The Old Physics Conference Room and Gallery is a university teaching and art gallery located at 156-292 Grattan Street,

The University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

, Campus,

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia. Built between 1886 and 1889, the

building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and funct ...

formerly housed the School of

Natural Philosophy Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics, that is, nature and the physical universe. It was dominant before the development of modern science. From the ancient wor ...

and was designed in the

Collegiate Gothic style Collegiate Gothic is an architectural style subgenre of Gothic Revival architecture, popular in the late-19th and early-20th centuries for college and high school buildings in the United States and Canada, and to a certain extent Europ ...

by Reed, Henderson, and Smart, one of the most prominent

architectural Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...

firms at that time to accommodate the new phase of science schools in the late nineteenth century. The building is considered one of important key buildings in demonstrating the increasing importance of scientific teaching and research in the late nineteenth century in Australia. The building was listed on the

Victorian Heritage Register The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. ...

on 23 June 1992.

Historical and cultural significance

Planning of a new building for Natural Philosophy began in 1886. In the 1880s, the burst in capital grant supported the cost of construction. Prior to this date, the foundation Professor of Natural Philosophy, Henry Andrew, used the rooms in

Quadrangle Quadrangle or The Quadrangle may refer to: Architecture *Quadrangle (architecture), a courtyard surrounded by a building or several buildings, often at a college Various specific quadrangles, often called "the quad" or "the quadrangle": North A ...

for teaching. Designed by Reed, Henderson and Smart, teaching laboratories were introduced in the design. This latest addition in the building exposed students to self-laboratory exercises and experiments. It became a key building, demonstrating Australia's education reforms towards research. Built in several stages, the construction was supervised by Professor Thomas Lyle, Professor Andrew's successor. The first stage started in 1889 consisted of a huge raked lecture theatre. The second stage continued in 1891 but was demolished in 1975 in order to accommodate Deakin Court. The construction was then supervised by Professor T. H. Laby after Professor Lyle retired in 1914, completing Reed, Henderson and Smart's design. Starting from 1889, the north-eastern wing was built. Designed by

Public Works Department This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tan ...

, it was added to the old complex. In 1923, the new wing was designed to "simulate the external

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loan word from the French (), which means 'frontage' or ' face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important aspect ...

of the original design". In the mid-1940s, it was demolished as part of the university's master planning. Under supervision of Professor T. H. Laby, the Commonwealth Adviser in Radium, 1938, the entire complex was raised into two-storeys and renovated by

Percy Edgar Everett Percy Edgar Everett, (born 26 June 1888, died 6 May 1967), was appointed chief architect of the Victorian Public Works Department in 1934 and is best known for the striking Modernist / Art Deco schools, hospitals, court houses, office buildings a ...

, chief architect of Public Works Department to accommodate Commonwealth X-ray and radium laboratory. The new cream brick wing was the latest addition in 1938 after it was opened in 1939. The building was listed on the Victorian Heritage Register on 23 June 1992.

Influences

Neo-gothic architecture Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

heavily influenced college buildings in the nineteenth century. Reed, Henderson and Smart design relates back to the Old Arts building by Francis White. The Great Depression in 1891 put the construction to a temporary stop after Marvellous Melbourne, due to lack of funds and a huge fraud by the University registrar, L. F. Dickson. The design was also influenced by the rise in the colony's education reform in teaching methodology and new fields of study. More teaching laboratories were included in the design. "The period of 1880s was the radical advance in orienting university towards research-based education." The sewage system played an important role in the building placement. In early stages of the university development, there were no constructed services. Water was collected from the roofs of Quadrangle and waste in

cesspools A cesspit (or cesspool or soak pit in some contexts) is a term with various meanings: it is used to describe either an underground holding tank (sealed at the bottom) or a Dry well, soak pit (not sealed at the bottom). It can be used for the tem ...

. Due to bad sewer system, the

Melbourne City Council The City of Melbourne is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central city area of Melbourne. In 2018, the city has an area of and had a population of 169,961. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. The ...

had forbidden cesspools in 1867 and replaced with the night-cart system. Eventually, iron receiver tanks were installed to store the wastes beyond the Quadrangle before the proper sewer system was completed. Gothic-style architecture remained the architecture of choice until the twentieth century.

Description

Old Physics Conference Centre

The Old Physics Conference Centre is a two-storey neo-Gothic style building divided into two wings. The building housed a lecture theatre, laboratory, workshop and apparatus room. Its building elevation consists of buttressed stone walls, square headed windows and turreted gable ends. The roof has a steep pitch covered with slates.

Natural Philosophy extension

The redevelopment and extension of Natural Philosophy was handled by Professor Laby. It defers in colour and style to the adjacent Union House with its Collegiate Gothic styling. Finely carved freestone details above the north entrance further enhance its design. The steel-framed windows give an impression of its ambition towards

modern architecture Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that for ...

Deakin Court

Following the 1970 Master Plan, the 1891 section of Old Physics was torn down, and the interior of the remaining section of Old Physics is currently used as the University Art Gallery and conference rooms for university administration. On the north side of Old physics, architects

Daryl Jackson Daryl Sanders Jackson AO (born 7 February 1937) is an Australian architect and the owner of an international architecture firm, Jackson Architecture. Jackson also became the associate professor of the University of Melbourne and Deakin Univers ...

and Evan Walker introduced an abstracted and cement-rendered version of a double-storey

cloister A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against ...

, and a linkage to the Natural Philosophy extension. Currently covered in

ivy ''Hedera'', commonly called ivy (plural ivies), is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern Africa and ...

, this is one of the first successful adaptations of an existing nineteenth century building on campus.

Gallery

New Wing.jpg, 1938 west wing cream brick extension Interior of old physic conference and gallery.JPG, 1938 two-storey building refurbishment Ground first floor plan.jpg, Ground floor plan Second floor plan.jpg, Second floor plan Deakin Court.jpg, Deakin Court

References

External links

* {{University of Melbourne, state=collapsed University of Melbourne buildings Heritage-listed buildings in Melbourne Buildings and structures completed in 1889 Buildings and structures completed in 1938 1938 establishments in Australia Buildings and structures in the City of Melbourne (LGA)