Chinese meal, Italian building

Visiting Canberra, we realise that our eating-out options at home in Lennox Head, are limited. We’ve had some great Chinese food here, including tonight at Madam Lu’s in the city centre.

This, and many other restaurants, are located in the old Melbourne and Sydney Buildings. Built from the late 1920s, they were the first commercial buildings in Canberra, when the national capital was being built. Fortunately they have survived and are now an important part of the city’s social life. The architectural style is described as:

arcaded loggias, derived from Brunelleschi's Ospedale degli Innocenti (Foundling Hospital) and the cloisters of the 15th century Basilica di San Lorenzo di Firenze. The Mediterranean influence was maintained with Roman roof tiles and cast embellishments such as roundels.