19 August 2018, updated 2025:

At RMIT, buildings 5, 7 and 9 all join up into one continuous #StreamlineModerne building along the east side of Bowen Street. As designed by the great, prolific Percy Everett of the Victorian #PublicWorksDepartment, but built in five very spaced stages.

The southern part of Building 9 and Building 5 further up the street were built first, 1938. Then in 1941 blg 9 was extended to the north. A sketch design from 1937 shows 5 as much longer, so probably that was the plan, but Building 7 which joins up 9 and 5 seamlesslywasn’t started till 1948, still leaving a gap until 1960 when 7 south was built in exactly matching style (these dates are from the foundation stones).

In 1949 Percy released a plan to build both sides the same and across the north end of Bowen Street too with 8 storeys and a clocktower ! Maybe RMIT was actually planning to do just that, since they also built Building 6 on the other side of Bowen Street in matching style in 1959; Percy had retired in 1953, so this and 7 south must have been drawn up by other architects.

Only Building 9 is on the #victorianheritageregister, I think because it had the wireless school, important during the war. Also important to me for housing the architecture school in the 80s and 90s, the students there were groovier than us from Melb Uni.

Sadly all the horizontal #steelframedwindows of all the buildings were replaced in the late 80s with square smoked glass al ones, and in 2009 two floors were added to bldg 9 by @peterelliott.architects, which are sympathetic but unfortunate imho – one would have been ok. Image 2 is Graeme Butler 1982 before the windows changed. Last pic is the Collingwood Tech Footwear School, also by Percy, from 1945, in very similar style.

Nov 2025

A small but elegant piece of the city, the entry wall to RMIT across Bowen Street, built in 1951 (I think). Modern but sort of classical, with a pair of very detailed and stylish plaques. It was most likely designed by the very busy Percy Everett, Chief Architect of the Public Works Department – though I couldn’t find any contemporary mention of it, even though the Premier opened it. There was however discussion about closing Bowen Street in 1949 and giving it to RMIT so they could build across it, as per the sketch that year by Percy for a very Deco block across the north end, never built.

The wall originally had gates attached I think, there’s a bracket left. It sits behind the 1897 statue of Francis Ormond, whose lobbying helped create the Working Men’s College in 1887.

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