Australian National University,
Canberra ACT
1958
Grounds, Romberg & Boyd
The Academy was Roy Grounds’ first large building. Grounds, with his first partner, Mewton, was recognized at an early age in 1928 when a recent graduate, Grounds eventually joined Frederic Romberg and Robyn Boyd in partnership in 1953. The client, a learned scientific body, required a large conference hall with raked seating and a second larger space, the Fellows Room, as well as council rooms and offices. The Academy of Science was the recipient of the RAIA’S ’59 Sulman Award. Grounds deftly moulded these functions into a simple circular plan with circumferential circulation inside and out and housed it all in a concrete copper-clad dome. The dome functions today as designed and the interior details have been retained.