ARTEDOMUS CUSTOM PRINTS ARTWORK ONTO ARDEN STATION

The façade, constructed from custom-printed Fiandre DYS porcelain panels, delivers numerous maintenance and environmental benefits thanks to the panels’ photocatalytic properties which ensure the façade is self-cleaning and contributes to improved air quality.

Arden Station is a new transport hub, delivered as part of the Victorian State Government’s Metro Tunnel initiative. The hub is already attracting widespread attention for its impressive brick arches which pay homage to North Melbourne’s industrial history and the magnificent 522-square-metre exterior façade which features a major artwork by Australian artist Abdul Abdullah.

Mr Abdullah’s artwork, entitled ‘Come Together’, depicts the West Melbourne Swamp which existed on the site prior to colonisation and architectural intervention. Overlayed onto this sweeping swampland scenery are two hands reaching out towards one another. “I wanted to make a waypoint where people could meet, I wanted them to meet under the hands of Arden Station,” says Mr Abdullah.

Mr Abdullah originally envisaged the artwork as a large-scale mosaic, however it quickly became clear that the project would require an innovative façade solution to meet safety regulations and achieve the scale required to clad the Arden Station exterior façade.

Fiandre’s Design Your Slabs (DYS) option enabled the project team to reproduce Mr Abdullah’s artwork to scale, achieving both the fine mosaic-like detail he envisaged, while also delivering the seamless continuity required for such a large-scale work.

“Fiandre DYS custom porcelain is a new innovation, resulting in many functional and aesthetic benefits – as we can see in the extraordinary Arden Station outcome. This is the first large scale project in the world using Fiandre DYS; it is quite unique and exciting to see what is possible at this scale. There is no limitation to the type of artwork or shape, scale or colours that can be achieved using Fiandre DYS – there is nothing else like it,” says William Pearse, Business Development Manager at Artedomus.

Fiandre DYS custom printed porcelain panels at Arden Station also deliver numerous maintenance and environmental benefits. This is achieved by Fiandre’s patented Active Surfaces® treatment which endows the porcelain panels with impressive photocatalytic properties.

“The photocatalytic properties prevent environmental dirt from sticking to the surface of the panel, and generally rain will be all that's needed to keep the surface clean. The panels also deliver anti-pollution properties, effectively reducing nitrogen oxides to physically clean the air around it,” says Mr Pearse. “This action is comparable to benefits generated by green planted zones – so all-in-all it's quite an exciting product that is, quite literally, an active surface,” he says.

The Fiandre DYS porcelain façade at Arden Station is Cradle-to-Cradle Certified Silver, and has achieved LEED Certification, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001:2018 Certifications, and GREENGUARD Gold Certification.

Arden Station is located on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woiwurrung and Bunurong Boon Wurrung peoples of the Kulin nation.