Dominion Court, Durban

Dominion Court in the Grey St or Indian area of Durban harks back to South Africa being part of the British Empire. A nearby building is called Empire Court.

The building has several Art Deco features. A flagpole with a nice example of a rule of three decoration at the base.

The central panel below the second storey balconies bears a stylised sunburst that could also represent the Union Flag of the United Kingdom. The bays either side are decorated with a tapering horizontal stepped design.

Dominion Court has seen better days but with a bit of work could become a very stylish building once again.

McIntosh House, Durban

McIntosh House in Durban was designed by Geoffrey Le Sueur in 1936.

Prefcor Building, Durban

This is the Prefcor Building in downtown Durban.

The bulding was originally Payne Bros Department Store. The Facts About Durban website says that when the store opened in 1938 it had the longest escalator in the Southern Hemisphere and local children used to visit the store just to ride on it.

Chester House, Durban

Chester House, dating from 1935, was designed by Cowin, Powers and Ellis.

The metal framed windows and horizontal spandrels provide contribute to a very interesting facade. However the rounded columns stretching the full height of the building to the open balcony on the top floor really emphasise the vertical nature of the building.

Berea View, Durban

I've written before about Carlisle Street in Durban. This photo shows this wonderful collection of Art Deco buildings in located in this street.

From left to right they are Berea View, Mount View, Vel-vet Mansions and Carlisle Castle.

Mount View, Durban

Mount View is another fabulous Art Deco apartment block in Carlisle Street, Durban.

In this view you can see Mount View in the foreground and Berea View further back.

They look identical to me except for the colouring. Their decoration is very simple. Horizontal lines below the second and third floor windows, a row of circles connected by a line above the top windows and a central flagpole support with more horizontal lines behind that.

The view looking down Carlisle Street in the other direction highlights how good it is for Art Deco. Mount View is again in the foreground but this time we can see Vel-vet Mansions and Carlisle Castle each with different and more elaborate decoration.

Three of the four deco building in this street used to have flagpoles. I can only imagine how good it would look if they were put back.

A Gutter in Durban

So. When you have spent eight days straight looking at Art Deco builings and attending presentations on Art Deco, do you start to see Art Deco everywhere?

Carlisle Castle, Durban

OK, I'll admit my inspiration for going to Durban tonight is the Cricket. Ponting and Hughes look very comfortable at Kingsmead and the Test at the moment is going Australia's way.

In fact I've just flicked over to The Saint. It's an old B+W episode from 1964 called Luella. I'm a sucker for the old British ITC shows so I'll stick with Simon for a while. But I digress.

This beautiful apartment block is in the Grey Street precict of Durban, next door toVel-Vet Mansions. It is called Carlisle Castle and while the basic shape of the building is very similar to Vel-Vet, the colouring and decoration is completely different.

The building is a yellow-cream colour with rouge-red decoration. Between the second and third floor the is a large geometric panel bearing the name of the building.

An larger, more elaborate panel incorporating diaomonds and other geometric shapes, sits above the third floor windows just below the roofline. Centred in this decorative element is the remants of the supports for a flagpole, now sadly missing.

Above the windows the decoration consists of simple row of squares.

Back at ground level the use of red and black bricks, arranged in diagonal stripes flank the communal doorway.

Hollywood Court, Durban

Hollywood Court designed by Hobbs & Bonieux, was constructed from 1937-39 in the South African city of Durban.

The vertical columns really stand out on this building and I like the way they undulate on the upper floors perhaps reflecting the seaside location of the city.

The main central columns are topped by a series of three discs. While the finial (if that's what it is) right on top is decorated with three rectangles.

The lines of the building are broken halfway up with a zig-zag motif between the two outer columns.

This motif is repeated above the lettering spelling out the Hollywood Court name which sits above the main entrance.

The interior of the foyer retains some original elements include a piece of furniture or decoration which even the Durban Art Deco website has difficulty identifying its function, calling it a folly.

In any case it is a nice piece incorporating chrome seagulls, a clock and tile decoration.

Ellan Vannin, Durban

This large block of flats in Durban is called Ellan Vannin.

From the above angle you can notice the curved end to the canopy over the doorway.

Otherwise, the minimal decoration on the building consisted almost exclusively of straight lines. The other exception is the diamond motifs at the roofline of the projecting sections of the facade.

The windows are interesting. I suspect that at one time they were all metal frames with small square panes but over time some have been replaced with larger panes.

The main doors by contrast are wooden with this fantastic sunburst design.

St Augustine's Mansions, Durban

These are the fantastic entrance gates to St Augustine's Mansions in the Berea district of Durban.

Starting at the top, there is a band of chevrons running just below the guttering.

Directly above the gateway, the name of the mansions is inscribed in suitably stylised lettering.

On the faces of the columns are mask-like geometric decorations which are also perhaps Mayan inspired.

The gateway is flanked on each side by tapering walls bearing light fixtures. These look modern by fit in nicely with the other decorative features.

Patel's Building, Durban

The Grey Street Precinct of Durban is a bustling commercial with a thriving Indian population. During the interwar period building in the area peaked and many of the local Indian businessmen built premises and naturally put their names on the front. In Durban they call this style Afro-Asian Deco.

Patel's Building dates from 1937. Like many buildings in the area it has an open balcony area on the second storey providing a shaded verandah in front of the shops and businesses at street level. The upper level is supported by 8 columns with simple stepped capitals.

The central two columns are the tallest reaching just above the highest point in the stepped parapet which partly conceals the conventional hip roof behind.

An open latice section on the fron of each section of the balcony provides additional ventilation and simple decoration.

A simple two-tone blue colour scheme highlights the decoration on the columns while the parapet is topped by a rust coloured capping.

Enterprise Building, Durban

Downtown Durban has a large number of art deco buildings including this one, the Enterprise Building.

The office building was designed by A A Richie McKinley and built in 1931.

Eight storeys tall, painted grey but with some amazing decoration.

Flanking the seventh floor balcony are a pair of winged creatures. The building is not in the best of shape so it is difficult to see exactly what type of creature they might be.

Between these creatures on the front of the balcony is a more typical geometric art deco element.

Lower on the building, the decoration is in much better condition.

The stand-out is this stylised eagle above the main entrance.

I particularily like the depiction of the birds claws, as if it is perched on the lintel.

Elsewhere, near the entrance, there are a pair of Roman fasces supported by Mayan-style heads.

Vel-Vet Mansions, Durban

Perhaps the best part of this apartment building in Durban is the hyphen but that is a bit flippant.

Why Vel-Vet rather than plain Velvet. It probably doesn't matter.

Vel-Vet Mansions is one of a series of buildings in Carlisle Street in the Indian section of Durban built in the early 1940s.

Vel-Vet is decorated with lines, squares, diamonds and triangles with the name on the front of the building between the second and third floors.

Other aprtment blocks in Carlisle Street have similar decoration and also bear their names on their facades but Vel-Vet is the only one with a hyphen.

Cenotaph, Durban

The War Memorial in Gardiner Street, Durban came about through an archtectural competition in 1921. The Cape Town firm of Eagle, Pilkington and McQueen won and the resulting structure was completed in 1926.

The most striking feature of the Cenotaph is the colourful sculpture of the fallen warrior being transported to heaven in the arms of two angels. Heaven in this case represented by an amazing yellow sunburst topped with a white dove and a starry sky.

The sculpture was completed by Harold and Phoebe Stabler of the Poole Pottery in England and shipped out to be assembled on-site.

It is a bit disconcerting to see such bright colours on a war memorial but the representations are so well done that respect is duely paid to the fallen regardless of the colours.

Althea Court, Durban

Althea Court on the seafront in Durban has some nice decoration. It dates from around 1937.

The bottom two floors are divided from the rest of the building by a bold white zig-zag against the two-tone blue colour scheme.

Higher up, deco shields hold the initials 'M' and 'F' with more zig-zag decoration. I wonder what or who they stand for?

Thanks to Andrew Moore from the Deco Durban Directory for identifying this building for me.

Broadwindsor, Durban

At street level, Broadwindsor in Broad Street, Durban, South Africa could be any deco apartment block. The name is boldly displayed above the entrance while two concrete pillars cutting through the horizontal bands of windows lead your eye up the façade to the roofline. And what a roofline! Sitting atop each pillar is a stylised bird, Broadwindsor’s signature, elevating it to more than just another apartment block.

Broadwindsor designed by architects WC Moffat & Hirst was built in 1934 and although the original beautifully curved side windows have been replaced by the somewhat squared-off modern versions the impact of the overall design is still striking.


The birds on top are amazing. I love the curve of the body combined with the wings standing straight, pointing to the sky. The close up view shows the feathering detail and black eyes which bring the sculptures to life.

The two-tone blue colour scheme is a bit jarring but the more I think about it the more I think it works under the deep blue African skies. Durban is a seaside town so like Miami it can afford to use brighter colours for some of its buildings but Miami is a creature of its own making and I am wary of other places copying the style and diluting their own contribution to Art Deco heritage.