22 August 2025
One of those city buildings that’s nice, but not terribly exciting, but this one in Exhibition Street has an interesting history. Kelvin House was built in 1927, by and for the institutes for architects, engineers and surveyors. It was designed by Godfrey & Spowers in a pretty conservative mode, unlike the architects institute’s current home a few doors down. It had an exhibition space and an auditorium, so various events were held there until they all left in 1969 (date of the b&W pic).
That year the auditorium was converted into a 300 seat theatre called the Playbox putting on edgy productions starting with ‘the boys in the band’. In 1977 the Hoopla! company took over, renamed themselves Playbox, and carried on until there was a fire in 1984. They went on to occupy the old Malthouse in Southbank, renaming themselves after it.
The ex theatre just became more office space, and the building was heritage listed in 2013.
Storey of Melbourne 