Richmond Power Station

It has since been converted into office space and is the headquarters of international fashion brand Country Road and advertising agency CHE Proximity.

Another four turbo alternators were installed from 1911 onwards, with the engine room extended to the east to accommodate the 10MW increase in power output.

In 1929, the station was taken over by the State Electricity Commission of Victoria, which relegated Richmond to a peak-load facility.

There was no way of procuring steam plant from the usual English manufactures for several years, but a Swiss firm came to the rescue in 1950.

That plant was very cheap to run in the 1950s with 180,000 pounds per hour (82,000 kg/h) of steam supplied by each of the two Velox oil-fired boilers, at 600 psi (4,100 kPa) and 850 °F (454 °C).

Although obsolete by the 1970s, the station continued to operate very reliably as a peak-load plant until 1982, when its inefficiency, dilapidated condition and pollution led to its closure.

Under architects Metier 3 the original station building and turbine hall, which is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register was restored with a modern extension added to the section which formerly housed the old Babcock + Wilcox water tube boilers.

The building, designed for Country Road, won a merit award from the Royal Australian Institute of Architects in 1997.