Banana Republic, Miami South Beach

The former Chase Federal Savings Loan Association building in Miami South Beach has been turned into a Banana Republic clothing store.

It is a great example of the reuse of an existing building when it is not longer required for its original purpose.

The original relief work on the front of the building above the entrance remains. It depicts 'FC' inside a disc bearing the words "Chase Federal Savings Loan Association" with two stylised eagles, one on either side.

The updated signage for Banana Republic is above the carvings and therefore does not interfere with it.

Inside, some of the old desks are not used as counters and the large safe has been converted to a changing room. It is great to see the masive round door still in situ.

The front door is also well done. A mass of metal and glass, it still conveys an impression of a bank but allows a modern clothes retailler to show off their designs and entice customers into the store.

A House in Port Melbourne

Dunstan Estate in Port Melbourne is the smallest of three residential estates built in the area during the interwar period. It mostly consists of two-storey semi-detatched white houses with red brick features. They are quite English in style and not that common in Australia.

Inside they have some nice built-in wooden features including the bannisters and the cupboards under the stairs.

The interior door handles are pure deco and seem to vary slightly from house to house (I've only been inside two so admittedly it is a small sample).

Atlas, Rockefeller Center, New York

The stylised deco form of Atlas by Lee Lawrie stands in front of the International Building on the 5th Avenue edge of the Rockefeller Center opposite St Patrick's Cathedral.

It is one of 12 works by Lawrie in the Center and it was chosen the Art Deco Society of New York for the poster to promote the 8th World Congress on Art Deco which they hosted in May 2005.

EK Building, Hastings

While Napier has claimed the title of "Art Deco City", nearby Hastings highlights it stock of Spanish Mission buildings. Hastings, however has it's share of deco, including this shop on a city centre corner.

The building has been flatten across the corner to provide a doorway with simple stepped decoration above.

I've called it the EK Building because those initials are incorporated into a panel on the side of the shop above the verandah. This panel is very decorative compared to the rest of the building where, in the main, the decoration consists of horizontal lines and simple decoration cut into the top of the wall.

The other decorative item is this stylised floral element sitting up roofline.

Wolverton, Silver End

In 1926, Window manufacturer Francis Henry Crittal established a works near Braintree in Essex and created the village of Silver End to house his workers.

The result was a wonderful collection of Modernist houses designed by Thomas Tait with metal Crittal windows.

This is Wolverton which is probably one of the best houses in the village and would have been for one of the managers at the Crittal plant. Workers had more modest houses in nearby streets.

The main feature of Wolverton is the triangle shaped central element. The metal framed windows lead to a small balcony with a 'W' worked into the railing.

And I do like the simple little window in the front door.

Last Stop Bedding & Furniture, Maryborough

I find the paint job on the Last Stop Bedding & Furniture store in Maryborough interesting.

I like the way it highlights the decorative elements of the building but it has gone a bit wrong with the columns on each side of the taller central section. I suspect the windows and door have been altered to accommodate the requirements of the furniture store meaning that the right-hand column has been truncated above the door.

In addition the name of the shop necessitates the brown colour stopping above the writing. However the brown on the other column, which reaches to the ground, stops level with the bottom of the store name. The result isn't unpleasant and it could be argued that this is a creative solution to a design problem.

There are no such issues at the back of the store where a different style facade has been tied into the High Street entrance with the addition of two painted brown columns that also complement the subtly stepped pediment.

I think it is great that Last Stop Bedding & Furniture have linked two or more shops to provide a homogeneous style using the underlying style of the architecture without detracting from it.

Kylemore, Dalkeith

This magnificent house on a large corner block in the Perth suburb of Dalkieth dates from 1937.

I like the circular rooms on the ground floor which are mirrored in the second storey balconies.

Even the railing around the balconies seem to match the proportions of the panes in the smaller curved windows below.

Most of all, I like the fact that the property has no fencing so we can enjoy the full beauty of the building.