RMIT City - Campus Development History

Campus Development History

From the 1890s, RMIT's campus had developed in an ad hoc manner of purpose-built and acquired buildings. Subsequently, no master plan for the campus was implemented until 1930. In 1929, it was granted the eastern side of Bowen Street for development - over areas of the recently decommissioned Melbourne Gaol. The development of this area progressed slowly and was not fully completed until the mid-1950s. During this time, the campus was - as described by architect Peter Elliot - "just a cacophony of cluttered streets, laneways, dead-ends and hidden courts". In 1950, the Melbourne City Council granted the exclusive use of Bowen Street to RMIT for its campus. And, by the mid-1960s, the campus occupied all of the buildings fronting Bowen Street and a number of buildings fronting the eastern side of Swanston Street - between La Trobe Street and Franklin Street.

A comprehensive master plan for the campus was then developed by architect Osborn McCutcheon in 1965. The master plan included the controversial tower blocks - Building 10 (Casey Wing), Building 12 (Gillespie Wing) and Building 14 - which front the eastern side of Swanston Street. The buildings were constructed over the historic Ormond Mathematics School (where Building 14 stands), Automotive Engineering School and Foundry School (where Building 12 stands). The were intended to be part of the suite of five identical blocks which ran the length of Swanston Street from La Trobe Street to Franklin Street. However, after completion of the first three buildings, during the 1970s, public opinion swung against their design. Dubbed the "grey silos", the austere functionalist design of the towers was criticised for a lack of windows facing Swanston Street. As a result, the remaining two towers were never completed.

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. The lower three levels of the building were constructed as the first stage over the Pharmacy School and McComas Wool School as well as Pharmacy Lane (which originally connected the middle of Bowen Street with Swanston Street) and the northern section of Bowen Lane (the remaining section renamed Rodda Lane). The second stage of Building 8 was constructed in 1993 to a postmodern design by architect Peter Corrigan. It was the last large-scale building constructed on the Bowen Street blocks of the campus. The proposed fifth tower block was never built, and subsequently the historic Building 16 (Storey Hall) and Building 22 (Singer Building) still stand on the site.

In the late 1990s, architect Peter Elliot was engaged to undertake the most significant redesign of the campus' urban landscape in its history. The first stage was completed in 2000, and included the redevelopment of Bowen Street into a pedestrian spine and creation of Ellis Court at its northern end and Bowen Terrace at its southern end as open spaces. It also included the creation of Rodda Lane and University Way as secondary pedestrian laneways. 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. The third stage was completed in conjunction with Elliot's refurbishment of Building 1 (Francis Ormond Building) in 2010, and included the creation of an lawned common area named University Lawn at the southern end of University Way

In 2007, to mark its 120th anniversary, RMIT instigated a A$600 million capital works program. The program (which concludes in 2015) includes the refurbishment of a large number of existing buildings on the campus and the construction of major new buildings - notably Building 80 (Swanston Academic Building) and Building 100 (Design Hub). It also plans the campus' expansion to the western side of Swanston Street, to occupy the majority of its frontage from La Trobe Street to Victoria Street. 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.