The Oberon

↓

The Oberon - St Kilda

Modern small building under construction with metallic exterior and large glass doors, surrounded by trees and construction tools.

One of only two remaining prefabricated buildings in St Kilda, and among the few surviving examples in Melbourne, The Oberon has an extraordinary story. Italian speculative merchants brought the single prefabricated structure from northern Italy and sold it at the Melbourne docks in 1856 — a rare and fragile piece of the city's earliest built history that has stood in St Kilda ever since.

A person standing outside a building near a glass enclosure, with a modern architecture style, under a clear blue sky.

What followed was a full structural restoration of exceptional complexity. Working with the building standing, we introduced an entirely new structural skeleton with bracing and thermal insulation, rebuilt the subfloor system, increased the underfloor ventilation clearance, and installed a subsurface drainage system to prevent further groundwater ingress. Every intervention was designed to secure the building's future without compromising its character.

The new interior, extension, garage, and fence were designed by architect Sean Godsell — work that demanded the level of precision craftsmanship erbauer™ has built its reputation on.

Construction site with wooden framing for a roof and house, scaffolding and black safety barriers, under a cloudy sky, with trees and neighboring houses in the background.

By the time erbauer™ was engaged, the building had endured decades of deterioration through age, rot, and termite damage. A fire in the 1920s had prompted a renovation that was subsequently concealed beneath layers of plaster, which our team carefully removed in 2019 to reveal the original fabric beneath.

Interior view of a modern stairway with white stairs and metal railings, wooden wall panels, large windows, and a person in motion blurry descending the stairs.
  • Modern house with a sloped, metallic exterior, under construction, with large glass doors and open interior showing construction tools, surrounded by trees and a clear blue sky.

  • A person standing outside a modern building with large glass windows and a white wooden exterior, under a clear blue sky.

  • Construction site with wooden framing on a building, surrounded by scaffolding and black safety fencing, with trees and neighboring houses in the background.

  • Interior staircase with white steps and handrails, wood-paneled walls, and a person walking up the stairs, slightly blurred.