Description

Donkey Wheel House is a state heritage-listed building in Melbourne’s CBD. Originally constructed in 1891 as the headquarters of the Melbourne Tramway & Omnibus Company and designed by architects Twentyman & Askew, the building has long been associated with innovation, movement, and progress.

Today, Donkey Wheel House has been reimagined as a shared home for charities, artists, social enterprises, and cultural practitioners working at the intersection of creativity, wellbeing, and social change.

Building on last year’s Open House Melbourne theme of Renaissance, the 2026 program — Renaissance: Awakening — invites the public to step inside a building in active use and experience how renewed ways of thinking are becoming embodied, relational, and shared.

What's On

Visitors are invited to embrace Donkey Wheel House not only as a historic building, but as a living place where ideas, community, and creativity are actively practiced and shared.

Discover the work of an emerging Melbourne artist in a vibrant solo exhibition at Jump Left on the Ground Floor. Renowned Mparntwe / Alice Springs art collective No Fixed Gallery returns to transform our atmospheric basement into a celebration of First Nations culture, community and connection. Delicious food will be available from Enelssie Cafe, while roving theatre and musical performances animate spaces across the building throughout the weekend.

For more insight into the building’s history, present-day use, and future vision, don't miss short 20-minute talks given every 30 minutes.

Together, these experiences show how heritage spaces can be generous and welcoming places shaped by the people who gather, create, and move within them

In Collaboration With:

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  Jump Left

  Jump Left is a niche arts consultancy and project space creating pathways for Australian artists and studios with diverse perspectives and lived experiences. We foster career and exhibition development and manage projects that amplify overlooked voices in the arts.

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  Children's Ground

  The Children’s Ground Approach is a 25-year strategy. We focus on prevention, early intervention and empowerment rather than crisis and deficit. We are implementing a system that recognises and privileges First Nations governance, solutions and systems of knowledge. We complement this with western and global practice.

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  No Fixed Gallery

  No Fixed Gallery is a welcoming space to create, connect, learn, and celebrate Arrernte culture. It's about sharing stories, naturing young artists, maintaining wellbeing, and keeping creativity alive in our community.
  
  At No Fixed Gallery, every piece is created ethically and independently, with profits going directly back into supporting our family business and building pathways for artists in our community. This is more than selling art—it’s about nurturing culture, maintaining wellbeing, sharing our voices and inspiring the next generation.