Key 95: The Master Plan 1971

 

In the 1950s it seemed that the only solution to the University’s need to grow significantly while yet confined to its original allocation of space was multi-storey buildings. The new buildings along Royal Parade for the medical sciences began the trend which staff architect, Rae Featherstone continued in the Redmond Barry and the Raymond Priestley buildings.

Rae Featherstone, 1973
Rae Featherstone, 1973
[Source: University of Melbourne Archives Image Catalogue, UMA-I-2251]

While there had always been at least in theory some form of overarching planning for the site, in reality developments were haphazard - more the result of professorial bargaining power and the allocation of Australian Universities Commission money for capital works than broader considerations. A new approach was evident in Featherstone’s shift towards interior renovation and sympathetic additions to old buildings, such as the new Council Chamber and Undercroft which filled in the south side of the Quadrangle building.

Council Chamber completion of Quadrangle, 1967
Council Chamber completion of Quadrangle, 1967
[Source: University of Melbourne Archives Image Catalogue, UMA-I-1504]

The appointment of Sydney Architect Bryce Mortlock in 1968 to produce a Master Plan heralded a new found commitment by the Central Administration to effectively manage further development. The Plan was approved by the University Council in 1971.

Subsequently revised and supplemented by a Landscape Elements Report (1974) this Master Plan, as architectural historian George Tibbits, observes 'is not only still the University's active planning control but is seen also as the means by which most parts of the University grounds were transformed during the 1970s and 1980s into a garden of many contrasts. This is because the principles in the Master Plan emphasised the spaces between and around buildings as much as they were concerned with where the buildings should be located.' Among the more notable features of the Master Plan was the creation of the South Lawn above a vast vaulted underground car park.

Underground car park site prior to construction
Underground car park site prior to construction, with partially-built Medley Building, right background
[Source: University of Melbourne Archives, T.C. Chambers Collection]
South lawn after construction of the underground car
South lawn after construction of the underground car park
[Source: University of Melbourne Archives, T.C. Chambers Collection]
Underground car park
Underground car park
[Source: University of Melbourne Archives, T.C. Chambers Collection]