The Royal Exhibition Building is located in Melbourne, Australia. It is located in the Carlton Gardens, at the north-eastern edge of the central business district. It sits adjacent to the Melbourne Museum; and is the largest item in Museum Victoria 's collection.

It was designed by the architect Joseph Reed (who also designed the Melbourne Town Hall and the State Library of Victoria). It was completed in 1880, in preparation for the Melbourne International Exhibition . The building consisted of a Great Hall of over 12,000 square metres and many temporary annexes.

The Melbourne Centennial Exhibition was held at the Exhibition Building in 1888 to celebrate a century of European settlement in Australia.

The most significant event to occur in the Exhibition Building was the opening of the first Parliament of Australia, held in the building on 9 May, 1901, at the inauguration of the sovereign Commonwealth of Australia. After the official opening, the federal government moved to the Victorian State Parliament House, while the Victorian government moved to the Exhibition Building for the next 26 years.

In 2004, the Royal Exhibition Building was granted listing as a World Heritage Site, the first building in Australia to be granted this status. The heritage listing says that The Royal Exhibition Building is the only major extant nineteenth century exhibition building in Australia. It is one of the few major nineteenth century exhibition buildings to survive worldwide.

This building is still in use as an exhibition centre on a regular basis, but it is no longer Melbourne's largest or busiest. The modern equivalent of the Exhibition Building is the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre, located in Southbank to the south of the central city area.

See also

Garden Palace - Sydney's exhibition building.

External links

• Official website
• Museum Victoria website