Adjunct Professor Peter Elliott AM

Adjunct Professor Peter Elliott AM is a Melbourne based architect who commenced practice in 1975 immediately upon graduation from The University of Melbourne. He has maintained his practice along with a sustained interest in architectural education, having held various teaching positions at R.M.I.T. University, The University of Melbourne and is currently an Adjunct Professor of Practice at the Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture at Monash University.

He completed a Master of Architecture by Project at R.M.I.T. in 1993 and in 2015 he was awarded an honorary degree - Doctor of Architecture honoris causa - by The University of Melbourne. In 2017 the Australian Institute of Architects awarded him its highest honour, the Gold Medal and in January 1987 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for ‘recognition of service to architecture, particularly in the field of public housing.’

He has a special interest in the design of the public realm, and has lectured and written extensively on contemporary architecture and urban design. The work of the practice has won more than eighty-five national and state architectural and industry awards, including the Victorian Architecture Medal for the Carlton Baths and Community Centre in 1991 and in 2019 for the Parliament of Victoria Member’s Annexe.

The early practice focused on recreation and community facilities, childcare and public housing all of which exhibited an empathy with human needs and an ability to resolve these with studied, often small-scaled design interventions. Projects include the Carlton Baths and Community Centre 1989 and 2013; the Robert Clark Horticultural Centre in Ballarat 1994; the Spencer Street footbridge 1999; Observatory Gate at the Royal Botanic Gardens 2000, and the Victoria University Law School 2003.

For a twenty-year period from the mid 1990’s, Professor Elliott worked on the Urban Spaces Project at R.M.I.T. University’s city campus, drawing on his powers of empathy, his deep understanding of the city in which he works and his refined architectural practice. Knowing what to leave alone and how far to go to bring history into the present, Professor Elliott has painstakingly woven this mottled patch of streets, lanes and buildings into the urban fabric of Melbourne. In 2015 he authored a monograph book on the project titled ‘Episodic Urbanism – R.M.I.T. Urban Spaces Project 1996 – 2015’

Following the completion of the Parliament of Victoria’s Members Annexe, he co-authored a book with Gideon Haigh titled ‘An Unfinished Masterpiece’ chronicling the history of the building of Parliament House from 1856. More recent projects have focused in the performing arts sector including the redevelopment of the Alexander Theatre into The Ian Potter Centre for Performing Arts at Monash University Clayton campus and the Myer Music Centre at Melbourne Grammar School. He is currently working on the refurbishment of the South Melbourne Town Hall for the Australian National Academy of Music.