Queen's Hall - State Library of Victoria
Hours Open
10am - 5pm
Address
328 Swanston Street
Architects
1854 Joseph Reed; 1870 Reed and Barnes; 1906-11 Bates Peebles and Smart; 1951 Percy Everett, Public Works Department; 1990-98 Ancher Mortlock and Woolley
Year Built
See Above
Building Type
Library
What is Open
Queen’s Hall, La Trobe Reading Room, Cowen Gallery
Tour Frequency
None
Tram Stop
Stop 8: La Trobe Street and Swanston Street on routes 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 16, 64, 67 and 72 Stop 6: Swanston Street and La Trobe Street on routes 24, 30 and City Circle
Description
Founded in 1854, the State Library of Victoria is one of Victoria's most loved public institutions. A statue of the Library's founder, Sir Redmond Barry (who envisioned Melbourne as the 'Rome of the South'), stands proudly on the front steps. Architect Joseph Reed's competition-winning Roman Revival design has been extended many times by his successors. The barrel-vaulted reading room that is Queen's Hall, added in 1859, houses one of Melbourne's grandest 19th-century interiors. The Domed Reading Room, designed by Bates Peebles and Smart (1906–11), boasted what was then the world's largest reinforced concrete dome. In the past the Library was also home to the Museum and National Gallery. In recent years, under the guidance of architect Ken Woolley, a major redevelopment has seen new reading rooms and exhibition spaces opened and the neoclassical domed room, refurbished and reopened as the La Trobe Reading Room.
Significance
This is a unique opportunity to see one of Melbourne's most beautiful 19th-century interiors. Queen's Hall opened in 1859 and was the Library's main reading room until 1913. It was then used as a museum space until 1973, and reopened in 1975 as the Arts, Music and Performing Arts Library. Queen's Hall was closed to the public in 2003 and planning is underway for its future restoration and refurbishment.
What’s Open?
Visitors should come to the main entrance of the library. You will be guided up to Queen's Hall where you'll be free to wander through this grand space. We also recommend that you visit the magnificent domed La Trobe Reading Room – one of the Library's most spectacular heritage spaces - and the Cowen Gallery, which houses a display of paintings and portrait sculptures from the Library's collection.
Referenced from: "A guide to Melbourne architecture", by Philip Goad, 1999, p. 32. The Watermark Press, Sydney
