Palace of industry

The design for a building to house the 1880 Melbourne International Exhibition was determined by a £300 competition, won by architect Joseph Reed. The building subsequently hosted the 1888 Centennial International Exhibition and the opening of Australia's first Federal Parliament in 1901. One of the few intact buildings of its type and a reminder of the international exhibition movement, the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens were inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2004.

UMA holds thousands of architectural plans of public and private buildings, designed by numerous architects, dating from the 19th century through to Robin Boyd in the 1960s. Plans by Reed and Barnes and several other notable 19th century architecture practices are part of the Bates, Smart and McCutcheon collection.