LAW SCHOOL BUILDING AND OLD QUADRANGLE

The University of Melbourne was established in 1853. The first buildings, now known as the Law School Building and Old Quadrangle, were constructed from 1854 -1857 to the competition winning designs of architect F M White. This original structure comprised the east and west wings of the quadrangle and the north cloister. The works completed in 1857 represented only a portion of White's original design. The north annexe was added in 1873-75, probably to designs by Reed and Barnes. Up to this time all construction was with Tasmanian freestone sourced from near Hobart. The initial east and west wings housed lecture rooms and accommodation for the first professors and their families. The north wing housed a library, museum and further lecture rooms. The cloisters and southern extensions to the east and west wings were added in 1930 to designs by the University’s architects Gawler and Drummond. The later construction was of reconstituted stone with a coarse aggregate concrete and faced with a coloured cement. The Law Faculty gradually took over most of the Quadrangle as other faculties were constructed on the campus. The south wing was built in 1970 to designs by University Staff Architect Rae Featherstone. This work finally enclosed the Quadrangle as originally intended.

The complex follows the Oxford and Cambridge University models of a quadrangle plan, cloisters and Gothic revival styling. The Gothic revival style chosen by F M White includes steeply pitched slate clad roofs, castellated parapets, Tudor arched openings, buttresses, square headed windows with cusping, and stone flagged pavements. The upper Law theatre retains its hammer beam roof trusses.

How is it significant?

The Law School Building and Old Quadrangle is of historic, architectural and social significance to the State of Victoria.

Why is it significant?

The Law School Building and Old Quadrangle is historically significant for providing the first permanent accommodation for the University of Melbourne. As such, they provide a tangible link with the founding of the University. The buildings represented the centre of university life until well into the twentieth century.

The Law School Building and Old Quadrangle is architecturally significant as a stylistic demonstration of the University's close links with British universities in the mid-nineteenth century. The use of the Gothic revival style was a clear demonstration of this association and was expressed through such elements as the quadrangle form, castellated parapets, cloisters, bayed windows, and pinnacled and gabled parapet ends.

The Law School Building and Old Quadrangle is architecturally significant one of the finest and oldest non-ecclesiastical Gothic revival structures in Victoria and the most important of architect F M White's works. The stone carvings in the cloisters and around the windows and doors are highly distinctive features. The cloister vaulting and corridor arches are unusual.

The Law School Building and Old Quadrangle is socially significant for the inclusion of professional accommodation to foster social as well as intellectual interaction with the students. The main buildings are also important for their association with the University's Faculty of Law, the first faculty at the University and Victoria's leading legal training school. The Quadrangle still forms the core of the present campus.

Group

Education

Category

University