No 2 Goods Shed facts for kids
The No. 2 Goods Shed is a very large building in Melbourne, Australia. It was built a long time ago, in 1889, to help move goods by train. Back then, it was called 'A Goods Shed'. It was the longest single building in Australia when it was first built! You can find it in an area called Docklands, at 733 Bourke Street.
What Does It Look Like?
This huge building is made of colorful bricks. It has very strong brick walls and a roof covered with slate tiles. Inside, big iron columns help hold up the roof. The roof itself has three parts that look like triangles, with special windows called clerestories to let in light.
The shed is super long, about 370 meters! That's longer than three football fields! It has many arched doors, 26 on one side and 28 on the other. Outside these doors, there were platforms where horse-drawn wagons could load and unload items. Inside, there were platforms for three train tracks, so goods could be moved directly from trains. The upper floor even used special terracotta material to help prevent fires.
At one corner of the building, there's a two-story office section with a central tower. You can see fancy decorations around the main door. There's also a special symbol for "VR," which stands for Victorian Railways, with a crown above it. You can also spot the year '1889' on the building, showing when it was built. A clock face was added later, even though it wasn't part of the original plan.
Why Was It Built?
The No. 2 Goods Shed was built between 1889 and 1890. Before this, there were smaller wooden sheds that weren't big enough. Melbourne was growing very fast in the 1880s, and more and more goods needed to be moved by train. So, a much bigger shed was needed!
A company called A.P. Tozer and Company was given the job to build it. It was a huge project! This shed was just one of many big railway projects happening at that time. Other important buildings like the Railways Headquarters Building and the Flinders Street Viaduct were also built around the same time. These projects helped the Victorian Railways system grow a lot.
What Happened to It?
Over time, the area around the shed changed. As part of a big project to redevelop Melbourne Docklands, the shed was actually cut in half! This happened when a new street, Collins Street, was built right through the middle of it.
The northern part of the shed was updated by a group called Places Victoria. They added a modern, tall black glass building called the 'Lantern' and fixed up the inside. The southern half of the shed is now known as The Goods Shed, 707 Collins Street. It was restored and turned into offices for companies like Pearson Australia and Penguin Random House.
This important building is recognized for its history. It is listed by the National Trust of Australia and is also on the Victorian Heritage Register.
