RMIT Melbourne City campus
[1] The college was initially established as a night school for the instruction of "art, science and technology" – in the words of its founder Francis Ormond – "especially to working men".
[6] In 1929, it was granted the eastern side of Bowen Street for development – over areas of the recently decommissioned Melbourne Gaol.
[6] During this time, the campus was – as described by architect Peter Elliot – "just a cacophony of cluttered streets, laneways, dead-ends and hidden courts".
[15] Dubbed the "grey silos", the austere functionalist design of the towers was criticised for a lack of windows facing Swanston Street.
[6] In 1975, architect John Andrews was engaged to design the first stage of new Building 8 (Union House) in place of the fourth tower block.
In the late 1990s, architect Peter Elliot was engaged to undertake the most significant redesign of the campus' urban landscape in its history.
[17] The second stage was completed in 2007, and included the redevelopment of the historic walled yard of the Old Melbourne Gaol as an open space (renamed Alumni Courtyard), as well as a large stairway linking it to University Way.
[18] The third stage was completed in conjunction with Elliot's refurbishment of Building 1 (Francis Ormond Building) in 2010, and included the creation of a lawned common area named University Lawn at the southern end of University Way[19] In 2007, to mark its 120th anniversary, RMIT instigated a A$600 million capital works program.
[21] The program is designed to facilitate the consolidation of RMIT's colleges and schools into the main campus area from their locations in disparate buildings around the city centre.
[2][27] The initial donation was matched through the fundraising efforts of Melbourne Trades Hall members, after the cause was taken up by its secretary William Murphy.
[22] The 1883 design of the wing was redeveloped by Oakden, along with his new partners George Addison and Henry Kemp, and included more overt stone dressings.
[31] It included a reintroduction of period interior features as well as the creation of a café in the rear courtyard of the building and a lawned common area.
[32] Notably, the building refurbishment restored its elaborate 9 m high vaulted and hammerbeam roofs and the Romanesque semicircular Council Chamber.
[33] Its credentials include solar power generation, a rain water harvesting system and storage tanks under the lawn.
[41][42] The building was opened by prominent army general and engineer John Monash in 1931 (in what is reported to have been his last public function before he died later that year).
[39][40] The building was constructed on the site of a former cell block and walled yard of the neighbouring Melbourne Gaol (which ceased operation in 1924).
[43][44] During demolishing and excavation works on the site in 1929, workers discovered what was believed to be the grave of notorious bushranger Ned Kelly (who was hanged at the gaol in 1880).
[44] The bones were later returned or recovered by the state penal department,[45] and the remains were reinterred at the Metropolitan Gaol at Pentridge (now Coburg).
[46] Between 1998 and 2002, the entire interior of the building was refurbished and a fourth story added to a contemporary design by architect Peter Elliot, at a cost of A$13.4 million.
[47] It replaced excess Royal Australian Air Force huts which had been relocated to the roof of the building after World War II – in order to relieve a shortage of classrooms.
Originally three stories, it is a Streamline Style Moderne building designed by the state public works department under the chief architect Percy Everett.
[51] During World War II, over 5,300 Royal Australian Air Force personnel trained to be radar operators and radio mechanics in the building.
[55][56] Located at the corner of Franklin Street and University Way, the group includes the gaol gatehouse, service wing, bathhouse and chapel buildings.
[56] They were designed by the colonial public works department under chief architect Henry Ginn and based on Joshua Jebb's Pentonville prison style.
The only remaining cell block of the gaol which fronts Russell Street (which is not a part of the Building 11 group) was left abandoned.
[43] During World War II, the disused cellblock was reopened and as a military prison for soldiers who went Absent Without Leave (AWOL).
[61] It was constructed on the site of the former governor's residence as well as parts of the panopticon-like exercise yards and watchtower of the neighbouring Melbourne Gaol.
[5] After the gaol ceased operations in 1924,[43] the ownership of its former gatehouse, service wing, bathhouse and chapel buildings were transferred to the college.
[74][75][76] It ceased operations as the Hibernian Hall in 1903,[70] after which it was acquired by the controversial evangelical preacher John Alexander Dowie who used as a Zionist Tabernacle.
[77] It was a site of protest when Dowie (who started his religious career in Australia) returned to Melbourne in 1904 – at the height of his notoriety.
