The Gothic Bank

The Gothic Bank on Collins Street features a facade of elaborate, honey-colored limestone covered in pointed arches and ornate carvings of Australian flora. When the English, Scottish, and Australian Bank commissioned it in eighteen eighty-three, architect William Wardell used the building to project absolute financial stability. Inside, the banking chamber features soaring marble columns and a vaulted ceiling painted in gold leaf. The bank eventually moved out, leaving the structure to hold a series of tenants who navigate its massive, echoing interior.