Parliament House (Melbourne)

In Parliament House in Melbourne since 1855, the sessions of the Parliament of Victoria will take place. The only exception is the period 1901-1928, in which it served as the seat of the Australian Parliament. It is the largest dating from the 19th century public building in Australia.

History

1851 was the surveyor Robert Hoddle of Charles La Trobe, the then Governor of Victoria, tasked to look for a place for the establishment of the parliament building. Hoddle chose a site on the eastern hill at the end of Bourke Street, from where you could see the whole city at that time. It tries to find in a competition a suitable design for the building was, but all proposals were rejected, so Charles Pasley, the architect of the government, the construction finally culminated their own design. Later, this design by Peter Kerr, a different architect, amended.

The building of the Parliament House began in December 1855. Was completed in stages, 1856-1929. The chambers for the Victorian Legislative Assembly and the Victorian Legislative Council were in 1856, which at the library in 1860 and the Great Hall (now the Queen's Hall ) and the vestibule 1879 ready. In the 1880s, when the gold rush in Victoria reached its peak, it was decided to add a classical colonnade and a portico on the Spring Street side, which together give the building its monumental character today. This extension was completed in 1892. The north wing was completed in 1893 and the refreshment rooms at the back of the building in 1929.

Pasley and Kerr also planned to provide the building with a dome. When in 1891 a severe economic crisis began, these plans were abandoned. From time to time expressed their votes from government interest, add the dome and the Parliament House to complete it. Such efforts have so far, however, most of the enormous costs that would cause such an undertaking failed. The government Kennett, which emerged from the 1992 elections as the winner, formed a committee to deal with the construction of the dome, the project was canceled after strike threats of trade unions but.

Between 1901 and 1928 meetings of the Australian Parliament were held at Parliament House, as in the Australian Constitution nor any provisions in relation to a new capital were included at this time and it also took some time until a suitable settlement site was found and the establishment of the capital could be started. During this time the Parliament met in Victoria Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton, which the deputies not satisfied with that. Many important events in Australian history took place in this building. These include the establishment of the Australian Labor Party at the federal level, the Federation of Free Trade Party with the Protectionist Party to the Liberal Party in 1909.