Baldwin Spencer Building

Last updated

Baldwin Spencer Building
Baldwin Spencer Building Front View.jpg
Baldwin Spencer Building entrance, April 2013
Baldwin Spencer Building
Alternative names
  • Old Zoology Building
  • Building 113
Etymology Walter Baldwin Spencer
(inaugural Professor of Biology)
General information
StatusCompleted
TypeAcademic administration
Architectural style
Location152-292 Grattan Street, The University of Melbourne, Parkville Campus, Melbourne, Victoria
CountryAustralia
Coordinates 37°47′48″S144°57′43″E / 37.79667°S 144.96194°E / -37.79667; 144.96194
Construction started1887
Opened1888
(as the Biology Building)
Owner The University of Melbourne
Technical details
Material
Floor count2
Design and construction
Architect(s) Joseph Reed, Anketell Henderson and Francis Smart (1887–1890)
Architecture firm
  • Reed Henderson and Smart (1887–1890)
  • Smart Tappin and Peebles (1905–1906)
  • Mockridge Stahle and Mitchell (west wing, 1963)
  • Woods Bagot (2011)
Official nameBaldwin Spencer Building (Old Zoology)
TypeState heritage (built)
Designated24 June 1992
Reference no.913
SignificanceRegistered
CategoryEducation

The Baldwin Spencer Building, also called Building 113, is a university teaching facility that serves as a student service centre, [1] located at 152-292 Grattan Street, The University of Melbourne, Parkville Campus, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Contents

Built between 1887 and 1888, the building was initially called the Biology Building. In 1920, the School of Biology was renamed the School of Zoology, and the building was renamed in honour of Sir Baldwin Spencer, the University's first Professor of Biology. Spencer submitted designs for the building that were finalised by architects, Joseph Reed, Anketell Henderson and Francis Smart who formed a partnership known as Reed Henderson and Smart. The building is completed in the Gothic Revival architectural style with distinctive elements such as rough-hewn freestone coursed walls that can be compared with similar designs by the same architects for nearby buildings such as Ormond College and the earlier Old Pathology Building. The Baldwin Spence Building was listed on the Victorian Heritage Register on 24 June 1992. [2]

Description

The design intent of the original building portrays the identified requirements of Walter Baldwin Spencer for natural light and ventilation to enter a space containing the biology research department involving microscopic and dissecting work. [3] [4] [5]

The original building contained a lecture theatre which can seat two hundred students, well-lit laboratories, a museum for teaching purposes and store rooms. The lecture theatre contained a large skylight roof as well as acoustic and ventilation systems. The laboratories provided two feet of window space for every five feet of bench, and located at the rear of the building was a greenhouse, maceration room, pond and animal compounds. The building contains many interiors that are still intact from the 1890s, with many original elements of architecture such as the staircases; specifically the staircase within the conical roofed turret, the ceiling of the library with cast-iron columns and crocket capitals, initial laboratory spaces and equipment, as well as the steeply tiered lecture theatre complete with wooden seating and desks. These elements give a vivid impression of the architectural style of that period in time. [3] [4] [5]

Externally, both the Biology and Old Pathology Buildings were situated towards the large ornamental lake which is now paved over and grassed as Union Lawn. In 1889, additional rooms were added including lecture spaces and also later in 1905, two workshops were added to the building that were designed by the original architects Reed Henderson and Smart (later known as Smart, Tappin and Peebles in 1906). The Baldwin Spencer Building is constructed in stone and brick, which is styled in a type of the Early English Gothic. [3] [4] [5]

The key architectural elements include the heavily rusticated freestone walls, buttresses, a conical roofed round turret with spiral stair, dressed stone arched window heads, drip moulds and a parapet decorated with trefoils. Internally the original theatre, laboratory and staircases are still retained; one of the laboratories still contains its original slate benches. In the library, the ceiling is panelled timber with chamfered beams and decorated cast-iron vents. [3] [4] [5]

In 2011 the building was converted from a teaching and learning space to serve as an information, resource and learning centre for students of design and environment studies. The redevelopment, designed by Woods Bagot, provided for a student service centre and student lounges on the ground floor; with individual and group learning spaces on the upper level. The original 1888 lecture theatre was retained. [1]

Historical significance

The Baldwin Spencer Building is significant for its connection to Walter Spencer, who introduced many of the successive additions early into the next century, these of which included a greenhouse and aquaria. Architecturally the building is significant in demonstrating the intricacies of the Gothic Revival style, as well as demonstrating the University's preference for this style to a number of its buildings. Historically this building is significant for showing the new era of science teaching and original research that revolutionised educational policy in Victoria during the late nineteenth century. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gothic Revival architecture</span> Architectural movement

Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century, mostly in England. Increasingly serious and learned admirers sought to revive medieval Gothic architecture, intending to complement or even supersede the neoclassical styles prevalent at the time. Gothic Revival draws upon features of medieval examples, including decorative patterns, finials, lancet windows, and hood moulds. By the middle of the 19th century, Gothic Revival had become the pre-eminent architectural style in the Western world, only to begin to fall out of fashion in the 1880s and early 1890s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victorian architecture</span> Series of architectural revival styles

Victorian architecture is a series of architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. Victorian refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the styles known as Victorian were used in construction. However, many elements of what is typically termed "Victorian" architecture did not become popular until later in Victoria's reign, roughly from 1850 and later. The styles often included interpretations and eclectic revivals of historic styles (see Historicism). The name represents the British and French custom of naming architectural styles for a reigning monarch. Within this naming and classification scheme, it followed Georgian architecture and later Regency architecture and was succeeded by Edwardian architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne</span> Cathedral in Victoria, Australia

The Cathedral Church and Minor Basilica of Saint Patrick is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, and seat of its archbishop, currently Peter Comensoli.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Reed (architect)</span>

Joseph Reed, a Cornishman by birth, was a prolific and influential Victorian era architect in Melbourne, Australia. He established his practice in 1853, which through various partnerships and name changes, continues today as Bates Smart, one of the oldest firms continually operating in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Pitt (architect)</span>

William Pitt was an Australian architect and politician. Pitt is best known as one of the outstanding architects of the "boom" era of the 1880s in Melbourne, designing some of the city's most elaborate High Victorian commercial buildings. He worked in a range of styles including Gothic Revival, Italianate, French Second Empire, and his own inventive eclectic compositions. He had a notable second career after the crash of the 1890s, becoming a specialist in theatres and industrial buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1 Spadina Crescent</span> Academic building of the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

1 Spadina Crescent, also known as the Daniels Building, is an academic building that houses the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building is situated in the centre of a roundabout of Spadina Avenue, north of College Street. Its location provides a picturesque vista looking north up Spadina Avenue; it is an axial view terminus for Spadina Avenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Architecture of Australia</span> Overview of the architecture in Australia

Architecture of Australia has generally been consistent with architectural trends in the wider Western world, with some special adaptations to compensate for distinctive Australian climatic and cultural factors. Indigenous Australians produced a wide range of structures and places prior to colonisation. Contemporary Indigenous practitioners are active in a broad range of built environment fields. During Australia's early Western history, it was a collection of British colonies in which architectural styles were strongly influenced by British designs. However, the unique climate of Australia necessitated adaptations, and 20th-century trends reflected the increasing influence of American urban designs and a diversification of the cultural tastes and requirements of an increasingly multicultural Australian society.

Bates Smart is an architectural firm with studios in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1853 by Joseph Reed, it is one of Australia's oldest architectural firms. Over the decades, the firm's practices involving architecture, interior design, urban design, strategy, sustainability and research, have been responsible for some of Australia’s most recognizable buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eclecticism in architecture</span> Architectural style

Eclecticism is a 19th and 20th century architectural style in which a single piece of work incorporates a mixture of elements from previous historical styles to create something that is new and original. In architecture and interior design, these elements may include structural features, furniture, decorative motives, distinct historical ornament, traditional cultural motifs or styles from other countries, with the mixture usually chosen based on its suitability to the project and overall aesthetic value.

Marcus Barlow (1890–1954) was a prominent Australian architect in the interwar period, who designed a number of notable central city buildings in his home-town of Melbourne. He is best known for the 1932 Manchester Unity Building, whose Gothic corner spire dominates the major intersection of the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Architecture of Melbourne</span>

The architecture of Melbourne, the capital of the state of Victoria and second most populous city in Australia, is characterised by a wide variety of styles in various structures dating from the early years of European settlement to the present day. The city is particularly noted for its mix of Victorian architecture and contemporary buildings, with 74 skyscrapers in the city centre, the most of any city in the Southern Hemisphere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Pathology Building Melbourne University</span> Academic administration in Victoria, Australia

The Old Pathology Building, officially renamed as the Elisabeth Murdoch Building, is an educational building, part of the Parkville campus of the University of Melbourne, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The building is located at 156-292 Grattan Street as building number 134, campus reference number F20. Built in 1885 by architects Reed, Henderson & Smart, the Old Pathology Building is of historical and architectural significance to the State of Victoria, due to its example of early English Gothic architecture and its continued use as a university building for over 100 years. The building was added to the Victorian Heritage Register on 24 June 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Physics Conference Room and Gallery</span> Educational in Victoria, Australia

The Old Physics Conference Room and Gallery is a university teaching and art gallery located at 156-292 Grattan Street, The University of Melbourne, Parkville Campus, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bank of New South Wales building, Melbourne</span>

The Head Office building of The Bank of New South Wales was designed by prolific Melbourne architect Joseph Reed and constructed at 368–374 Collins St, Melbourne, in 1856–1857. Reed was awarded first prize, worth £75, in the Bank of New South Wales’ competition to design their new Melbourne headquarters on a vacant block of land facing the prominent Criterion Hotel. Reed's design was chosen for its extensive use of ornamentation on the relatively small scale building. The façade of the Bank of New South Wales building is prized as a leading example of mid nineteenth century Renaissance Revival architecture in Melbourne. Structural shortcomings and the desire for expansion led to the building's demolition in 1932. Reed's original National Trust heritage-listed façade was preserved and gifted to the University of Melbourne, where it can still be seen on the western face of the Melbourne School of Design, opposite Union Lawn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lombard Building</span> Building in Victoria, Australia

The Lombard Building is a Victorian era building built between 1889 and 1890, within the Melbourne CBD in Victoria, Australia. It was designed by the architectural practice of Reed, Henderson & Smart (1883–1890), now known as Bates Smart. The building was built to house several office practices, which it still operates as today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MacFarland Library, Ormond College</span> Library in Melbourne, Australia

The MacFarland Library at Ormond College, the University of Melbourne, completed in 1965, was Frederick Romberg’s second building for Ormond College. The initial scheme for the building in 1962 was a largely classical building that drew on elements from many of Romberg’s buildings from the previous decade. The subsequent revised scheme better complemented the rest of Reed and Barnes’ Gothic Revival Ormond college. The central plan of the library is a tribute to long tradition of library building including the Melbourne Public Library’s domed reading room, which involved Joseph Reed, Selwyn Bates, Norman Peebles and Charles Smart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of All Nations (Melbourne)</span> Church in Australia

The Church of All Nations, formerly known as the Wesleyan Methodist Church, is a Uniting church located on 180 Palmerston Street, Carlton in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The first religious service held in the church was on Sunday, 6 March 1870.

Marcus Martin (1893–1981) was an Australian architect. He was an associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects, fellow of Royal Institute of Architects, and honorary secretary to the Royal Victorian Institute of Architects.

HW & FB Tompkins was an architectural firm established by the brothers Henry (Harry) William and Frank Beauchamp Tompkins in 1898 in Melbourne, Australia. They went on to become a major commercial firm, designing a large number of department stores, hotels, clubs and office buildings and banks over the next 40 years, many in central Melbourne and most still standing. They were stylistic and structural innovators, an area best known for the huge Myer Department store in Bourke Street, built in many stages in different styles from 1914 to 1933.

"Boom style" is a term used to describe buildings from the Melbourne 1883-1889 Land Boom during which a massive property bubble created wildly speculative values for land and excessive borrowing. Boom style buildings were often rich in ornament and decoration. Initially borrowing was aided by generational wealth from the Victorian gold rush but fuelled by additional hype generated from the city's growing reputation as a boom town, including being labelled 'Marvellous Melbourne' by George Augustus Sala in 1885. Owners, confident that ever increasing prices would exceed their debts, would often engage architects to create exuberant designs in exotic styles that signified wealth something fashionable during the 1880s. However at the end of the boom in 1889 prices soared so high that properties pushed skyward to maximise the value of land which was itself excessively overvalued. Borrowings far exceeded the value of the buildings and most of the Land Boomers ended in bankrupcy with most of the cost of construction never been paid which had a ripple effect which by the early 1890s had crippled the Victorian economy. For a period of time the phrase was used derogatively during a period when the style was "on the nose" due to association with bad debts and corruption, as further justification for their demolition.

References

  1. 1 2 Baumgart , Marcus (5 September 2011). "Baldwin Spencer Building at the University of Melbourne". ArchitectureAU. Australian Institute of Architects . Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Baldwin Spencer Building, Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) Number H0921, Heritage Overlay HO350". Victorian Heritage Database. Heritage Victoria. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Goad, Philip (1998). Guide to Melbourne Architecture.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Goad, Philip (2003). Architecture On Campus.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Tibbits, George (2000). The Planning & Development of The University of Melbourne.