Open House Melbourne success
02 Aug 2012With 100 buildings open and 135,000 visitors, Open House Melbourne 2012 was an enormous success. This year, over 60% of the buildings open were on the Victorian Heritage Register.
Providing access to buildings or parts of buildings not normally available to the public, Open House Melbourne has become a much awaited fixture on the Melbourne calendar, held annually on the last weekend of July.
A working shirt factory in the city, a century old hotel and a new addition to the University of Melbourne boathouse were the final three buildings included in the Open House Melbourne fifth anniversary 100-property program.
The program included landmark buildings like the 1958 Orica House, a groundbreaking high-rise at the time, and Harry Seidler’s shell-shaped 1989 building at No 1 Spring Street with its Boyd mural and a tour to level 26 which provides a panoramic view of the city, MCG and nearby gardens.
Among the favourites were the Melbourne Town Hall, Parliament House, Manchester Unity, Myer Mural Hall, several University of Melbourne buildings and Old Treasury Building marking its 150 years since it was designed by the precocious 19 year old architect J J Clark. (New publications on both Clark and Treasury Reserve have been released in recent months.)
The Heritage Council of Victoria is the Heritage Sponsor of Open House Melbourne.
For the full list of buildings and activities and a run down on the fantastic weekend, see www.openhousemelbourne.org
Back to News