Adjunct Professor Peter Elliott AM
Director, Peter Elliott Architecture + Urban Design
Architect for the current South Melbourne Town Hall refurbishment project
Over the last two years or so, I have been working on the design of ANAM’s new home at the South Melbourne Town Hall. ANAM’s reoccupation of the Town Hall is a perfect fit, and I feel privileged, as the architect, to be working on such a significant cultural project.
During this time, I have spent many hours meeting the ANAM community — staff, faculty, students, sponsors, and supporters — at workshops, presentations, performances, and social events. I have been welcomed into the ANAM family and remain deeply inspired by the passion and focus of everyone involved.
The old Town Hall is a grand and magnificent civic building, now nearly 150 years old. Sadly, it had deteriorated into a state of disrepair and was in urgent need of renewal. What intrigues us about the South Melbourne Town Hall is that it is several buildings in one, conceived as a civic cluster of council offices, a town hall, post office, courthouse, police lockup, mechanics institute, library, fire station, and three residences.
What we inherit is a building with an extraordinary history and legacy of civic and community functions — a perfect fit for ANAM. This is a compelling example of adaptive reuse, where a heritage-listed building is refurbished and repurposed for a new use, given new life. Projects of this scale are challenging but also deliver unexpected surprises, remarkable spaces, and an engaging dialogue between old and new.
Here, we achieve the best of both worlds by retaining the grand historic character of the building while introducing contemporary spaces and services. There are more than 50 rooms in the building, no two of which are alike.
In some respects, we are fortunate that the interior has been so damaged, as it makes our task simpler in accommodating ANAM’s technical and functional needs. One of the more complex challenges is upgrading the acoustics. Each space must be acoustically isolated from external noise and then carefully tuned for its specific use — whether as a practice studio, performance venue, or rehearsal space.
We will reopen the front entrance on Bank Street, inviting visitors in under the portico. The front-of-house areas will be expanded to include a new lounge and bar, reception, and lobby spaces. The building will house 32 practice studios and faculty offices, a large rehearsal studio on the first floor, a new 150-seat performance space in the former library, and a reconfigured main hall seating 350 across a range of flexible performance modes.
Smoking and cleansing ceremony at the South Melbourne Town Hall site, with staff from ANAM and Peter Elliott Architecture, August 2025. Photo credit: Suzanne Phoenix.
In parallel with our design work, we have been meeting with Wurundjeri Elders, Auntie Gail and Auntie Julie Anne, to bring them into the project. It has been a valuable and rewarding experience to share stories of Country and culture, and to incorporate their perspectives into our design thinking. The Aunties have enthusiastically embraced the return of cultural events, music, and gathering to Emerald Hill, a place of deep significance to First Nations people.
When ANAM moves back into the building, it will be a transformative experience. It will become ANAM’s identity and new home — a creative place for making music and engaging audiences with new and unimagined possibilities.
Peter Elliott headshot courtesy of Peter Elliott Architecture