Love and Lewis Building
Originally constructed in 1913 to accommodate the Love and Lewis department store, this five-level historic building located at 321 & 323A Chapel Street, Prahran, was converted into 40 double-storey apartment shells, with a further eight penthouse shells added to the roof.
Work also involved the restoration of the 632m2 basement commercial area, a new ground floor corner shop of 75m2 and the creation of a 486m2 mezzanine commercial area over the existing ground floor tenants.
The new mezzanine area posed its problems, with large steel beams and columns requiring to be passed down through the operating ground floor tenants’ areas, and then welded into position.
Some of this work was undertaken outside normal trading hours, allowing the existing four tenancies to trade throughout the conversion period with little disruption.
The Love and Lewis building was classified by the National Trust, requiring constant liaison between ourselves, the Trust and Local Council Town Planning, as well as the preparation of a conservation report.