Inside the Torrens Building

A contact of ours recently invited us to look through the rejuvenated interiors of the stately Torrens Building on Victoria Square. Built in 1879 as a Government building and named after Sir Robert Torrens (South Australia's third premier and pioneer of the world renowned Torrens Title system for transferring land), its beautifully antique exterior appearance matches its historical background. The Australian Heritage Database describes it as "the best remaining example in Adelaide of Italian Renaissance or Neo Classical style with a Palladian composition".

However, the ultra-modern fitouts within tell a completely different story. The building originally housed many State Government departments (including the Land Titles office where Peter used to work!), and was later used by community service groups after a 1999 refurbishment. As we blogged earlier, the major residents now are 3 prominent international universities - Carnegie Mellon, Cranfield University, and University College London (UCL).

The most recent upgrade was done for the UCL School of Energy and Resources campus. It is appropriately sponsored by Santos and boasts stylish furniture, contemporary fittings as well as the latest technology - computers, projectors and audio equipment allowing collaboration and combined lectures with other campuses in Great Britain. UCL is ranked in the top 5 universities in the world and has a global reputation for teaching and research with 20 nobel prize winners among former students and academics.