Zaha Hadid’s first tower in Melbourne unveiled

PETALING JAYA (Aug 16): Melbourne will soon usher in 600 Collins Street — the masterpiece of the world’s most renowned female architect, Zaha Hadid — after the Victorian government approved the $300-million project, Tourism Australia announced in a press release today. The building has also been declared Melbourne’s first “destination tower”.

600 Collins Street, a 54-storey tower building, was one of the last buildings designed by Zaha Hadid before her untimely demise last March at the age of 65. It is the first Melbourne project by 2004 Pritzker Architecture Prize winner Hadid and will be one of the first completed Australian projects by Zaha Hadid Architects.

The mixed-use building that comprises 420 apartments, offices, and retail and public spaces is located on the western boundary of Melbourne’s Central Business District (CBD), at the nexus between Collins Street and the Docklands. The tower will also have 350 bicycle parking spaces and bays for electric vehicles and shared car clubs.

The project hopes to add to the Melbourne skyline and become a new iconic symbol for the World’s Most Liveable City.

The tower breaks down the building’s overall volume into a series of smaller stacked “vases”, creating a coherent relationship between tower, podium and surrounding streetscapes.

The “vases” gently taper inwards to offer communal space at its base and improve the flow of pedestrian traffic, and increase connectivity with existing transport infrastructure, which includes the adjacent Southern Cross railway station and existing tram network.

A delicate filigree envelopes the building and is designed to use 50% less energy than a conventional mixed-use tower. High performance glazing system, high efficiency central cooling, high efficiency lighting and grey-water reuse systems will be incorporated to further reduce consumption of resources and lower the emissions.

The solid elements of 600 Collins Street embody the traditions inherent within the finest examples of historic architecture in Melbourne’s CBD, yet reinterpret them in a contemporary solution that is driven by the building’s structural integrity and the logical division of its overall volume.

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