GroupGSA+Artillery’s Studio

Architect: Centenary Hall was designed by Hugh Philp & H. Geoffrey Bottom in 1933 and the building was completed in 1935; GroupGSA+Artillery Studio was designed by GroupGSA+Artillery and completed in 2016/17.

City of Melbourne | C29

Building Description

Built in 1935, Centenary Hall is a depression era Art Deco building with historical connections to The Loyal Orange Institution of Victoria, the American Red Cross, the Victorian Government and The Australian Liberal Party. The building’s former first concert hall is now home to the creative studio GroupGSA+Artillery.

Named after the 1934 centenary of the founding of Melbourne, Centenary Hall was designed by Hugh Philp and H Geoffrey Bottoms as a multi-purpose performance, event and meeting space. First occupied by The Loyal Orange Institution of Victoria, a fraternal Protestant order, the hall was then used by the American Red Cross during World War II. A hub for American and Allied soldiers, the hall was used for lectures during the day and as a dance hall in the evenings. Post-war, the building was occupied by the Victorian Government and then the Victorian Liberal Party from 1976 until 2019.
The building’s concert hall is now the studio of GroupGSA+Artillery. The spaces are designed to be highly flexible with creative brainstorming areas and mobile solutions for seating, writing and presentation boards. The design also reuses and reinvigorates the existing stage area, with new velvet curtains defining the space for formal meetings.

What's On

View the art deco façade of the depression era building, admire the Star of the Orange Order in the foyer, before coming up to the first floor hall. Home to GroupGSA+Artillery, a multidisciplinary architectural studio.

Location