Footer
Produced and published by the School of Historical & Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne
Published July 2008
Published July 2008
Partners
(156-60 Collins Street)
Designed by architect Henry H. Kemp, the Assembly Hall was built by Swanson Brothers for the Presbyterian Church, on the site of the old church manse, and opened on 17 May 1915. The new hall superseded an earlier Presbyterian Assembly Hall at 94 Collins Street. A fourth storey was added in 1935. The complex includes a hall with gallery (used for church activities as well as public plays and concerts), offices (including the office of the General Assembly and professional suites) and a bookshop (formerly the Scottish Tea Rooms). The sandstone structure, a noted example of late Gothic Revival architecture, is sympathetic in style with the adjacent Scots' Church and is included on the Victorian Heritage Register as a significant part of the Collins Street streetscape. Original decorative features include the staircase, lobby and landings, while the Hall itself contains the Fincham organ (built in 1905, donated 1920) and a memorial stained glass window by William Montgomery.