Building of the month March 2023 - Hall of Residence Kelvin Grove, Brisbane, Queensland

The Hall of Residence Kelvin Grove (HRKG, 1974, partially demolished 2002) in Meanjin/ Brisbane, capital city of Queensland, Australia, by John Dalton Architect and Associates in association with Queensland Department of Works, is a concise distillation of the preoccupations and ideas of Brisbane’s most renowned domestic architect of the 1960s, John Dalton (1927-2007). Although not strictly a domestic commission, Dalton’s appointment as architect reflected the Director of Works intention to pursue a ‘non-institutional’ solution. Always attentive to addressing climate and site within very limited budgets, Dalton’s regionally inspired modernism is here enriched by an interest in urban design and planning and in the social behaviour of individuals and groups of people.