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The Quadrangle
The Quadrangle was initially built to provide housing for four professors, teaching spaces and a board room in the East and West Wings, with the foundation stone being laid in 1854. Construction of the North Wing began in 1856, and provided lecture…
Site Plan & Aerial View: 1853 - 1880
Before the Parkville site, the site proposed for the University was on Spring Street, where the Treasury Building now stands. This proposal was rejected and another proposal was made and granted for the current site in the same year, 1853.
In the…
In the…
Baldwin Spencer Building
Opened in 1888 as the Biology School under the direction of Baldwin Spencer, the first professor of biology at the University of Melbourne. The building contained a lecture theatre, teaching museum, and laboratories. In 1899 further rooms were added.…
Site Plan & Aerial view: 1920 - 1945
In this time period there were visible changes being made in the larger campus planning. Public Works Department Chief Architect, Percy Everett, attempted to rectangularise the campus building clusters.
The National Museum
Built in 1864, the National Museum was the result of Professor Frederick McCoy's persistence and enthusiastic building of a scientific collection. The National Museum collection was moved to the Public Library after Professor McCoy's death in 1899…
Wilson Hall, 1882
Wilson Hall opened in 1882, and was named for Sir Samuel Wilson, pastoralist and politician, who had bequeathed money for its construction. It was designed by Joseph Reed in the Gothic perpendicular style and was described by George Tibbits as “the…
Elisabeth Murdoch Building
Built in 1885, first known as New Medical Building then Old Pathology, it was the first expansion of the medical school at the University of Melbourne (the first medical school in Australia). The building was remodelled in 1908 and a second storey…
Wilson Hall, 1956
Opened in 1956, Wilson Hall, is the location for university ceremonies such as graduations and conferral of office. It was designed by Bates, Smart and McCutcheon architects in the ‘International style’ and is one of several significant post-war…
Site plan & Aerial View: 1960 - 1970
Aerial View of the campus from the west side, Royal Parade with the New Medical Precinct under construction, and the completed Redmond Barry Building. An increase in high rise and modernist buildings is clearly visible.
South Lawn Underground Car Park
"The first glimpse of the Master Plan 1970 was realised in the South Lawn and Underground Car Park" (Goad & Tibbits, 2003, pp.131) The car park was constructed in 1971 to cope with the demand for student and staff parking on campus. It has been a…
John Medley Building
Formerly known as Arts South, the modernist John Medley building was named after the Vice-Chancellor of the University from 1938-1951. It was designed by Roy Grounds and constructed between 1969 and 1971, with the aim of relieving the crowding in the…
Redmond Barry Building
The Redmond Barry building opened in 1961. "Designed (by staff architect, Rae Featherstone) to provide low-cost expansion for both humanities and science departments, the former North building, renamed the Redmond Barry Building in honour of the…
Union House
The site of Union House was originally the location of the National Museum of Victoria. It became the home of the University Of Melbourne Student Union in the early 20th century, with the first renovations taking place in 1938 to "improve and extend"…
Old Commerce Building
Built in the era of expansion, 1938-1940, "The Commerce building was designed to incorporate an architectural gift to the University, the 1856 facade of the Bank of new South Wales in Collins Street, demolished in 1932 ... " (Goad & Tibbits, 2003,…
The Lake
The University of Melbourne was established on swampland, fed by creeks. A creek, known as Townend Creek, flowed along what became Elizabeth Street, out into the Yarra, it was an extension of another stream that began inside the University, and…
System Garden
Established in 1856, "In the north-west corner of the site (campus grounds) was another striking feature, the system garden, a botanical garden created by Bateman and the Professor of Natural Science, Fredrick McCoy." (Goad & Tibbits, 2003, pp. 15).
University House & Professorial Houses
University House was the first professorial house built on the campus in 1884 for Professor Nanson (Mathematics). An additional six were built in 1887 where the Baillieu Library now stands. University House is the only remaining professorial house of…
Old Arts Building
Formerly known as Arts and Education building the Old Arts building was designed by the Victorian Department of Public Works and constructed between 1919 and 1924. It became known as Old Arts when the nearby Babel, or "new" Arts Building opened in…
Site Plan & Aerial view: 1900- 1920
Several master plans were proposed by the Professor of Agriculture, Thomas Cherry and Professor of Anatomy, Richard Berr. Eventually, an architect, George de Lacy Evans, was hired to propose another master plan. None of these plans were ever…
