Roy Grounds

[citation needed] In the mid 1920s, he began his articles with the architectural firm of Blackett, Forster and Craig, where Geoffrey Mewton was doing the same.

By 1928 they were both studying at the University of Melbourne Architectural Atelier,[citation needed] where they won first prize in an Institute of Architects Exhibition for a house costing under £1000.

nicknamed "The Ship" due to its long horizontal asbestos-cement sheet flat forms topped by a pipe railing and a glass walled lookout, and the similarly styled Rosanove House in nearby Frankston.

[citation needed] Grounds returned and established a solo practice between 1939 and 1942, and designed a series of unusually modern flat developments in the Toorak area which further established his reputation as a modernist: Moonbria, with its balustrades topped with Swedish blue tiles[10] and Quamby 1939-41, both situated in Toorak, are buildings which consist of studio, one or two-bedroom apartments.

[11] During World War II he served in the Royal Australian Air Force (1942—1945) as a Flight Lieutenant, performing works and camouflage duties.

This theme was repeated in later projects, including the circular Round House in Hobart, and the square Master's Lodge at Ormond College.

In 1959 the firm was awarded the commission to design the National Gallery of Victoria and Arts Centre, with Grounds named in the contract as the architect in charge.

Under a building committee chaired by the philanthropist Ken Myer, Grounds devoted the next twenty years of his life to the completion of the Arts Centre.

While the gallery was brought in on time and budget, the complicated Yarra River site for the Concert Hall and Theatre Complex resulted in building delays and criticism.

Unlike the fate that befell Jørn Utzon on the Sydney Opera House project, Grounds managed to hold on to his commission from the Victorian Government despite tumult within his company in the late 1970s.