Storey Hall

Storey Hall is a landmark building at 342–344 Swanston Street in central Melbourne, Australia, and forms part of the RMIT University City Campus. Although it is not a conventional consumer brand, the name identifies a prominent cultural, educational and architectural venue associated with RMIT. The complex combines an original nineteenth-century meeting hall with a highly contemporary extension and refurbishment completed in 1996. The original building was commissioned by the Hibernian-Australasian Catholic Benefit Society, an organisation established in 1885 to serve Melbourne's Irish Catholic community. Designed by Tappin, Gilbert & Dennehy and constructed by O'Dea & Kennedy, it opened with a major public ceremony in November 1887 under the name Hibernian Hall. The original arrangement included offices and a meeting room at ground level and a large upper hall with a gallery. Its street elevation used a strongly classical composition, including a rusticated stone base and large Corinthian columns. The building changed functions and ownership during the early twentieth century. After the society encountered financial difficulties, it sold the property in 1903. By 1907 it was known as Guild Hall and had become a flexible public venue used for art exhibitions, cinema screenings and wrestling. Between 1917 and 1919 it was occupied by the Women's Political Association, which advocated women's suffrage and broader political reform. During the 1917 General Strike, the building also served as a communal base supporting wharf workers, giving it an association with Melbourne's labour and political history. RMIT acquired the building in 1957. In 1959 it was renamed Storey Hall in recognition of Sir John Storey Senior and his son John Storey Junior. Sir John Storey Senior left a substantial bequest to RMIT to establish the John Storey Junior Memorial Scholarships. His son had founded the RMIT Student Union in 1944, but died of leukaemia in 1947 at the age of 22 before completing his studies. The most consequential transformation occurred in the mid-1990s. RMIT commissioned Ashton Raggatt McDougall to refurbish the historic hall and add a substantial southern extension, completed in 1996. The design deliberately sets the old and new structures in dialogue. Its contemporary architecture draws on Roger Penrose's tiling pattern, using mathematically ordered but non-repeating geometric forms across the facade, auditorium ceiling and interior surfaces. The exterior reinterprets elements of the older building, while the internal scheme uses green and white tiles, curved circulation spaces, off-form concrete and strongly sculptural surfaces. The design also embeds references to the site's social history. Relief patterns in the precast facade tiles evoke objects associated with the Women's Political Association, including ruffles, keys and suspender belts. Purple and green recall colours connected with women's liberation, while the extensive use of green references the building's Irish community origins. The project was an early Melbourne example of using computer modelling and digital fabrication to produce complex architectural components. Today the Storey Hall complex accommodates a large upper hall for meetings and events, as well as lecture theatres and seminar rooms. The ground level of the original building has been used for RMIT First Site Gallery, an RMIT Union-operated venue focused on new media, and includes the re:vault cafe. Its significance derives from the combination of heritage, education, public programming and experimental postmodern architecture. The 1996 project received several professional architecture awards, including the RAIA Victorian Architecture Medal and awards for institutional and interior architecture.

Storey Hall began as Hibernian Hall, a purpose-built meeting and community facility for Melbourne's Irish Catholic population. The Hibernian-Australasian Catholic Benefit Society, founded in 1885, commissioned the building soon afterward. Architects Tappin, Gilbert & Dennehy designed a substantial stone-fronted structure, and contractors O'Dea & Kennedy carried out the work. The hall opened in November 1887. Its principal upper room was designed for large gatherings and included a gallery, while the lower level contained offices and meeting accommodation. The building's initial institutional owner later experienced financial problems and sold the property in 1903. Its subsequent use became more varied. By 1907 it was called Guild Hall and functioned as an entertainment and public assembly venue, hosting art exhibitions, cinema activities and wrestling. The site also acquired a political and labour history. From 1917 to 1919, the Women's Political Association used the building while campaigning for women's suffrage and related reforms. During the 1917 General Strike, it operated as a communal facility connected with support for wharf workers. RMIT purchased the property in 1957. Two years later, the institution adopted the name Storey Hall to honour Sir John Storey Senior and his son John Storey Junior. The elder Storey's bequest supported the creation of scholarships in memory of his son. John Storey Junior had established the RMIT Student Union in 1944, but died of leukaemia in 1947 at 22, before finishing his studies. A major architectural intervention was undertaken in the 1990s. Ashton Raggatt McDougall designed both a refurbishment of the nineteenth-century hall and a large addition to its south. The completed project opened in 1996 and made the building a notable example of technologically assisted postmodern architecture in Melbourne. Its design uses Roger Penrose's tiling system as a conceptual and visual framework. The new facade abstracts forms from the historic building, while geometric green-and-white tile fields continue through the auditorium and interior spaces. Computer-based design and digital fabrication were used to manufacture the intricate elements. The extension incorporates symbolic references to the building's earlier occupants and communities. Patterns in the precast tiles allude to items associated with the Women's Political Association, while purple and green reflect women's liberation symbolism. Green also recalls the Irish origins of the original hall. The resulting complex intentionally juxtaposes the conventional classical language of the 1887 structure with a fragmented, mathematically patterned contemporary addition. Storey Hall remains part of RMIT University's City Campus. The upper hall supports meetings and events, and the broader complex contains teaching, lecture and seminar facilities. The lower level has housed RMIT First Site Gallery, operated by the RMIT Union and associated with new-media exhibitions, together with the re:vault cafe. The project received multiple 1996 architecture awards, including the RAIA Victorian Architecture Medal, a William Wardell Award for Institutional Architecture, national and Victorian interior architecture awards, and a RAIA National Award in the Dulux Colour Awards. Its continuing importance rests on the way it joins adaptive reuse, university activity, public culture, political memory and adventurous architectural design.

• 1996

  Refurbishment and southern extension completed

  [1]Storey Hallen.wikipedia.org

  Ashton Raggatt McDougall completed a major redevelopment that joined the historic hall to a digitally fabricated, Penrose-patterned contemporary extension.

• 1996

  Major architecture awards received

  [1]Storey Hallen.wikipedia.org

  The completed project received several RAIA awards, including the Victorian Architecture Medal and national and state interior architecture recognition.

• 1959

  The Storey Hall name is adopted

  [1]Storey Hallen.wikipedia.org

  RMIT renamed the hall in honour of Sir John Storey Senior and John Storey Junior.

• 1957

  RMIT acquires the building

  [1]Storey Hallen.wikipedia.org

  The property became part of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, now RMIT University.

• 1917

  Women's Political Association occupation begins

  [1]Storey Hallen.wikipedia.org

  The Women's Political Association occupied the hall from 1917 to 1919 for political and suffrage-related activity.

• 1907

  Building becomes Guild Hall

  [1]Storey Hallen.wikipedia.org

  The venue was operating under the Guild Hall name and hosted exhibitions, cinema activities and wrestling.

• 1903

  Original owner sells the building

  [1]Storey Hallen.wikipedia.org

  Financial difficulties led the Hibernian-Australasian Catholic Benefit Society to sell the property.

• 1887

  Hibernian Hall opens

  [1]Storey Hallen.wikipedia.org

  The new meeting hall at Swanston Street opened in November after being designed by Tappin, Gilbert & Dennehy and built by O'Dea & Kennedy.

• 1885

  Hibernian-Australasian Catholic Benefit Society established

  [1]Storey Hallen.wikipedia.org

  The society that commissioned the original hall was formed to serve Melbourne's Irish Catholic community.

A heritage-listed-style urban cultural and educational venue that combines Melbourne's Irish community and political history with experimental late-twentieth-century architecture.

• Event and meeting venue · 1887

  Storey Hall upper hall

  The principal upper-level hall is the building's main large-scale gathering space. It supports meetings, events and public assemblies and retains the role of a major communal room established in the original 1887 design, while incorporating the geometric interior treatment introduced by the 1996 redevelopment.

• Gallery

  RMIT First Site Gallery

  Located at ground level in the original hall, RMIT First Site Gallery is operated by the RMIT Union and has a focus on new-media practice and exhibitions. It gives the building an ongoing public arts function alongside its educational and event uses.

• Education facilities · 1996

  Lecture theatres and seminar rooms

  The Storey Hall complex includes lecture theatres and seminar rooms serving RMIT's City Campus. These spaces extend the building's role beyond heritage and events into regular university teaching, discussion and academic activity.

• Cafe

  re:vault cafe

  The ground-level complex has included a cafe known as re:vault. It complements the gallery, teaching and event uses of Storey Hall by providing a visitor and campus hospitality function.

1. 1Storey Hallen.wikipedia.org