John Augustus Bernard Koch (1845-1928) was a Melbourne (Victoria, Australia) architect who practiced between 1869 and 1913. He also became mayor of Richmond near Melbourne.
Life and career
Koch was born in Hamburg in August 1845 and migrated to Australia with his family in 1855. He was educated and trained as an architect in Melbourne and served his articles with F. M. White. He became White's assistant until 1873 when he started his own practice. In 1871 he married Anna Puttmann at the German Lutheran Trinity Church at Eastern Hill (East Melbourne) where they were active members of the congregation. They had a family of six sons and three daughters. In 1873 he was appointed as Architect to the City of Melbourne and designed a number of market buildings. In 1887 he was appointed Architect for the City of Richmond. He took an active interest in professional and community affairs. He was active in the R.V.I.A., served as a Councillor in the City of Richmond for eight years and served as Mayor from 1882 to 1883.
Koch ceased practice in 1913 and his fifth son, Bernard, carried on his practice. He died in Hawthorn, Victoria in August 1928. He is buried in Boroondara Cemetery.
His best known for the highly elaborate mansion Labassa (now National Trust owned), an extensive enlargement of an earlier house in 1889-1890 in Caulfield North, and Friesia, a single storey house of 1888 with an arcaded porch on three sides at 23 Isabella Grove, Hawthorn, built for Melbourne's first German consul William A Brahe. Most of his work was in Hawthorn and Richmond.
Notable buildings
Labassa (originally Ontario), North Caulfield, 1890.
Castlemaine Hospital 1869 (demolished)
Castlemaine Hospital Nurses’ Home, 2 Edward St, Castlemaine c.1870
Hay Market, Horse, Cow and Pig markets and Corn Exchange, Cnr. Flemington Rd and Elizabeth St, Melbourne 1873 (demolished)
House, Residence for J.A.B. Koch, 38 Stanley St, Richmond 1873
E.S.& A. Bank, Cnr. Church and Swan Streets, Richmond 1874 (demolished)
Richmond Temperance Hall, 316 Church St, Richmond 1874
South Richmond Free Library, 417 Church St, Richmond 1880 (demolished)
23, 25, 27 Shakespeare Gve, Hawthorn 1884
"Herald" Office, 30 Swanston St, Melbourne (demolished...now City Square)
Deutscher Verein (German Association) Club Rooms, 7 Alfred Place, Melbourne 1885
"The Spread Eagle Hotel", Corner of Bridge Rd & Coppin St, Richmond 1885
Residence and Surgery for Dr. Druidin, 384 Church St, Richmond 1885
"Friesia", Residence for the German Consul, 23 Isabella Grove, Hawthorn 1887
Record Chambers, Collins Street, 1887Record Chambers, 479-481 Collins St, Melbourne 1887 (now part of Olderfleet Buildings redevelopment)
Richmond UFS Free Dispensary, 292 Church St, Richmond 1887
"Borussia", German Consulate, 6 Shakespeare Gve, Hawthorn 1888
45 Chrystobel Cres, Hawthorn 1888
"Narellan", 3 Moule St, Brighton 1889
"Howlands" or "Alexander's House", 37 Docker St, Richmond 1889
"Ulimaroa", 630 St Kilda Rd, South Melbourne 1889 (now the home of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists)
"Ontario" (now Labassa), Residence for A.W. Robertson, Manor Gve, Caulfield North 1889-1890
"Helenville", Residence for J.A.B. Koch, 377 Church St, Richmond 1889
"Ancient Order of Foresters" Swan St, Richmond (demolished?)
Parsonage, Lutheran Church, 22a Parliament Place, East Melbourne, 1890
"Minerva" (later "Tandarra"), Residence for J. C. Stanford, 68 (now 58) Vale St, East Melbourne 1891
Trinity Lutheran Church and Manse, 51-53 Victoria St, Doncaster 1892
Mees, Herbert D (ed.) 'A German Church in the Garden of God: Melbourne's Trinity Lutheran Church 1853 - 2003'. East Melb.: Historical Society for Trinity German Lutheran Church, 2004.
Smith, Ian & Llewellyn, Peter, 'John A. B. Koch' (Undergraduate thesis) University of Melbourne. Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, 1969.
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