RMIT University Building 1 Francis Ormond Building

  • client RMIT University

    status Complete 2010

    location La Trobe street, Melbourne, Victoria

    traditional land owners Wurundjeri People

    photography John Gollings

  • Building 1 as the number suggests is RMIT’s oldest building. It was built between 1886 and 1892 and named after Francis Ormond, founder and benefactor of the original Working Men’s College. This is a landmark building of great stature and historic significance. The former Magistrate’s Court (Building 20) and the Francis Ormond Building have been linked together to become the administrative headquarters for the university. Given its grand and voluminous interior spaces, the building has become a distinguished venue for welcoming and receiving visitors and members of the RMIT community, as well as provide executive office accommodation. The concept for the interior was to open up and reveal a series of original grand spaces. In particular the top floor offers a spectacular trussed volume some nine metres high. Perhaps the most significant change to the building is the creation of a new north facing courtyard and café. This is an adaptive re-use which retains the best of the original building but brings it clearly into the twenty first century.

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