RMIT University Building 9 Rooftop Extension

  • client RMIT University

    status Complete 2009

    location Bowen & Franklin Streets, Melbourne, Victoria

    traditional land owners Wurundjeri People

    original architect Percy Everett, PWD, 1937 - 1942

    photography John Gollings

  • Building 9 is prominently located in the heart of the RMIT University city campus. It was constructed as the Radio & Electrical Trades School in two stages from 1937 to 1942 and is on the Victorian Heritage Register. The project involves adding two new floors as well as providing an overall infrastructure master plan for the whole building. The interior of the building has been treated as “loose-fit” to maximise long term flexibility as the new home for the School of Applied Media & Communication. The rooftop extension has been conceived as a companion building, related but of another generation. The new façade hovers over the base building as continuous ribbons of concertinaed spandrels separated by horizontal strip windows. The interior to levels 4 & 5 provides accommodation for staff and graduate students along with support facilities. It contains a mixture of collaborative work spaces, meeting rooms, individual offices and break-out social spaces. Services have been exposed and generally there are no ceilings so the interior space feels voluminous and dynamic.

  • 2010 Australian Institute of Architects

    Institutional Alterations & Extensions Award

    John George Knight Heritage Award

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