Country Australia Owner Melbourne University Architectural style Collegiate Gothic | Completed 1930' Town or city Melbourne Architect Percy Edgar Everett | |
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Address Masson Road, Melbourne University, Parkville, VIC Similar Luna Park - Melbourne, 189 - Frank Tate Building, Old Physics Conferen | ||
The Chemistry Building at Melbourne University was designed by Percy Edgar Everett, who at the time was employed by the Victorian Public Works Department. It was built in 1938 at a time of major expansion at the University through the 1920s and 1930s. The building is best described as a modernist, inter-war, gothic architecture, and due to this it has been deemed to be of state historical and architectural significance. The building currently houses Melbourne University’s School of Chemistry .
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Description
The Chemistry Building is a distinctive modern interpretation of a Collegiate Gothic style. Its most notable features, which are stylistic of the inter-war period, are the cream brickwork, bold massing and highly detailed tower decoration.
In recent years the chemistry building has had interior redevelopments to bring the outdated technology and amenities up to the standard required for modern chemistry research.
Key influence and design approach
During the 1930s when the building was constructed, Melbourne University placed a lot of importance on the opinions of experts such as chemists. For this reason,Ernst Johannes Hartung, a professor of Chemistry at the time, designed most of the interior of the building to suit the specific requirements of chemistry research.