William Pitt was an Australian architect and politician. Pitt is best known as one of the outstanding architects of the "boom" era of the 1880s in Melbourne, designing some of the city's most elaborate High Victorian commercial buildings. He worked in a range of styles including Gothic Revival, Italianate, French Second Empire, and his own inventive eclectic compositions. He had a notable second career after the crash of the 1890s, becoming a specialist in theatres and industrial buildings.
Melbourne Coffee Palace in 1881 (demolished)
On Collins Street, Pitt designed both the Olderfleet building (left), and the Rialto (far right).
Pitt's busy, vertical Venetian Gothic design for the Melbourne Stock Exchange
Pitt's details for the roof and tower fleche of the Olderfleet
St Kilda is an inner seaside suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south-east of the Melbourne central business district, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. St Kilda recorded a population of 19,490 at the 2021 census.
Luna Park and the Palais Theatre on the St Kilda foreshore
Early lithograph (1864) of St Kilda main beach, looking toward west beach and Port Melbourne
An 1880s photograph of St Kilda Junction looking south towards the Junction Hotel, cnr Barkly Street/ High Street (now St Kilda Road)
An 1890 photograph of Fitzroy Street looking toward the three blocks that made up the George Hotel
