Footscray Olympic Tyre & Rubber Co

The Footscray Olympic Tyre and Rubber Co artwork is dedicated to the historic circa-1934 Olympic Tyre and Rubber factory, offices and buildings in Cross Street Footscray. Built in the Moderne style, the adjoining office includes a stunning grand foyer entrance complete with a floor plaque featuring the Olympic Tyres logo.

Established as the company headquarters in 1934, the site was expanded in 1939 and operated until 2003. Between 2003 and the beginning of the current redevelopment the site suffered constant vandalism and theft.

In 2005 Helen Lardner Conservation & Design (HLCD) determined the importance of the Cross Street frontage. This included the showroom in the Interwar Egyptian Revival-style, flanked by two Streamlined Moderne buildings – the Office Building, also 1934, and the Administration Building of 1939.

The importance of the buildings lie in the physical link they provide to the role of the company in the industrial development of Footscray and their association with Frank Beaurepaire – an ex-Olympian and then Mayor – and his companies. Prime Minister Menzies opened the 1939 expansion and Beaurepaire was knighted the next year.

The building was converted into apartments in about 2011, and was part of Banbury Village precinct that includes other converted buildings. It is named after the banbury machines, which were important in tyre production.

The Footscray Olympic Tyre and Rubber Co artwork would make a great gift for lovers of Melbourne’s West, Footscray, and Melbourne’s industrial history, and is available in A4, A3, A2, A1 and the super enormous A0.

For more information about the history of The Olympic Tyre and Rubber Company history, visit here.