In 2024 Melbourne Grammar School broke ground on what will be a landmark building for the teaching and learning of Humanities.
After years of research, consultation and development, the Centre for Humanities will contribute to the School’s curricula and intellectual life in Literature, History, Philosophy, English, Politics, Media, Legal Studies, and other related subjects.
This dynamic facility will create flexible, inspiring spaces in which students and teachers can gather, exchange ideas, and see the world in ways that cultivate curiosity, reinforce a passion for lifelong learning, and expand their intellectual, cultural and spiritual horizons.
Planned to open in late 2026, the Centre for Humanities will provide our Senior School students and staff with:
- A building that is in keeping with the School’s heritage buildings and preserves the Main Oval footprint
- Twenty new contemporary classrooms
- A new amphitheatre, providing formal and informal spaces for up to 220 people
- Many individual and group student study areas
- New House and locker areas for three Houses: Creese, Deakin and Witherby
- Staff offices and amenities
- New toilets and change room facilities
- Landscaped student recreation spaces
The building with feature five-star and six-star sustainability standards.
Environmentally sustainable features will focus on the use of energy, water and other resources, setting a good example for current and future generations of students.
Why Now?
The building will replace the dated Rhoden and Neill buildings, adjacent to the northwestern corner of the Main Oval and the Chapel of St Peter.
The buildings have long since outlived their usefulness – having served the needs of thousands of Old Melburnians since opening in 1984 and 1969, respectively.
The Centre for Humanities is a crucial milestone in our Towards 2030 strategic plan. The spaces in which our students learn matter greatly, and the quality of our buildings has a direct impact on the quality of education that occurs within them.
The world of education has changed dramatically over the last 50+ years, and it is more important than ever that students’ learning environments continue to light imaginations, provide space for open discussion and allow for opportunities to engage in critical thinking.
We are proactively preparing our students for an uncertain future
It is the responsibility of schools like Melbourne Grammar to ensure that students are not left behind or overshadowed by the technologies and world developments they’ve grown up with.
We know that students’ ability to grasp subjects like Philosophy and English underpins much of how they make sense of the world around them. Equipping students with life-long skills to be able to critically engage with what’s in front of them will ultimately be what sets them apart once they graduate.
In the same spirit in which we still consider long-form mathematics to be an indelible part of a well-rounded education, Melbourne Grammar is committed to ensuring that so too is a solid foundation in ethical reasoning, moral judgement, cultural awareness, empathy, creativity, critical thinking and analysis.
All these skills and more are founded in the study of Humanities.
We are proud to continually champion holistic education wherever possible, and the Centre marks the completion of Melbourne Grammar’s triangulation of faith, science and reason, which encompasses The Chapel of St Peter, The Geoff Handbury Science and Technology Hub, and the Centre for Humanities, respectively.