South Lawn

The South Lawn Car Park at the University of Melbourne was constructed in 1971-72 by Loder and Bayley architects, in association with Harris, Lange and Partners.

It was designed as a solution to the increasing demand for parking without disrupting the university's core landscape.

The car park was originally proposed in the Campus Master Plan by Bryce Mortlock in 1970. The landscape design of the car park and the surrounding areas was undertaken by Ellis Stones and Ronald Rayment. Despite facing some controversy, the design by Jan van der Molen was eventually approved, and the car park was added to the Victorian Heritage Register on 6th April 1994.

The South Lawn Car Park features a unique and innovative design by Jan van der Molen. It consists of reinforced concrete shells with parabolic profiles supported on short columns. The deep dishes of the concrete forms allow for the planting of large trees on its roof. The columns also encase pipes to support drainage for the lawn and trees above the car park. Extensive earthworks were carried out during construction to retain the lawn level with the Old Quad building, the historic core of the university. The car park's entrances incorporate architectural elements from a house in Dublin and the demolished Colonial Bank offices in Melbourne.

The South Lawn Car Park has gained recognition in architectural publications and exhibitions. It has been featured in the first Mad Max movie, serving as the setting for the police garage scene. Additionally, it has been used in various student film projects and art installations. Professor Miles Lewis, an architectural historian, described the car park as the "most important non-residential design in the country." In recent years, it was also featured in the music video for Troye Sivan's collaboration with Tate McR