Interiors Award

Spiral stair form the ground floor to the foyer. Image: John Gollings

The Storey Hall project—commissioned by the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology as one of a portfolio of architecturally experimental additions to its Swanston Street campus— involved substantial interior revisions to two 19th century stone buildings and a connecting ‘annex’ with a colourful, elaborate facade. The interior also is a frenetically decorative expression of the architects’ interpretations of the complexities of current (fin-de-siècle) cultures, progressive scientific concepts (notably Roger Penrose’s mathematics) and past uses of the old buildings. The fitout provides a conference centre with a 750-seat auditorium, five art and exhibition galleries and a basement lecture hall/cinema. The auditorium (in the original Storey Hall) has a new horseshoe balcony inspired by one removed in the 1950s and geometric wall and ceiling patterns said to allude to Walter Burley Griffin’s Capitol Theatre and virtual reality graphics.

First floor foyer in the new annex. Image: John Gollings

Jury Verdict 
The new interior of Storey Hall is memorable and provocative. It is a well planned, thoughtful and consistent elaboration of space, detail, material and colour. Decoration has been brought back into architecture. This radical, exciting folly will be an inspiration for youth and the public will be challenged into re-examining architecture. It is an experimental project that seeks to contribute in a positive way to the intellectual outcomes of the university. The integration with the old buildings works well and there is a complete and consistent expression of the interior concept.

Looking out to Swanston Street through the ‘Roger Rabbit’ window in the main foyer. Image: John Gollings