The BSMI is located on the lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung people of the Kulin nations

In a parkland setting in Bendigo, a splendid building with its own roof-level band rotunda stands as a permanent war memorial, honouring those who served. It was designed by local architect George Dawson Garvin and completed in 1921, and immediately put to good use by the RSL. Since then the Bendigo Soldiers’ Memorial Institute has evolved into a museum as well.

In a project jointly funded by the federal and state governments, the City of Greater Bendigo, Bendigo District RSL and the local community, Lovell Chen helped the Institute ensure the viability of its significant building through restoration, reconstruction and adaptation works.

The project combined conservation of the 1921 fabric — including underpinning of the building to cap the old mineshaft beneath — and the addition of a companion pavilion that enables the organisation to become a lending institution at a national level, with AA-standard gallery space designed to Passive House standard.