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Classroom Block - Bendigo Tafe

Location Hargreaves Street,, BENDIGO VIC 3550 - Property No B5054 File Number B5054 Level Local

[1/2] B5054 Classroom Block - [2/2] B5054 Classroom Block

Statement of Significance

Individual Statement of Significance: This two-storey brick classroom and workshop block was designed by W C Vahland for the School of Mines and built in 1884 by N Longstaff.
The symmetrical brick front facade has rendered pilasters and trim, and there is a central pediment over the main cornice. The classrooms were used for geometry, architectural drawing and building construction and W C Vahland, the architect, taught and was an examiner in these subjects.
Classified:15/10/1981
Group Statement of Significance: This group of four separate buildings which have been individually Classified were all designed by W C Vahland and built between 1864 and 1891, and although situated quite close together they are quite different in character, size and style.
The first building was completed in 1865 for the Mechanics Institute and Free Library and a two-storey extension for the School of Mines was added in 1873.
In 1879 Vahland added a new facade linking these two buildings on the McCrae Street frontage and at the same time the first part of the single storey Chemical and Metallurgical Laboratory at the rear was completed. The next building to be completed was the calssrooms and workshops block which faces onto Hargreaves Street. This was completed in 1884 and the classrooms were used for geometry, architectural drawing and building construction which were taught by Vahland.
In 1890 a new three-storey extension to the McCrae Street building was completed and in 1891 major alterations and additions were carried out to the Laboratiries.
Born in Germany, W C Vahland arrived in Australia in 1854 and after gold digging for a time he set up as an architect in Bendigo. He became closely associated with public life in the city, and was responsible for designing many of its important buildings. In addition to teaching in the School he served on the Council and eventually became President of the School of Mines.
Although these four different structures were designed by the same architect they do not read as a sympathetic group of buildings but they are all associated with the early history of Mechanics' Institutes and Free Libraries and also with early technical education in the mining industry, and they are of considerable local, social and historic significance.
Group Classified: 29/10.1981.
See File Numbers B4762, B1650, B1900, B5052, B5053