Melbourne Convention Centre & South Wharf Precinct
The development of Melbourne Convention Centre and the South Wharf mixed-use precinct in Melbourne was key to a larger urban transformation, establishing a continuous development link along the Yarra River, and reconnecting the city to a new urban form at the water’s edge. The project created a new high-density precinct, retained and renovated heritage wharf elements, and has provided an unbroken riverside public realm.
The scale of the project demanded that the public realm operate as the key component and connective tissue, weaving together a complex interplay of heritage, large-scale building and podium elements, significant level changes, underground services, maintenance and access requirements, car parking, and rationalising disjointed cycle and pedestrian networks.
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- TRADITIONAL OWNERS & ONGOING CUSTODIANS OF THE LAND Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung Country
- Client Plenary Group, Brookfield Multiplex, Contexx
- Location South Wharf, Melbourne, Australia
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Year
2005–2008 (Stage 1)
2015–2018 (Stage 2)
The design allows seemingly continuous, uninterrupted access through a diverse site. Small streets and lanes intersect the primary flow of the Yarra River promenade, generating a rich pedestrian network and allowing view corridors to the river from deep within the site. This strategy creates environments that provide comfortable places at a human scale: textured in surfaces and light, resulting in places which are distinguishable and diverse, within a cohesive public realm, completing the missing link in the natural progression along the Yarra River.
The public realm of the Melbourne Convention Exhibition Centre exemplifies our approach to collaboration, sustainability and enduring quality. The wharfs, promenades, squares, laneways, rain gardens and integrated cycle ways form a new and significant public place for Melbourne, linking the city to its river and greater surrounds.
- TEAM NWHB (NH and Woods Bagot Architects), Direct Architects, JMP, Winward Structures, CJ Arms, Blyth Sanderson, Lincoln Scott, GTA Consultants
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AWARDS
2010 UDIA Awards - National Environmental Excellence Award
2010 AIA Victorian Architecture Awards - Victorian Architecture Medal, William Wardell Award for Public Architecture, Award for Sustainable Architecture and Steel Architecture Award
2009 UDIA Awards - Environmental Excellence Award - PHOTOGRAPHY Andrew Lloyd
