State of Grace in King Street is a charming oasis in the city, a visual smorgasbord where your eyes dart from the enormous chandeliers to a faux-marble Roman-inspired wall sculpture.
State of Grace – once located in Collins Street – now calls King Street home.
If there’s a sense of history here that’s not surprising. The building was once the home of the Melbourne Steamship Co. dating back to 1873.
In that year Hugh Reid and several partners established Hugh R. Reid and Company as a shipowner.
In 1885, a brick building of three floors containing a store and offices was constructed on the site. Later known as Melbourne Coal Shipping and Engineering Company Limited its name was changed to Melbourne Steamship Company in 1895.
Fire severely damaged the building and in 1889 a three-storey building and a basement replaced it.
By 1909 the Melbourne Steamship Co had expanded its offices to occupy all three floors of the building, and by 1913 had vacated the premises at 25 King Street and re-established itself in a new building at 27-31 King Street next door. The company operated there into the 1960s.
The building, which was constructed in 1913 from the designs of the Tompkins Bros. for the Melbourne Steamship Company, has State significance for its architectural interest as an early and successful amalgamation of Edwardian Baroque commercial building design in London and of framed structures in Chicago, the National Trust Database tells us.
It says: “Substantially original, the Melbourne Steamship Building has architectural importance, also as a fine example of the work of a firm regarded as the doyen of Melbourne’s first generation of twentieth century commercial architects.”
It goes on: “Historically, the building is significant at a state level for its associations with Melbourne’s foremost late nineteenth and early twentieth century shipping line, and with Melbourne’s early river located port and the almost forgotten interstate shipping trade. This company served the south coast up until the World War 11 period.”
Today, the heritage-listed building stands as a fine example of early 20th-century architecture, significant not only for its design but for its ties to Melbourne’s maritime history and interstate shipping trade.
State of Grace offers a Level 1 with high ceilings, huge bi-fold windows looking out onto King Street and an old-world-style bar complete with balustrades, and another on the mezzanine. Sitting up high, the venue also boasts a rooftop where guests can soak up the ultimate Melbourne CBD atmosphere.
Downstairs there’s a “hidden” bar named Fall From Grace. A sliding bookcase reveals a dimly lit den with a speakeasy vibe. Grab a seat in one of the plush Victorian-style armchairs.
State of Grace is proud of its history and excited about its future.
Come in soon and say hello.
