Buxton Contemporary

Adaptive Reuse, Architecture, Interior Design, Urban Design

Cultural

Southbank

Photographer: Fender Katsalidis

Buxton Contemporary is the new home for an extensive collection of Australian art; a philanthropic donation by Michael Buxton to The University of Melbourne.

Location

Melbourne, Australia

Client

The University of Melbourne

Cost

$16 million

GFA

1,770 sqm

Completion

2018

Traditional Custodians

Wurundjeri people

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

Awards:

Australian Institute of Architects VIC Awards, Finalist - Public Design, 2019
Interior Design Excellence Awards, Finalist - Public Space, 2019

Photographer: John Gollings

The site is located within the University of Melbourne’s Southbank Campus, which is also a part of the Southbank Cultural Precinct. The building integrates into the campus and re-purposes an existing heritage listed building.

The existing heritage-built fabric remains largely intact, with alterations to meet gallery use and environmental rating requirements. The new structure is set between the existing buildings and provides a courtyard space to assist in clearly delineating the new from the old.

Photographer: Fender Katsalidis

Photographer: John Gollings

The new building stands as a simple and elegant foil to the existing brick buildings on the site, and adopts a material finish to reflect the ever changing light conditions. Vertical planes have been used for the new building which vary subtly, shifting in scale and planar alignment. These shifts allow the building to mediate between the larger built scale of the street environment to the more intimate university campus.

Photographer: John Gollings

The main entry to the building is through the existing heritage facade, re-establishing the original building entrance (circa.1916). Above this entry is an art display screen, showcasing the collection’s extensive cross-section of contemporary Australian video art.