The Story of Holmesglen Concrete Housing Project

Produced in 1959 by the Housing Commission of Victoria
The Housing Commission of Victoria has a huge project at Holmesglen, a suburb of Melbourne, for the manufacture of prefabricated houses. All components of a modern house or a block of flats are constructed at this factory and transported in bulk to the place of erection. Concrete walls, chimneys, fences, tiles for roofs, plumbing units, wooden door cupboards and other fittings are all shown under construction and are then shown being fitted into place as the house is erected. Credit is given to the research work being carried out by the CSIRO Building Research Division, particularly in regard to a new type of light weight concrete which has been developed there.

[@gretagXxx]

Thank you so much for making this digital. Will share this with my concrete housing community in 3081

[@ACMICollection]

Awesome, thank you!

[@jkelectrical]

Love the use of safety squints!

[@jamesevans6531]

Amazing video, have recently moved into one of the original 1950s Jordansville concrete homes. Have already seen a bunch be knocked down in the area, I'm wondering if there are any groups out there that have collected info on the houses both historic and semi recent. Love the history and character they lend to the neibourhood but would like to bring the house into modern times with a greater focus on efficiency. So anyone out there that's had any experience with renos would love to go down that path instead of knockdown where the history is lost and the embeded energy in concrete is wasted.

[@gretagXxx]

We've made ours pretty energy efficient with solar panels and going off gas. Our friends up the road have made theirs a passive haus!

[@dogthatshags]

Memories. Tough area back in the 70’s and 80’s Ashburton and Jordanville. Amazing I only saw ONE ‘cheese grater’ at front entrance, at the very end of video. Ex-Jordy Tech boy, frequented Power Ave,Victory Blvd commish flats and the Matthew Flinders Hotel.

[@saltyfish2152]

Wow, such an interesting video. Didn’t know Holmesglen looked like this back in the old days, the current one that we have to this day looks more modern compared to this one

[@RS-rj5sh]

Now the site of Holmesglen TAFE, it was actually the Commonwealth Tank Factory during WW2, they built tanks there for the Australian Army.

[@melissajanemoore8869]

My nan and pop moved into their house brand new in Victory Boulevard Ashburton when my uncle's and mum were kids, and my pop worked in the factory. I remember the fire that gutted the factory when I was eight years old. Most of the street came outside and stood in the reserve across the road and watched the smoke. Nan and Pop bought the place in the (1970's???) as part of the buy back scheme they had going then. She sold it in 1986 for $60,000, and today it's worth about $1.2 mil, because of the land it stands on. I've always said that if I ever won the lottery, I'd buy the place and fix it up.

[@lizmishbonify]

I still live in the concrete units in Benghazi Ave Ashburton

[@Prieze868]

Dr James Evans because it's concrete I did a diploma building construction actually at Holmesglen where they made that with the in the factory now I take where they made these concrete homes you would have to have wall upholstery inside because you cannot wallpaper the concrete obviously cos it's porous and maybe you'll have to have a blue board with a a vapour barrier in between the concrete and the BlueBoard the insulation on the outside unless you bring it up with a with a polystyrene brick behind it obviously some blow I insulation