History of the Louis Laybourne Smith School
![School of Mines and Industry [Brookman Building], c. 1906](../images/brookman%20building.jpg)
The Louis Laybourne Smith School of Architecture and Design has a
long tradition of professional education in the building industry. The
first architectural course was established at the South Australian
School of Mines by Louis Laybourne Smith in 1906.
After the Second World War the School experienced a rapid expansion with
a flood of applicants for architectural training. Gavin Walkley, who
succeeded Laybourne Smith as Head of School, proceeded to expand the
Schools programs to embrace all the major skills relevant to the built
environment. Town Planning was established, the first course of its kind
in Australia, and Building Technology, Interior Design and Landscape
Architecture were also offered.
In 1960 the School of Mines was renamed the South Australian institute
of Technology and the range of course offered in Building and allied
skills further increased. By 1963 the School had developed its
activities in the building discipline as distinct from architecture to
such an extent that the new name of the School of Architecture and
Building was adopted.
In 1991, the South Australian Institute of Technology and the South
Australian College of Advanced Education merged to form the present
institution, the University of South Australia. At the beginning of
1997, the school moved into the newly completed City West campus. Today,
the School has over 20 full-time academic staff and 650 undergraduate
students in the 3 disciplines of Architecture, Interior Architecture and
Industrial Design.