Royal Melbourne Regiment Drill Hall Royal Melbourne Regiment Drill Hall

The Royal Melbourne Regiment Drill Hall was built for the Regiment in Victoria Street in 1937 to designs prepared by Commonwealth architect George H Hallendal as part of a general improvement in military facilities prior to the Second World War.

Hallendal designed most of Victoria's drill halls during the post 1935 phase of military construction. Each of these drill halls were built specifically for the unit that was to occupy the building. The Royal Melbourne Regiment Drill Hall includes offices, mess rooms, lecture rooms, stores, a basement firing range and a caretakers flat. The building was used by the regiment before the Second World War, and for various other defence purposes during and after the war, such as providing medical outpatient services in 1945 for the 2nd Battalion.

The Royal Melbourne Regiment originally formed in 1854 as the Melbourne Volunteer Rifles, becoming the City of Melbourne Regiment in 1927, the Royal Melbourne Regiment in 1935 and then the Royal Victorian Regiment in 1948. The unit served in the Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War. As Melbourne's "own Regiment"the Royal Melbourne had particularly close ties with the City of Melbourne.

The building is a large structure, partly two storey, on a triangular city edge site. The exterior is predominantly of red brick, with banding of cream brick. The main east elevation is dominated by a portico of rendered aerofoil profiled piers within a rectangular frame. Details such as exterior ventilator grills, tall narrow steel framed windows and a stepped plan form add to the building's architectural character. The interior detailing features varnished timber panelling and trims, and decorative plaster mouldings. A recurring ornamental element, internally and externally, are wrought iron screens with a common decorative motif. The eastern, front portion of the building includes facilities for the higher ranks, including the officers' mess on the first floor which features a high coved and ribbed ceiling, an inglenook fireplace area, and a built-in bar. The ground floor features offices, the sergeants' mess and various utility spaces.

The rear, western, portion of the building includes offices and the drill hall itself which features a stepped decorative Moderne detailed plaster ceiling, brick pilasters with fluted capitals and a prominent band gallery that overlooks the hall.

Drill Hall

Located at 26 Therry Street is a hall space within the Royal Melbourne Regiment Drill Hall complex | Map

The hall is available for community groups and is suited to exhibitions, markets, rehearsal and light recreation activities.

This venue is managed by the Multicultural Hub.

❊ Address ❊

 ℅ Naarm
 ⊜  49 - 53 Victoria Street Melbourne 3001 View Map
 ✆ Telephone: 9092 1500

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❊ Web Links ❊

➼ Royal Melbourne Regiment Drill Hall 

➼ www.nationaltrust.org.au/vic

➼ Victorian Heritage Database Report: Royal Melbourne Regiment Drill Hall (PDF)

➼ www.heritage.vic.gov.au

➼ History: AMES Australia (PDF

➼ melbourne.vic.gov.au

❊ Also See... ❊

➼ Drill Hall | Footscray

➼ Melbourne Multicultural Hub






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