Building Highlight - Melville Hall, AD Hope Building and Beryl Rawson Building

Building Australia's National University: 75 Years of the Australian National University

Melville Hall

Melville Hall was designed by architects Yuncken Freeman in 1971 and built by A.V. Jennings Industries the following year with simple materials and detailing typical of the architecture of the 1970s. Originally known as ‘New Chancelry Hall’, it was designed for examinations and general university purposes. The University Council resolved to name the new hall after Sir Leslie Melville, ANU Vice Chancellor from 1953 to 1960, a distinguished Australian economist and who served as the Head of the Tariff Board. 

Melville Hall was the venue for many events in the 1970s, including concerts by Daddy Cool and Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs, a show by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, and an exhibition of Arthur Boyd works. In 1975 Melville Hall was also chosen as the venue to exhibit Blue Poles by Jackson Pollock to the Canberra community. 

Melville Hall now houses the Tjabal Indigenous Higher Education Centre and the Examinations and Graduations Office.

 

AD Hope Building

The AD Hope Building, originally known as the Arts V Building, was another design by Yuncken Freeman Architects and was constructed in 1975 by Civil and Civic. The building design signified a new direction in the university’s architectural style with ‘open plan’ elements. The ‘open plan’ aspect of the building allowed for excellent display and exhibition spaces, perfect for the Classic Department's Museum. In 1977 a reproduction of the Tenochtitlan Aztec Calendar Stone was gifted to the ANU by the Mexican Government and has been displayed in the Classics Museum ever since.  

The building is named in honour of poet and essayist Professor Alec Derwent Hope. In 1951 Hope was appointed Foundation Professor of English at the Canberra University College (CUC). He continued his work at the ANU when the CUC and ANU amalgamated, and along with Tom Inglis Moore, he created the first full year course in Australian literature at an Australian university. He retired from the ANU in 1968 and was appointed Emeritus Professor.   

The AD Hope Building houses the School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics and the ANU Classics Museum. Between 1990 and 2010 the building also housed the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR), which later relocated to the Copland Building. 

 

Beryl Rawson Building

The Beryl Rawson Building was designed by Geoff Butterworth and Partners in 1985 and constructed by Project Coordination Pty Ltd the following year. It was the first major construction work on campus after 1976 and was conceived as accommodation for general university purposes and special project groups. It also housed the Australia-Japan Research Centre, which was established by the Research School of Pacific Studies (RSPacS) after it received a ten year grant from the United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA). 

In 1982 the ANU Council moved to rename the building, which had been known as the Special Projects Building, as the JG Crawford Building, in honour of Sir John Grenville (Jack) Crawford. Crawford was a renowned economist, academic administrator and public servant who had a long career at the ANU, including serving as director of the Research School of Pacific Studies. Following the construction of the Crawford School of Economics and Government in 2010, the building was renamed the Beryl Lawson Building after Professor Emerita Beryl Rawson, who had a distinguished career at ANU including as lecturer in Classics from 1964, Dean of Arts from 1981, and Professor of Classics from 1989 until her retirement in 1998. The building underwent a $6 million refurbishment in 2007 by AMC Architecture and now houses the ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences (CASS). 

 

References

Australian National University n.d., Acton Campus site inventory,

Sketch of exhibition area in AD Hope Building, c. 1970s (ANUA226-422).

Sketch of exhibition area in AD Hope Building, c. 1970s (ANUA226-422).

Humanities Research Centre in the AD Hope Building, 1974 (ANUA226-367). Photographer: Gab Carpay.

Humanities Research Centre in the AD Hope Building, 1974 (ANUA226-367). Photographer: Gab Carpay.

Information Day visitors leaving the AD Hope Building, 22 June 1983 (ANUA226-357). Photographer: Marlee Maxwell, ANU Photographic Services.

Information Day visitors leaving the AD Hope Building, 22 June 1983 (ANUA226-357). Photographer: Marlee Maxwell, ANU Photographic Services.

2nd Year Law Exam in Melville Hall, 1982 (ANUA226-97). Photographer: ANU Photographic Services.

2nd Year Law Exam in Melville Hall, 1982 (ANUA226-97). Photographer: ANU Photographic Services.

Melville Hall and AD Hope Building, 2016. Photograph courtesy of ANU Student Learning & Development.

Melville Hall and AD Hope Building, 2016. Photograph courtesy of ANU Student Learning & Development.

Demonstration outside Melville Hall, 1974 (ANUA226-303). Photographer: Gab Carpay.

Demonstration outside Melville Hall, 1974 (ANUA226-303). Photographer: Gab Carpay.

Construction of the Special Projects Building, later known as the JG Crawford Building and now known as the Beryl Rawson Building, April 1986 (ANUA 226-414). Photographer: ANU Photographic Services.

Construction of the Special Projects Building, later known as the JG Crawford Building and now known as the Beryl Rawson Building, April 1986 (ANUA 226-414). Photographer: ANU Photographic Services.

Prime Minister Bob Hawke, Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Karmel and Dr Peter Drysdale at the opening of the JG Crawford Building, 4 September 1986 (ANUA 226-414). Photographer: Bob Cooper, ANU Photographic Services.

Prime Minister Bob Hawke, Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Karmel and Dr Peter Drysdale at the opening of the JG Crawford Building, 4 September 1986 (ANUA 226-414). Photographer: Bob Cooper, ANU Photographic Services.

Beryl Rawson Building following refurbishment in 2007. Photograph courtesy of AMC Architecture.

Beryl Rawson Building following refurbishment in 2007. Photograph courtesy of AMC Architecture.