RMIT City is the original and flagship campus of the Australian public university and vocational education provider, the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT).
It was established in 1887 by The Hon. Francis Ormond, with the assistance of the Council of the Melbourne Trades Hall. It is the largest of RMIT's five campuses; located across the state of Victoria, as well as in Vietnam. It is located at the northern end of the Melbourne CBD, and is housed over almost four city blocks. Due to the substantial area the campus occupies, it is often referred to as the "RMIT Quarter" of the city.[1]
RMIT City is located in a multicultural - as well as culturally significant - area of Melbourne, adjacent the State Library of Victoria and the Melbourne Central Shopping Centre, and is within walking distance of Lygon Street's Little Italy, Lonsdale Street's Greek Precinct, Little Bourke Street's Chinatown and Elizabeth Street's iconic Queen Victoria Market.
It is also at the southern-most end of an area referred to as the "Melbourne Education Precinct". The precinct extends from the RMIT campus, in the CBD, into Parkville to encompass the neighbouring University of Melbourne campus as well as a number of research institutes. The RMIT City campus and University of Melbourne campus actually meet at Queensberry Street.
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About RMIT City
RMIT's historic foundation campus was established in 1887 as "The Working Men's College", in a single building on La Trobe Street, at the northern end of the Melbourne CBD. Over its 120 year history, the RMIT City campus has since expanded to envelop almost four entire city blocks, and now holds a commanding presence in Melbourne's northern quarter - which is often referred to as the "RMIT Quarter" of the city.[1]
As the original and flagship campus of RMIT, it's the largest and most prominent of its three Australian campuses. Until the mid-1990s, it was RMIT's only campus and was simply referred to as just the "Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology", prior to the establishment of a second campus in Bundoora, after which it became known at the RMIT City campus.[2] The campus is unlike that of other universities in Victoria, as it is the only campus entirely constructed within the borders of the Melbourne CBD (other universities also have buildings within the CBD but not a full campus. The closest other university campus to RMIT City is the University of Melbourne's main campus in the neighbouring suburb of Parkville).
Campus location
The campus is divided into four loosely-defined precincts, referred as the "Carlton Precinct", "Justice Precinct", "Swanston Precinct" and "Art Precinct". The campus is often referred to as having "no walls" as it is not constructed within a defined area like most university campuses. However, it is loosely bordered to the north by Queensberry Street, to the east by Lygon and Russell streets, to the South by La Trobe Street and to the West by Elizabeth Street.[3] There are also a number of buildings not located within the immediate area of the RMIT City campus, including the entire College of Business, which is located on nearby Bourke Street, and RMIT's Capitol Theatre on southern Swanston Street.
The campus is extremely well serviced by train and tram; by the large number of trams that run along Swanston Street and by the Melbourne Central underground train station located adjacent the campus' Swanston Precinct.
A problem associated with the campus is its lack of subsidised student accommodation, due to its CBD location. RMIT Village: Old Melbourne, which is located between RMIT City and the University of Melbourne's Parkville campus, is the only student accommodation facility owned by RMIT,[4] and is available to students of RMIT and the University of Melbourne.[5] The residential colleges at the University of Melbourne are also partnered with RMIT,[6] and are available to students of both universities. A large number of privately-operated student accommodation facilities are located directly adjacent as well as nearby the RMIT City campus. However, few are subsidised to meet the financial needs of students. Students of the campus often opt to live in share housing in the inner suburbs of Melbourne, and commute to university.
Historic buildings
The RMIT City campus, like the Melbourne CBD of which it's a part, is notable for its mix of modern and contemporary architecture as well as Victorian and gothic revival architecture. As the campus expanded, RMIT's Council sought to preserve its original and neighbouring historical buildings, including:
- The chapel and exercise yard of the Old Melbourne Gaol, now the RMIT Spiritual Centre (built in 1841 and acquired by RMIT in 1929)
- The Working Men's College building (built in 1887 and renamed Francis Ormond Building in c1990s)
- Former hall of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (built 1887, acquired by RMIT and renamed Storey Hall in 1957)
- Former hall of the Ancient Order of Foresters (built in 1888 and acquired by RMIT in 1969)
- Building 4 (built 1904)
- Former Melbourne Magistrates' Court and City Watch House buildings (built in 1914, and acquired by RMIT in 1995)
- RMIT Capitol Theatre (built in 1924 and acquired by RMIT in 1999)
- Emily McPherson College of Domestic Economy (built in 1927 and amalgamated with RMIT in 1979)
Campus precincts
Art Precinct
The Art Precinct consists of Buildings 2 and 4 (the historical homes of the RMIT School of Art) and Building 6 on Bowen Street, Forester's Hall on the corners of Bowen and La Trobe streets and the original and refurbished sections of Story Hall on Swanston Street which houses RMIT Gallery and the RMIT Union's First Site Gallery.[7]
Carlton Precinct
The technology-focused Carlton Precinct is defined by all buildings north of Victoria Street. It was constructed between the 1960s and 1990s, and also includes the new Design Hub building, currently being constructed on northern Swanston Street, due for completion in 2010.
Justice Precinct
The Justice Precinct houses many of RMIT City's historical buildings, which include: the Francis Ormond Building, buildings of the Old Melbourne Gaol, Former Melbourne Magistrates' Court and Emily McPherson College of Domestic Economy. Its defined by all buildings east of Bowen Street.
Swanston Precinct
The Swanston Precinct is the main access point of the RMIT City campus, and houses some of RMIT's most prominent buildings, including: Building 8, "Info Corner" and the planned new home of RMIT's College of Business, due for completion in 2011. It's defined by most buildings on Swanston Street, on the west-side of Bowen Street and on neighbouring Elizabeth Street.
RMIT City redevelopment
The RMIT City campus is currently undergoing a AU$500 million redvelopment, in accordance with RMIT's 2007 - 2010 Infrastructure Plan.[8] The plan has an emphasis on the construction of three new buildings as well as uprgrades to many existing buildings of the RMIT City campus.
An environmentally-friendly, eight level "Design Hub" building is currently being constructed for the RMIT School of Architecture and Design on the corners of Swanston and Victoria streets, as part of a AU$800 million redevelopment of the former site of the Carlton and United Beverages brewery by Grocon.[1][9][10] The Design Hub building will incorporate an outer skin of 16,000 sand blasted glass cells, some of which will be photovoltaic solar power collectors, to help shade and power the building.[11][12]
The innovative AU$185 million "Swanston Academic Building (SAB)", due to be completed in 2011,[13] is a 40,000 square metre construction that will see the relocation and consolidation of RMIT's College of Business (which is currently housed off-site on Bourke Street in the Melbourne CBD) into the main RMIT City campus area on Swanston Street.[14] The third building, known as the "Swanston-A'Beckett Building (SABB)", will be constructed adjacent the SAB at a later date, and will house various RMIT administration departments.[13]
Major building upgrades in the plan include: the refurbishment of the Francis Ormond Building (the original Working Men's College building);[15] upgrades and the connection of Buildings 2, 4 and 6 to create an "RMIT School of Art Precinct";[7] addition of two levels and refurbishment of Building 9 for the eventual relocation of the RMIT School of Media and Communication;[16] and the refurbishment of the former Emily McPherson College of Domestic Economy for the eventual relocation of the RMIT Graduate School of Business.[17]
The plan also includes some general upgrades to many other existing City campus buildings.[18]
References
- ^ a b c CUB site sale expands city’s footprint - Openline (RMIT News), 30 October 2006
- ^ A Timeline of RMIT history (RMIT Homepage)
- ^ RMIT City campus map (RMIT Homepage)
- ^ RMIT announces village scholarships - Openline (RMIT News), 20 June 2005
- ^ Fact Sheet - RMIT Village: Old Melbourne
- ^ Non-University of Melbourne admissions (Colleges of the University of Melbourne)
- ^ a b A new home for the School of Art (RMIT Property Services)
- ^ RMIT University Infrastructure Plan - Property Component 2007 - 2010
- ^ Design Hub (RMIT Property Services)
- ^ CUB Site Development (RMIT School of Architecture)
- ^ RMIT's eco-friendly campus unveiled - The Australian, 2 July 2008
- ^ Millions view innovation, RMIT-style - Openline (RMIT News), 10 September 2008 (video)
- ^ a b Swanston Academic Building (RMIT Property Services)
- ^ RMIT to pamper business students - The Age, 29 July 2008
- ^ Francis Ormond Building refurbishment (RMIT Property Services)
- ^ School of Applied Communication relocation (RMIT Property Services)
- ^ The Emily McPherson Building (RMIT Property Services)
- ^ RMIT City Campus (RMIT Property Services)
External links
See also
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: RMIT City |
- RMIT University
- Emily McPherson College of Domestic Economy
- History of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
- Former Melbourne Magistrates' Court
- Old Melbourne Gaol
- RMIT Spiritual Centre
- RMIT Capitol Theatre
- RMIT Gallery
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