Philip Smith Centre: UTAS completes $13m restoration of century-old building at Domain

It’s been a hub of learning for more than 100 years and now the grand old building perched on Queens Domain has been given new life.

Pro Vice Chancellor - Campus Life, Professor Nicholas Farrelly and Catherine Mayhead of Glebe Residents Association at the newly refurbished Phillip Smith Centre. Picture: Linda Higginson.

A grand century-old building perched on Queens Domain has been revitalised and will serve as the University of Tasmania’s base for outdoor education after more than $13m was spent on restoration works.

Built in 1910, the Philip Smith Centre was Tasmania’s first purpose-built training facility for teachers, with UTAS assuming responsibility for its programs in the wake of World War II and establishing the Faculty of Education there in 1962.

The impressive facade of the University of Tasmania’s Phillip Smith Centre on HobartÕs Domain. Picture: Linda Higginson.

The heritage building has also housed the Hobart Teachers’ College, the Southern Teachers’ Centre, and University of the Third Age over the years. From 1997, it was managed by a group of local residents of the Glebe, who worked to preserve the building and made it available for community use, until it was purchased by UTAS in 2020.

The university partnered with heritage architects Lovell Chen and construction company Hansen Yuncken to restore the building’s original purpose as a teaching facility.

UTAS Pro Vice-Chancellor for Campus Life (South), Professor Nicholas Farrelly, said the reopening of the Philip Smith Centre was “a milestone for the community and the university’s efforts to establish more centrally located learning spaces”.

“The building’s proximity to bushland reserve, the CBD and Medical Science Precinct make it possible to bring important university functions together in this historic location,” he said.

One of the recently renovated classrooms at the University of TasmaniaÕs Phillip Smith Centre. Picture: Linda Higginson.

Named after the late Philip Thomas Smith, a renowned Tasmanian pastoralist and philanthropist who passionately believed in the power of education to transform people’s lives, the centre is expected to be used to train teachers and nurses and help students improve their English language skills when it reopens as early as this October.

Glebe Residents’ Association secretary Kerry Burns said the work done on the centre had been completed to a “high standard” and in a way that was “sensitive” to the building’s heritage values.

The university’s International School will relocate into the space in the coming months and from 2025, new courses are set to be delivered on the site, including the Diploma of Nature-Based Guiding and the Bachelor of Outdoor and Environmental Education.

UTAS is the only tertiary institution in Australia to offer the outdoor education bachelor’s degree with a combined Master of Teaching.

The School of Nursing, which is also located at the Domain, will use the Philip Smith Centre for classes from next year, as well.

New teaching and learning spaces have been added to the building, while roof upgrades, accessible entrances, amenities, and lifts have also been installed.