On 1 October 1980, it was announced that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II had conferred the title of "Royal" to the Exhibition Building.

Composed of brick, timber, steel, and slate, the Exhibition Building is representative of the Byzantine, Romanesque, Lombardic and Italian Renaissance styles.

[4] The dome was modeled on the Florence Cathedral, while the main pavilions were influenced by the style of Rundbogenstil and several buildings from Normandy, Caen and Paris.

He was also the father of the famed soprano Dame Nellie Melba, who sang at the opening of the Provisional Parliament House in Canberra in 1927.

[8] The foundation stone was laid by Victorian governor George Bowen on 19 February 1879[9] and it was completed in just 18 months, opening on 1 October 1880, as the Melbourne International Exhibition.

The building consisted of a Great Hall of over 12,000 square metres, flanking lower annexes to the north on the east and west sides, and many temporary galleries between.

On 3 September 1901, the Countess of Hopetoun, wife of the Governor-General, announced the winners of a competition to design the Australian National Flag.

[13] As it decayed, it became known derogatively by locals as The White Elephant in the 1940s[14] and by the 1950s, like many buildings in Melbourne of that time it was earmarked for replacement by office blocks.

It was a venue for the 1956 Summer Olympics, hosting the basketball, weightlifting, wrestling, and the fencing part of the modern pentathlon competitions.

On 1 October 1980 during a visit to Victoria, Princess Alexandra unveiled a plaque which commemorated both the opening of the new mirror-glass "Centennial Hall", and the centenary of the building.

Following the outcry over the ballroom demolition, and the appointment of new Trustees and a new Chair in 1983, the heritage of the building began to be seen as important as providing modern space for exhibitions.

The first conservation assessment of the building was undertaken by Alan Willingham in 1987, and over the following decades the Great hall was progressively renovated and restored.

[21] In 1996, the then Premier of Victoria, Jeff Kennett, proposed the location and construction of Melbourne's State Museum in the carpark to the north, which involved the demolition of the 1960s annexes in 1997–98.

Due to the community campaign opposing the museum development, John Brumby, then State opposition leader, with the support of the Melbourne City Council, proposed the nomination of the Royal Exhibition Building for world heritage listing.

[26] In 2018, The Australian Government granted $20 million for heritage restoration works to protect and promote the Royal Exhibition Building.

Internally, renovations included restoring the timber flooring and some old staircases, which were replaced by much safer stairs made from concrete and steel.

During the late 1800s, it was the go-to spot for visitors seeking panoramic views of the growing city and its new suburbs as there were very few other tall buildings to block the sweeping vistas in all directions.

[29]  After being closed for nearly a century, the Dome Promenade was officially reopened on 28 October 2022, as part of the $20 Million heritage restoration works to the building.