Buildings 5, 7 and 9 are a collection of Tertiary Educational Facilities located on Bowen Lane at The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University) - City Campus on Swanston Street, Melbourne-Australia. The buildings were designed by notable Melbourne based architect Percy Everett on behalf of the Public Works Trust and were completed over a period of fifteen years.2
Together, the three buildings form the eastern facade of Bowen Lane, in the heart of RMIT University’s City Campus. The southern most of the three buildings, Building 5, uses a pedestrian bridge to connect it to Building Tree, which along with a small courtyard facing Latrobe Street, complete the eastern face of Bowen Lane.
Description:
RMIT building’s 5, 7 and 9 are built in the modernist style. This is evident through the buildings’ strong horizontality, simplified form and clear design where the buildings’ function is the priority and the form is then derived from this. The emphasis on the horizontal is expressed through clearly defined, continuous sets of parallel windows with each span of windows being placed with equal distance above the preceding. The windows run the full length of the facade giving the building’s a further sense of elongation. Everett’s decision to have each of the three buildings share the one facade furthers this horizontality.
An important feature of modernist buildings is the idea that function is the most important facet of the design and that the form of the building would only follow this. In Everett’s RMIT buildings, this is evident in the clear simplistic form of the building and throughout the buildings floor plans. Each building is similar in planning in that there is a central entrance foyer on the ground level that connects directly to the vertical circulation which is located at the center of the building. This then connects on each floor with a corridor with rooms off each side. Another expression of the modernist style is the use of rounded corners on the buildings’ ends. This is a strong indicator of modernist style and, along with the use of speed lines and a clear reduction in the use of ornament, as opposed to more classical or Gothic style buildings, these buildings are made to appear more streamlined. The building’s use a paired back and economical set of materials including steel encased in concrete for the building frame, reinforced concrete and a facade of brick with steel-framed glazing. Because of the size of building 9 and its clear modernist style, it is now listed on the Victorian Heritage Register as a building of architectural significance in the state of Victoria. 2
History:
Buildings 5, 7 and 9 were completed on the 13th October 1937, the 19th September 1947 and the 11th August 1960 - respectively. Each of the buildings features its own plaque commemorating the construction of the buildings.2 The plaque for Building 7 notes that (in 1960) that building formed the ‘School of Applied Chemistry’ department of the –then- Melbourne Technical College (later to become RMIT University) (see image). Commissioned by the Public Works Department (PWD), under the design direction of then chief architect Percy Everett, the new technical college buildings 5, 7 and 9 were an expression of no-nonsense, streamlined European modernism. Everett’s various technical college buildings express their educational mission through this practical, form over function, industrial aesthetic.4 Building 5 was the first of the three to be built. It expressed Everett’s impassive, streamlined, machine aesthetic. The dark brick facade and empathetic (and infinitely extendable) horizontality, offset by the vertical emphasis of the entrance are in stark contrast to other adjacent buildings.4 Building 7 was originally the home of the Chemistry Department. It has a continuous, unified facade fronting an integrated interior where the central corridor links the three buildings on all levels. The building was conceived to be a replacement for the aging Building 1 9the then home of the Chemistry Department, after the Victorian Government Board of Inquiry (WMC) recommended that the Chemistry Department needed better facilities than those of Building 1. In 1942 senior figures within the industry raised further concerns about the conditions of building 1 and a requested was made to the then Minister of Public Instruction for more suitable facilities to be established. In 1947 funding was provided for a new replacement building for the Department of Chemistry. The same year, some thirty years since the original concerns regarding building 1 were expressed; the foundation stone for building 7 was laid. Construction was very slow and Building 7 wasn’t opened until 1960.4 Building 9 was originally the Electrical Trades and Radio Schools. Four steel towers supporting radio antennae were originally erected on the roof to symbolize the schools technical prowess in communications, particularly during WW2. The school provided training for army and air force personnel in communication, having been completed mid-way through WW2. The success of the school lead to an extension of building 9 and an additional basement being added. Building 9 repeats the modern idiom of building 5 with continuous horizontal rows of steel framed windows and streamlined, rounded corners. It remained a radio school until 1960 and in the 1980’s became one of many RMIT Buildings to house the itinerant Department of Architecture. In recent times it has been home to the Spatial Information Architectural Research Facility (SIAL), and in 2007 the construction began of two extra levels for the School of Applied Communication. Building 9 once housed a radio theater established in 1938. It was established as part of the original Radio School and has played an important role in the establishment of Victoria’s film culture.4 Legacy:
Throughout his career Everett was responsible for designing a number of Technical College buildings notably the west wing of The School of Graduate Studies (Formerly Melbourne Teachers College) in 1933; the Gothic inspired Chemistry building at The University of Melbourne opened in 1938 and the extension to Natural Philosophy in 1938-1939; The Essendon Technical school in 1938-39; Oakley Technical School in 1938; Upwey Primary School in 1945; Red Hill Consolidated School in 1951; Windsor Girls High School and the former Caulfield Institute of Technology in 1950. His educational buildings became a prototype for educational buildings throughout Victoria in the 1950’s and 1960’s.1