3. Barristers’ offices
The Equity Chambers enjoyed a period of vibrancy not long after it opened its doors. While the lower levels were occupied by the Equity Trustees Company, its third floor soon became known as “the home of the Bar”. The rooms were quickly filled up with legal chambers, including barristers and judges relocating from nearby. Actually, the building is the oldest continuously occupied barristers’ chambers in Victoria.
Main Front Entrance
Source: Journal of the Royal Victorian Institute of Architects, November 1931
The most notable tenants of the chambers include Sir John McEwan, who later became the leader of the Country Party and Deputy Prime Minister, as well as Sir Norman O’Bryan, a Supreme Court judge; many of them had Irish heritage.
Besides its dashing design, the building’s location – central in Melbourne’s legal network, one block away from the Supreme court of Victoria
– was another attractive factor for legal professionals.
Upper floor layout
Source: Journal of the Royal Victorian Institute of Architects, November 1931
Demands were so high that it soon leased out the fourth floor to more law firms. The growing community gradually established its own ecosystem and customs. For instance, when a barrister from the chambers was appointed or passed away, his photograph would be placed on the corridor wall. Equally noteworthy is its annual St. Patrick’s Day parties, derived from its many Irish tenants.
The entry to Equity Chambers 2015
Source: Archival Recording, Daniel Colombo
Equity Trustees Building Proposed Office Subdivision 3rd floor, Oakley & Parkes Architects, Drawing No. 31153, 1st July 1931
Source: Public Record Office of Victoria, VPRS 11200 P2 268
A recent interview gives a vignette of the daily occurrence at judge Jack Cullity’s office. “There’d be one client in the corner rehearsing his unsworn statement, and there’d be another at the desk talking to Jack, and there’d be another one over in another corner working away at some aspect of his case, with Les Darcy (a boxer, appearing in a painting in Cullity’s room) looking aggressively over the whole group.”
Carrying on their public ethos, the former Equity Trustees’ and former Barristers’ offices have become the meeting and event spaces for Hilton Melbourne Little Queen Street, which accommodate different occasions from various aspects of life.
Oakley & Parkes Boardroom
Photo by: Sean Fennessy
Heritage office hallway
Photo by: Sean Fennessy
Gorman + Chambers Room
Photo by: Sean Fennessy
Chambers Room
Photo by: Sean Fennessy
Chambers Room
Photo by: Sean Fennessy
Gorman Room | details
Photo by: Sean Fennessy