Harbour Front, Suva

Harbour Front, formerly the Burns Philp Building, probably was built around 1901 by James Burns and Robert Philp, who in 1883 started a trading partnership in Queensland, Australia, called Burns, Philp & Co. Ltd. There is no record found naming the building’s architect, but it might have been the McCredie Brothers, who designed the Burns Philp Building in Townsville, Queensland, in 1895.

The design suggests the emerging art deco phase with some traces of earlier styles. The front facade of the three-story building is symmetrical with two identical extensions on either side. The middle bay is the most visibly prominent with two vertical pilaster forms rising above the roofline, arched entry, two multi-paned windows and clock. A central tower, with a hipped roof and wide-eaved overhang, is constructed in the central part of the building.

On either side of the front facade are two extensions with single and double placed multi-paned windows separated by classical pilasters. The wall surface is smooth, in contrast with the horizontal beveled lines on the surface of the front facade. Brick or masonry blocks may be under the exterior wall stucco.