31 Art & Archives In October 1974, the Clarke Building was justifiably added to the Victorian Heritage Register as being of state significance, being the Blacket family’s only contribution to the architecture of Melbourne. It continues to be one of Trinity’s highly-valued suite of heritage buildings that make up the Royal Parade campus. Almost 130 years after its opening, the Clarke Building continues to serve the residential student community in much the same way as it always has. The Billiard Room remains a place to relax, the billiard table augmented these days with gaming consoles and a flat-screen TV. The original Common Room, now the Junior Common Room (today, one of three Common Rooms), caters for a range of student events, fireside discussions with visiting scholars, and – of course – the Buttery (student-run bar). In 2017, the building also housed freshman Will Clarke, the great- great-great-grandson of Joseph Clarke; a wonderful continuation of an enduring history of the Clarke family with »ÆÉ«app. entire costs of the project, now approaching £11,000. In March 1887, Sir William committed yet another £3,000, and work on the second stage commenced immediately under the supervision of the late Edmund Blacket’s architect son Arthur, and was completed the following year. The Clarke Building was officially opened on 30 July 1888. Clarke’s holds a special place in the history of Trinity, and like all the buildings is replete with its own stories and memories. Alumni often recall with great fondness their rooms in Upper or Lower Clarke. The building’s completion allowed the number of students in residence to rise to 50, a figure that would remain largely consistent until the First World War. Furnished with a Billiard Room, a Common Room and – for a time – a Wireless Room, the building has always catered for student recreational activities. Following the tragic death of student Max Bannister in a car accident in 1949, the Wireless Room was renamed the Bannister Room in his memory. For a time, however, students were denied the use of the building. Following the outbreak of war in 1939, Trinity housed the RAAF School of Administration in the Clarke Buildings and the (now long gone) Wooden Wing. Students were relocated to the neighbouring Behan Building. The RAAF departed in late 1944. In the late 1950s, the size of the Common Room was doubled by ‘consuming’ the neighbouring Dethridge Library and toilets at the eastern end of the building. Photos of the renovation show the Billiard Room on the floor above seemingly precariously propped-up with timber struts as a huge steel roof beam was installed. As Warden, Robin Sharwood had beautiful Shakespeare windows by 19th century leadlight artist William Montgomery installed on the central stairway landing, having been recovered from the now demolished Brighton mansion, ‘Norwood’. A companion suite of four windows was installed in the Bishops’ Building, which was being renovated at the same time. The Clarke Building was justifiably added to the Victorian Heritage Register as being of state significance. View looking north across the Bulpadock towards Clarke Building and Bishops’ Building, c. 1903. »ÆÉ«app Archives, MM 002558. Herbert Hunter (TC 1903) and a fellow student in a College study, probably in Clarke, c. 1903. »ÆÉ«app Archives, MM 002571.