AUSTRALIA'S first Aboriginal museum tops a list of proposals for the Docklands' landmark building to rival the Sydney Opera House.
This will be a challenge for any architect.


Docklands' harbour heaven
Exclusive by CHRIS TINKLER
11jul04 (Heraldsun)

AUSTRALIA'S first Aboriginal museum tops a list of proposals for the Docklands' landmark building to rival the Sydney Opera House.

An evolving building - always under reconstruction to showcase futuristic design - is another contender.

The proposals for the disused Central Pier in Docklands' Victoria Harbour were unveiled in a detailed plan this week.

When the $1.8 billion development is complete in 10 years, the wasteland peninsula boasting 3.7km of waterfront and addresses in Collins and Bourke streets will be a workplace for 10,000 people, home for 5000 and link the CBD to the harbour.

The street-by-street plan reveals Melbourne will have a Chapel St-style shopping area by the harbour, a waterfront plaza on the same scale as Federation Square, a big public park under Bolte Bridge, a spectacular floating stage and a new nightlife hub.

Construction began on Friday on Victoria Harbour's first apartment tower - the $153 million Dock 5. By October, its National Australia Bank headquarters will open for 3600 staff.

West of Telstra Dome, the plan reveals a 30m wide and 500m long Southbank-style strip called Victoria Harbour Promenade, lined with restaurants and bars and fronted by a huge marina, due to be completed within five years.

The entertainment and dining strip will link Telstra Dome to Melbourne's version of New York's Times Square - to be called Victoria Square.

The square - joining Collins and Bourke streets - features an art gallery, pub and hotel. It will match Federation Square in scale. Berths for megastars' superboats will be nearby.

A giant floating stage is mooted for the middle of the harbour - to be viewed by crowds of up to 30,000 lining the esplanade outside Telstra Dome, down Central Pier and along Victoria Harbour Promenade.

The stage may host major bands, special events and an outdoor cinema.

Running south of the promenade, a thriving fashion and restaurant strip to compete with Chapel St - called Buckley St - is due to be developed next year.

Buckley St will have 60 shops, running across Bourke and Collins streets down to the Yarra River's north bank.

Metres away, a waterfront nightlife precinct around Yarra Lane will have clubs and pubs promoting local acts, and warehouse and loft-style studios and apartments.

A water transport hub on the south side of the peninsula, on the Yarra River, will provide 15 to 20-minute services to Flinders St Station.

Developer Lend Lease is fighting Docklands manager VicUrban to run a proposed tramway along the south side of the peninsula, instead of its northern edge - which it believes would ruin the harbour's ambience.

The Bourke St extension, already in progress, will be the business district, with a dozen office towers and street shops.

The "West End" of Collins St will provide a direct tram link from Parliament House to the harbour, featuring apartment buildings, large showrooms and turning north to meet Bourke St near the water.

Between Collins and Bourke streets, the ground level across three city blocks will be raised about 5m, giving views down to the water and providing space for underground parking.

Project manager David Moeller said slumps in the apartments market would not affect the plan.

"We are in a tough market at the moment, but we don't get panicked by bad markets," he said. "We have the confidence in the long-term future to keep moving forward."

Lend Lease wants the landmark building at the end of Central Pier to be the centrepiece of Docklands. The building will cost between $200 to $600 million.

Mr Moeller said the key building would not be finished before the 2006 Commonwealth Games, but it was hoped there would be some major activity on the pier by then.

Shed 10, stretching about 100m to the end of the pier, will be demolished to make way for the building, on a 50m square.

Mr Moeller said Melbourne and Darwin were two potential sites being considered by the Federal Government for the Australian indigenous arts and cultural centre.

The second option being investigated was the constantly evolving building, to showcase Australia's cutting-edge sustainable technology, Mr Moeller said.

"This is a huge opportunity," he said.

A fringe theatre could be developed as part of a design and arts center.

what a time to be watching the transformation of melb, with all that's going on now, and something new announced almost every day !. btw i happen to have been be hosting, separately, visitors from london and sydney atm (which is why i had to bail out of the last meet early), but - mid-winter and all - these people absolutely knocked out by melb. in all kinds of ways. :okay:

Lots more talk about the Docklands here .. but lets finally see some action. The Docklands will never have arrived and be truly a venue until this middle pier gets properly developed..

I don't have the magic answer for the landmark building on the end of the pier - but it has to be amazing without trying to outdo an Opera House or anything..

Interesting that a private company Lend Lease is going to develop one of the most important sites.
It will be very interesting to see what they come up with considering the constraints of the bottom line.

An "evolving building" sounds great! and for all those that dont like it - just wait a month and it will be different! It would also be good in skyline pics from the past, you'll be able to tell when pics were taken by what the building looked like then..

I think an evolving building would be the worst possible outcome for this site, perhaps second only to them doing nothing at all. The end of the pier needs to be developed into something iconic and memorable, if it's constantly changing it will defeat the purpose. Please, this site is begging for it, please please get it right!

Apart from that, Victoria Harbour sounds like it's going to be an amazing place. Lookout Melbourne, only ten years to go! :) LOL

MG2

200-600 million dollars for the development is great news although I wouldn't be surprised if the 600 dollar figure also factored in government/melbourne council funding.

I agree that the evolving building wouldn't really work for the reasons listed above and because of the ongoing costs involved. (It would be cool if the building was like a transformer though, and could change itself to suit any occasion...) At least they're thinking outside the square.

Good to see that this project is finally getting some coverage with a view to getting off the ground sometime soon.

Expect similar outcries akin to Fed Sq when the final plans are announced - they want this building to be unconventional to the core.

All the plans show a Ghery Bilbao Guggenheim style flowy curvy design..

On this theme I've always imagined something organic that flows from out of the water..

"landmark building to rival the Sydney Opera House.
This will be a challenge for any architect. "

i challenge them to hold a world wide compitiion

We should encourage our local architects to come some ambitious proposals.

I agree, a competition should be organised. And the Melbourne people should have their say.

problem is people will want it to be contempory cause docklands is...

"The second option being investigated was the constantly evolving building, to showcase Australia's cutting-edge sustainable technology, Mr Moeller said."

showcase technology that none of the docklands projects use in full! i think there more interested in the sustainable growth...

but heh im all for it show me the money!

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,1658,360254,00.jpg

I think an evolving building would be the worst possible outcome for this site, perhaps second only to them doing nothing at all. The end of the pier needs to be developed into something iconic and memorable, if it's constantly changing it will defeat the purpose. Please, this site is begging for it, please please get it right!

Apart from that, Victoria Harbour sounds like it's going to be an amazing place. Lookout Melbourne, only ten years to go! :) LOL

MG2
Agree entirely. Stupid, stupid idea. I can't believe that those are the only options...what about an Australian Museum of Architecture? Shite - that MIGHT be the evolving building! JUST STUPID!!!

If we held an international competition, we might end up with crap like the new WTC in NY! And I don't think that we should let the PUBLIC influence the outcome of whatever is chosen - otherwise you'll get nothing but MEDIOCRITY!!!

And I don't think that we should let the PUBLIC influence the outcome of whatever is chosen - otherwise you'll get nothing but MEDIOCRITY!!!

I'm a Hawthorn member, I'm used to mediocrity. Whatever they come up with will be excellent I'm sure. It doesn't seem feasible that an evolving buidling will be there - think of the costs etc. Gimmick idea.

I'm a Hawthorn member, I'm used to mediocrity. Whatever they come up with will be excellent I'm sure. It doesn't seem feasible that an evolving buidling will be there - think of the costs etc. Gimmick idea.
No, CRAP idea.

Glad they're getting rid of the sheds, though. I can't wait for the NIMBYs to chain themselves to the sheds!

Bring it on I say. Melbourne is a city with heaps of innovation and this is another example of thinking outside the square. Just as long as it's not white,cream or beige and I'll be happy.:)

No, CRAP idea.

Glad they're getting rid of the sheds, though. I can't wait for the NIMBYs to chain themselves to the sheds!

well not exactly blabbs.. the two big sheds closest to Harbour Esp will be reatined and restored, only the disused shed on the end which is about 150m long will go, which will help open up Victoria harbour.

Cheers

Dean - Melbourne

For a while, I've had an idea of an iconic and innovative style of building that I think could look good there, but i need to attach a picture to illustrate this.
Could someone tell me how I can add an attachment?

email it to me check my profile

Can't attach photos here (it's okay on forums that don't have mass picture spam posts, but if it was allowed here then Jan who runs this site would probably need to build the largest array of hard drives ever seen).

What you can do is get it hosted somewhere (try your ISP first) and then put the url of the image inside [img] tags.

(plotstyle beat me to the post :P)


And I just can't wait until Vic Harbour (or any part of the Docklands) is developed to that sort of density. IMO I think the Docklands and what's proposed now has a bit too much open space... although that is perhaps a good thing, making the area look more open and more welcoming than the rest of the CBD. Of course if the market for that kind of development is going to be there is another story.

Looks like a fantastic plan- I tell you in 10 years Melbourne is going to be truly mindblowing.. this combination of significant new skyscrapers which will take the Melbourne skyline into a whole new league, the unbelievable abundance of waterside precints UC, and just the amount of huge and gutsy projects going on (MCG, SC, QV, FedSq(completed)) will make something incredible.

We really need to give up on the icon thing.
We don't need one. Gotta sell the city as a city, not 1 building.
I mean how many little icons do we have that failed being recognised internationally?
Arts spire, bolte bridge, fed square, mcg.
We don't need another! :)

Depending on how Eureka's crown turns out I think we'll have that as a landmark anyway.

Eureka will definitely be the new landmark i reckon ! :horse:

Cheers

Lozza :lock:

there's a thread in the World Forums here for "The Largest Development Site in your City". I thought we should be represented there ... my first thought was my beloved station redevelopment, but clearly their idea of a "development" is somewhat larger: e.g. The old port of Hamburg, or, apparently, 10 sq miles of Dubai. There seems to be some confusion in the thread, between individual building projects, and, well you know what I'm talking about.

Ergo, I thought that "Docklands" should be put up in this thread, and proceeded to set out to pinch (and of course fully attribute!) the excellent rendition of Docklands 2030 from the www.docklands.com : but it seems to have been replaced by a Macromedia Flash show: which is harder to copy and less impressive anyway.

Any suggestions? Perhaps Docklands isn't as big as Dubai, but it derserves a mention! The thread: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=2305822#post2305822 ... no worries if someone else beats me to the post, i only do this out of civic duty.

I'd do it, but i do not know enough about the docklands, and we would need some cool construction pics to go with it.

just caught me heading out of town tonight, but here's that Dockland's promotion pic if anyone needs it. And lots of good pics on the docklands project threads recently...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v460/Bronteboy/Vicharbour1.jpg

Just posted some stuff about it in that thread. so someone make it better lol, add some more pictures of the docklands now or two years ago i guess. And anyone know the stats for Chadstone? how big it is? go and post it there, semeing capetown might have the largest shopping center in southern hemisphere soon.

We really need to give up on the icon thing.
We don't need one. Gotta sell the city as a city, not 1 building.
I mean how many little icons do we have that failed being recognised internationally?
Arts spire, bolte bridge, fed square, mcg.
We don't need another! :)

Depending on how Eureka's crown turns out I think we'll have that as a landmark anyway.

You forgot the number one icon of the 70's/80's.

The Yellow Peril

They called that an icon :/ It might of been 'hip' in the 1970's and 1980's but now, or even 5 years ago, it was left for dead. What did happen to it? i though it got moved or somthing.

They called that an icon :/ It might of been 'hip' in the 1970's and 1980's but now, or even 5 years ago, it was left for dead. What did happen to it? i though it got moved or somthing.

Its outside the ACCA - I think. :)

A while ago, there was a photo of it in one of the papers, being used for an undercover car park, some bright sparks were parking there cars under it during the day.

Drunkill, I don't think many of us old fogies really liked it that much, it seemed to me to be a waste of money, especially once it started moving around. It would of been much cheaper to buy a train ticket for it, because it got moved all over the city.

However, it probably has more artistic merit or claim to fame than the pastel concrete panels that litter the ring road and tulla off ramps. What The????????

yes it is outside there, right next to the red and black citylink ventilation tower...and it kinda looks ok there...kinda.

y the hell is central peir sheds are herritage listed is beyond me...they are hideous. surely there is a loopole around the rule...they are sheds for christ sakes!!! notwithstanding the fact they serve to remind us that the area was once a docklands the sheds serve no asthetic/historical/cultural value whatsoever.

the government needs to evolve such inflexible laws and allow for a little discretion here and there. honestly who would regret the fact that we knocked over a crapy shed now or in 200 yrs time in favour of a cutting edge/beautiful design

look i'm not talking about something that would rival the SOH (although if it does then i don't necessarily see that as a bad thing) but something that melbournians and vistors alike can appreciate as special when they visit the area

The reason why the sheds are being retained is to reflect on the Docklands' past history. There's no reason why they can't be integrated into a development... sheds by their nature are quite versatile structures. :)

The possibility of a loss of a great design is just pandering to emotions and largely baseless. There are plenty of development sites in the Docklands and a plan detailing uses of land. No one is going to seriously design something if they know its site is going to conflict with heritage listed structures. Conversely, there is still plenty of room in Melbourne for something great, although most of us are beyond the stage of wishing for SOH-like buildings - landmarks for the sake of a landmark with functionality coming second.

Anyway, welcome to the forums, but next time you may want to watch out when you're bumping up threads that haven't been replied to for four years.

VicUrban (the state government) themselves have said that the sheds will most likely go at some point for the landmark building. So fear not spiralout!

leave the sheds there

they are gorgeous