HISTORIC MELBOURNE SITE GETS A MODERN TWIST

The proposed development is a 35-storey tower to be built above the heritage listed Rialto and Winfield buildings on Collins Street in Melbourne. The Future Melbourne Committee voted unanimously for its approval.

Cox Architecture designed the plans for the $276 million Salter project, which will be compromised of a mixed-use development featuring retail, office spaces, a luxury hotel and a club with meeting and conferences spaces.

The nearly 4,000 sqm site fronts Flinders Lane and Collins St, and is part of a group of five historic buildings. The five, built between 1881 and 1891, are currently all a similar height, width and level of detail, making up one of the most notable historic streetscapes in Melbourne. The plan includes the demolition of a building on the site built in the 1980s that encloses Winfield Square, and creating a new building in its place that would comprise the 273-key hotel and office space, as well as a club and meeting and conference spaces. Another 19 rooms would be located in the Rialto building with a footbridge connecting it to the other buildings.

Winfield Square would then become part of a link between Collins Street and Flinders Lane as well as an atrium to connect the new podium with the heritage buildings. The proposed building takes shape as a tower atop a podium, while the materiality of the facade comprises glass, bronze aluminium details and aluminium louvres. The tower tapers in from the western boundary, resulting in a gap in the airspace between the roof of the Rialto building and the proposed tower.

The developer Salter Brothers stated that if the project is approved, construction would commence in 2025. The duration of the project is anticipated to take three years.

Images courtesy of Cox Architecture