page_title: Fawcett and Ashworth
section_title: Notable projects
hierarchical_section_title: Fawcett and Ashworth / Notable projects
caption_attribution_description: English: clocks of Flinders Street Station in Melbourne.
context_page_description: Fawcett and Ashworth was a design partnership that won the design competition for Flinders Street station in 1899. Flinders Street Station is the only known project the pair worked on together.
context_section_description: J.W. Fawcett and H.P.C. Ashworth were the winners of a competition held for the detailed design of Melbourne's Flinders Street station. Fawcett and Ashworth's French Renaissance style design, entitled "the Green Light", was one of seventeen entries, with a winning prize of £500 (which at the time was equivalent to a well-paid, two years' wages). Fawcett and Ashworth were both employed by Victorian Railways, and much controversy arose – particularly initiated by the architect of the runner-up entry, Charles D’Ebro – as to having an unfair advantage due to this.
  The designers were constrained by the narrow land for the project, and therefore were required to come up with a solution for the design of the façade that broke away from the usual practice of layering it, "bringing forward the more important aspects. The designers claimed they 'broke the building design upwards' instead and attributed more architectural significance to the entrances".
  The announcement of the winning entries was made on 22 May 1900, and widely publicised. The judges felt their design adequately addressed all the requirement, and had a more satisfying grandeur than other entries. The French Renaissance style of domes, arches and towers provided a suitable grandeur, which combined with Edwardian and Art Nouveau features made it ultimately unusual in Melbourne (leading to the urban legend that design was intended for Bombay and got mixed up in the post, and comparisons to the Taj Mahal). Much of Fawcett and Ashworth's design is still prevalent today despite the many modifications made after the plans had been selected.
  The project well exceeded the initial cost constraint of £102,000 with a total of £265 061, but the outcome proved to be well worth the expense. Flinders Street station became an icon for Melbourne and its famous clocks a meeting point for generations of Melbournians.
caption: Clocks above main entrance to Flinders Street station
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