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RMIT URBAN SPACES PROJECT - Stage One
Architects: Peter Elliott Architects in association with
The City of Melbourne, City Projects Division
Completed: 2000
Peter Elliot is an alumni of the RMIT Master of Architecture - Invited Program

Architect's Statement:

RMIT's City Campus is undergoing a metamorphosis, an urban transformation which sheds its fortress image and opens it up to the city. The Urban Spaces Project begun in 1966, commenced by formulating a strategic framework to rebuild all of the open space on the campus. This included the design of a new vocabulary of materials, paving, plantings and street furniture. What was a virtual cacophony of cluttered streets, laneways, dead-ends and hidden courts, has been transformed into a pedestrian-friendly network of continuous open spaces that is a delight to wander through. The most dramatic change is to Bowen Street, now the University's main pedestrian spine. This was once a service road full of parked cars, which has been turned into an airy, sun-filled series of plazas. Spinning off this spine is a network of other new spaces, small courtyards and laneways reconnected and opened up. Once degraded and unloved, the outdoor environment at RMIT is now a delightful haven for students, staff and the public - a hidden piece of the city refound.

Awards:

RMIT University City Campus, Urban Spaces Project, Stages One + Two
Architects: Peter Elliott Pty Ltd Architects in association with
The City of Melbourne, CIty Projects Division
Commendation
Precincts Category
C&CAA Public Domain Awards 2003

RMIT University - Urban Spaces Project - Stage One
Architects: Peter Elliott Pty Ltd Architects in association with
The City of Melbourne, CIty Projects Division
winner:
Joseph Reed Award
RAIA Victoria State Chapter Awards 2000
Walter Burley Griffin Award for Urban Design
RAIA National Awards 2000

RMIT University City Campus, Urban Spaces Project, Stages One
Architects: Peter Elliott Pty Ltd Architects in association with
The City of Melbourne, CIty Projects Division
Commendation
The BDP Urban Design in Australia Award, 2000

Articles:

"RMIT University Urban Spaces"
Chris White and Martyn Hook
Landscape Architecture Australia, Issue 117, 2008

Open University (pdf file)
Project: RMIT University City Campus, Urban Spaces Project, Stages 1
Architect: Peter Elliott Pty Ltd Architects in association with
The City of Melbourne, CIty Projects Division
Reviewer: Martyn Hook
Monument 38, Oct/Nov 2000

RAIA Walter Burley Griffin Award for Urban Design
RMIT University - Urban Spaces Project - Stage One
by Peter Elliott Pty Ltd Architects in association with
The City of Melbourne, CIty Projects Division
Architecture Australia. Nov/Dec 2000

June 30, 2000
RMIT Urban Spaces Project wins Victoria's top city design award
RMIT Media Release
RMIT University's Urban Spaces Project Stage One has won the best urban design prize at The Royal Australian Institute of Architects Victoria architecture awards. The Urban Plan was designed by Peter Elliott Architects and the City of Melbourne's city projects division. Peter Elliot is an alumni of the RMIT Master of Architecture - Invited Program.