History in the Making
The Oxford Scholar’s Swanston Street site has a proud history: a pub has existed in this very spot since the Victorian gold rush.
Once surrounded by tobacco warehouses, in more recent times it has become a favourite watering hole for RMIT students. The building’s significance was not lost on March Studio Director, Rodney Eggleston, who remembered the venue from his own days as an RMIT student.
“The Oxford Scholar has always been a sort of on/off-campus environment, symptomatic of how RMIT is so deeply embedded into the city life and landscape,” Rodney explains. March Studio sought to honour the building’s heritage while adding modern touches befitting a venue and function space serving the next generation of RMIT students and the community.
The new design takes cues from a tweed jacket, a garment synonymous with academic endeavour. Here, a sophisticated palette gives historic and contemporary elements plenty of room to breathe. Exposed walls, timber flooring and joinery with metal accents sit rightfully at the intersection between The Oxford Scholar’s past and its present.
