The Queen's Hall is the earliest public reading room in the State Library of Victoria. The glorious decorative scheme now visible dates from 1861 and is an exceptional and rare example of mid 19th century work in Australia. Its designer, Englishman Edward LaTrobe Bateman (cousin of Lieutenant-Governor LaTrobe), had worked for Owen Jones, who was responsible for the Fine Arts Courts in Crystal Palace for the 1851 Great Exhibition in London.

To determine whether Bateman's scheme had survived, we
co-ordinated an investigation and undertook extensive sampling and microscopic analysis, working with Melbourne University's Potter Foundation, who undertook the on-site work and materials analysis.

The decoration, in keeping with the building's exterior, uses
a rich classical vocabulary ultimately derived from Hellenistic and Roman architecture. This reflects the design thinking of the time: that a cross-cultural examination of ornament would bring to light universal principles underlying all good design. Research indicated that the Hall's colour scheme closely correlates with contemporary radical views on Greek polychromy, as advocated by Owen Jones.

Queens' Hall is one of few surviving interiors of this period in this country by an such important designer. Rarer still is to have one with such an international context.