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Update 18 December 2024
Symposium by University House will reopen on Tuesday 4th February 2025.
Christmas message from University House
Although we’re still more than a year away from reopening ANU Building #1, 2024 has been a year of good progress by the architects, Lovell Chen, and at the building site by the project manager, John Hindmarsh, and their sub-contractors. The ANU Alumni Team just released the short tour of the University House renovation video.
We’re scheduled to receive the (electronic) keys to University House around this time next year; then follows the process of moving back in. Founders Day 2026, 16 February, is when we hope to celebrate our return to Balmain Crescent – so please keep that date in your calendar. We’ll defer the 2025 Founders Day celebration until the autumn and some of the next milestones in the repair work – details to follow in the new year.
The necessary focus on building design and work has been paralleled over the past few months by a parallel emphasis on fitout details – we hope you’ll enjoy the new look Fellows, Drawing Room and hotel rooms as much as we have in choosing furnishings and fabrics, as you see in the images with this message. Eighteen hotel rooms will be fully restored to 1954 furnishing and feel; the other 80 rooms will celebrate the mid-century modern look, and each will have some of the original Fred Ward furniture, but there will be newer pieces too.
We’ve also begun, with the assistance of the Drill Hall Gallery Team, planning for the return of the artwork – including those donated or to be acquired with funds donated by members – thank you. The Friends of University House Fund remains open for any further gifts at any time. Please visit the following website for additional information.
Symposium, our wine bar in the ANU Kambri precinct, has flourished this year. The Symposium team, led by Albert and Dan, will take a well-deserved break after 20 December and return on 4 February.
Professor Peter Kanowski
Master
Update 1 November 2024
Ahead of the reopening of the main University House buildings in 2026, University House has relocated our events and services to Symposium, in the heart of the ANU Kambri Precinct, located on University Avenue. With elegant indoor and sunny outdoor settings, Symposium is the perfect venue for indulging in good food and wine, enjoying a barista-made coffee, or just pausing for a quiet moment over a pot of tea. Find out more about Symposium.
You can support University House with its ongoing restoration in a number of ways!
Find out more here Give Now – ANU
Thank you for your support, The University House Team.
Update 6 November 2023
On Monday 20 January 2020, Canberra experienced a destructive hailstorm which resulted in extensive building damage at the ANU Acton campus, with most buildings impacted, including University House. The subsequent, and otherwise welcome, rain of 9-10 February caused substantial further water ingress.
The storm and rain damaged the roof, electrical circuits, and disabled the fire system of University House. Many public rooms, hotel and student rooms, and some service areas also suffered hail or water damage. The scale of repairs, coordination with the refurbishments that were to begin in 2020, and the need for heritage and building code compliance, together mean an extended period of repair and refurbishment.
The University is fully committed to reopening University House, and extensive repairs are now underway. Reopening is scheduled for late 2025. When it reopens, the renewed University House will again be a showpiece of mid-20th century design, and restored as a campus and Canberra icon.
For more information, please visit our FAQ’s – University House extended closure page
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Welcome to University House, the ceremonial heart of Australia’s National University, and a boutique hotel with a university vibe. Set in the ANU’s tranquil grounds next to the city’s stylish New Acton precinct, University House is truly one of Canberra’s unique locations and experiences.
From its beginnings solely as a residential college for professors and graduate students, University House has grown to host a vibrant hotel, with fine and casual dining, functions and events spaces, and an excellent bar and cellar. It is the place where the University meets and celebrates, and where guests and visitors experience the benefits of a boutique hotel with immediate access to the rich cultural and intellectual life of Australia’s National University.
With a history rich in academic prestige and ceremony, University House guests and visitors are treated to a unique, club-like experience that was once the exclusive privilege of distinguished academics and celebrated dignitaries. Our heritage-listed architecture and décor, period accommodation, stylish venues, and academic presence echo University House’s Oxbridge origins; our dining and meeting spaces, and the buzz of world-leading research and learning, speak to life of the contemporary university and city.
University House – definitely the place to Stay, Meet, Greet and Celebrate.