Dear Docomomo members
We are seeking your support regarding an urgent issue that is currently threatening Victoria’s shared cultural heritage at the University of Melbourne.
What is the issue?
The University is planning to demolish the John Medley Building – a culturally significant building by the architect of the National Gallery of Victoria, Sir Roy Grounds.
The John Medley Building is a major public commission designed in the late 1960s by Sir Roy Grounds – one of Australia’s leading 20th century architects. It was built during the same period in which Grounds was working on the National Gallery of Victoria and the Victorian Arts Centre: two of Victoria’s most beloved and iconic cultural institutions. For decades the Medley Building has stood as a welcoming entrance gateway to the University, encapsulating its identity and providing a visual focus for the wider student experience, as is evident from the groups of people who come daily to take photographs in front of it, particularly to mark their graduation.
What is at stake?
The John Medley Building is slated for demolition in 2027 to make way for a new teaching building. The proposal forms part of a 2023 University masterplan that also includes provision for demolishing more than a dozen other buildings. The plan has attracted widespread opposition and is currently the focus of an ongoing staff and NTEU campaign.
- The plan to demolish the John Medley Building constitutes a wanton act of destruction of Victoria’s cultural heritage!
- It is enormously wasteful of University resources at a time of significant financial crisis when the University is running an ongoing operating deficit of $124 million dollars
- It is also totally unsustainable on environmental grounds and runs contrary to current best architectural practice which advocates for the restoration and adaptive reuse of existing buildings wherever possible
What can you do to help?
Sign and share the change.org petition at:
Write an email voicing your opposition to this plan to the University’s interim vice chancellor, Professor Glyn Davis (to be succeeded by Professor Carolyn Evans on 5th October 2026): vc@unimelb.edu.au
Support the campaign to include the John Medley Building on the Victorian Heritage Register.
Heritage Victoria has made an initial recommendation not to include the building in the register on the grounds that it lacks sufficient distinctiveness in relation to other postwar buildings on Victorian university campuses. This is part of a longer process that will be considered further by the Heritage Council of Victoria at a subsequent date. Our case for inclusion will be strengthened by a groundswell of submissions in support of the application that can be lodged on the Heritage Victoria hub at:
https://heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/protecting-our-heritage/heritage-protection-process/hcv-hub
Submissions must be received by 15th September
Please help us to protect Victoria’s cultural heritage.