page_title: Kew Asylum
section_title: Distinctive features
hierarchical_section_title: Kew Asylum / Distinctive features
caption_attribution_description: English: Kew Asylum skyline
context_page_description: Kew Lunatic Asylum is a decommissioned psychiatric hospital located between Princess Street and Yarra Boulevard in Kew, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. Operational from 1871 to 1988, Kew was one of the largest asylums ever built in Australia. Later known as Willsmere, the complex of buildings were constructed between 1864 and 1872 to the design of architects G.W. Vivian and Frederick Kawerau of the Victorian Public Works Office to house the growing number of "lunatics", "inebriates", and "idiots" in the Colony of Victoria.
  The first purpose built asylum in the Colony of Victoria, Kew was also larger and more expensive than its sister asylums at Ararat and Beechworth. The asylum's buildings are typical examples of the Italianate architecture style which was popular in Victorian Melbourne. Designed to be elegant, beautiful, yet substantial, and to be viewed as "a magnificent asylum for the insane" with the aim of portraying Melbourne as a civilised and benevolent city whilst avoiding the jail-like appearance of other asylums. These aims were furthered by the use of low ha-ha walls and extensively landscaped grounds.
context_section_description: The asylum complex is an example of the E-plan lunatic asylums based on the model 1850s asylum in Colney Hatch, England, which itself was based on the 1830 design of Hanwell Asylum in London.  Kew was also considered a barracks style asylum due to its perceived resemblance to stockades or gaols.  The buildings are constructed from oversize bricks, made from local clay which was quarried on-site. The bricks were then rendered with cement.  The central administration block is three storied with a mansard roof and cupola.  Two storeyed ward wings extend to each side, one for each sex.  Each wing has a four storey, mansard-roofed tower, which contained water tanks.  The ward wings were surrounded by courtyards lined with iron columned verandas, many of which were retained when the complex was redeveloped.  Internally, the dormitories had 14 ft (4.3 m) ceilings and brightly coloured walls with the beds aligned in neat rows.  The floors were of timber, principally so they could be scrubbed.
  The primary access to the complex was from a tree-lined drive from Princess Street (now known as "Main Drive") culminating in an elliptical carriageway in front of the main building.  A second drive (now known as "Lower Drive") extended from Princess Street to the rear gates of the asylum. This road was commonly used for deliveries to and from the asylum via the rear gatehouse.
  While Kew's plan and detail are similar to its sister asylums at Ararat and Beechworth, the Kew asylum is much larger with the front buildings and towers more impressive architecturally.  Kew's distinctive towers and mansard roofs make it one of the most prominent architectural landmarks in Melbourne and is clearly visible on the eastern skyline.
caption: Skyline of the Kew Asylum
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