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RMIT Building 11 facts for kids

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RMIT Building 11
RMIT Building 11 (Spiritual Centre)
Spiritual Centre chapel and courtyard from the Franklin Street entrance
General information
Type Education, worship
Architectural style Italianate
Location Corner Franklin and Victoria streets, Melbourne
Address 377 Russell Street
Town or city Melbourne, Victoria
Country Australia
Construction started 1860
Completed 1861
Owner RMIT
Design and construction
Architect H.A. Williams, J.J. Clark and Gustav Joachimi
Architecture firm Victorian Public Works Department
Renovating team
Architect Khalid Bouden
Renovating firm Desypher

RMIT Building 11, also informally known as RMIT Spiritual Centre, is a building located at the City campus of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University), and is part of the Old Melbourne Gaol. The centre is a place for students to practise mindful meditation, which is an activity organised by the RMIT Chaplaincy Service.

History

The building was built in 1860 as the chapel of the Old Melbourne Gaol. It was part of the "North Wing" of the gaol, and today is one of the few remaining facilities of the complex. It became part of RMIT after the gaol's decommissioning in 1929. The other remaining facilities include: the main entrance gates, the governor's residence, female hospital, a service wing and a bathhouse (collectively known today, along with the chapel, as "RMIT Building 11"), and the "East Block" (currently utilised as a museum). The "West Block" of the gaol was demolished to make way for an RMIT expansion, circa 1910, and the large circular panopticon watchtower and male exercise yard were demolished in 1927 for the construction of the Emily McPherson College of Domestic Economy (now also part of RMIT).

The building is designated a "notable building" by the Melbourne City Council, and is classified by the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) and the Victorian Heritage Register.

Gallery

  • RMITSpiritualCentreCityCampus

    Main chapel of the RMIT Spiritual Centre

  • RMITSpiritualCentreTree

    Banyan tree growing over a wall in a courtyard of the centre

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