RMIT University’s Printing Facility at the Brunwick campus, originally designed by John Wardle Architects and Demaine Partnership in 2000, has been transformed into the university’s new Fashion Hub by Spowers Architects and PHOOEY Architects.
Receiving a new lease on life, the printing presses have been replaced by sewing machines and mannequins in a $8-million refurbishment.
Studio interiors of the new RMIT Fashion Hub.
Image: Courtesy RMIT
While the exterior architecture has been respectfully left untouched, the interior transformation includes new design studios, a 190-seat lecture theatre, new audio-visual technologies, specialist machine rooms and staff and student lounges.
The refurbishment has also allowed the school to engage with the street along its northern edge, with the placement of studios behind the original frameless glass curtain wall on Dawson Street, enabling passers-by to see into the studios and production rooms.
“The new spaces will allow students to respond to the changing and future demands of the fashion industry,” said Professor Robyn Healy, head of the School of Fashion and Textiles.
The original building is the former home of the Faculty of Art, Design and Communication and was awarded the William Wardell Award for Best New Institutional Building at the 2000 Victorian Architecture Awards as well as a commendation for Public Architecture at the National Architecture Awards that same year.
