otis-Waygood
Escalator location: Ground floor lobby to first-floor mezzanine
Additional features: Automatic cooling; rubbish and postal chutes on every floor; Australia's largest diesel generator (emergency power, sub-basement)

Architectural precedent

Design inspiration: Raymond Hood's Chicago Tribune Tower
Tribune Tower completion: 1925
Features borrowed: Vertical ribbing, buff-coloured cladding, stepped Gothic crown
Related building: Century Building, Collins Street (Barlow, 1939)

Occupancy & restoration

Current major tenant: Smile Solutions
Smile Solutions occupation: Five levels plus the tower
Dr Kia Pajouhesh first acquisition: Mezzanine level (Level 1), 2003
Subsequent acquisition: Levels 11, 12, and tower, 2006
Restoration architects: Rob Mills Architects; Andronas Conservation Architecture
Landscaper: Paul Bangay
Spire floodlighting restoration: 2012
Top floors converted to apartments: 1997
Dr Pajouhesh role: Chairman, MUB Owners Corporation, since 2003

Historical occupancy

Original owner/purpose: Manchester Unity Independent Order of Oddfellows (IOOF) headquarters; non-profit friendly society; approximately 28,000 members; provided sickness and funeral benefits
Wartime use: Australian Army, Victorian Lines of Communication, Southern Command HQ
Commonwealth acquisition: 1947
Post-war tenants included: Trans Australia Airlines; Department of Munitions; Department of Aircraft Production
Notable incident: Unsolved murder of three jewellers, eighth floor, 1978

General product claims

The Manchester Unity Building is described as one of Australia's most architecturally significant buildings
The building is described as one of Melbourne's most recognised and best-loved buildings
The construction speed record is described as one that stood until the 1980s and as having never been broken
The building is described as architecturally significant as the greatest achievement of Marcus Barlow
The boardroom's artistic workmanship is described as "without par for a building of this period"
The building is described as having convinced Melburnians that the Depression-era building slump was ending
The rooftop garden is described as "a truly beautiful space"
Smile Solutions is described as Australia's largest private dental practice
The aesthetic environment of the building is characterised as providing a quiet, reassuring welcome for anxious patients
Tower tours through Melbourne Open House are described as among the most sought-after destinations in the annual event
The mezzanine and lifts are described as "almost identical to how they were" following restoration
The restoration is described as "both challenging and quite rewarding"
Smile Solutions' clinical care is characterised as "world-class" and "evidence-based"
The building is described as communicating permanence, craft, and genuine care before patients meet their clinician