flinders street station shortlist reveals rejuvenating proposals

the flinders street station is the oldest train station in australia as well as the busiest transport hub in victoria. built in 1910, the flinders complex is a melbourne institution and the historic strong hold of the city’s cultural and urbanistic identity, all the while an integral part of some quarter of a million people’s daily routine. after a million-dollar allotment was dedicated to the iconic station’s rejuvenation, a design competition has a range of architectural thinkers vying for an opportunity to improve the connective planning of melbourne and re-imagine the all-important nexus at flinders and swanston street — a program made all the more challenging by the added responsibility of retaining the hub’s architectonic spirit. although the building is the fabled meeting spot for melburnians, expressed simply as ‘meet me under the clocks,’ each of the six shortlisted designs posits a new life and vibrancy for the landmark site that ranges from layered park to pristine composition of sweeping beams. the hope is that melbourne, and indeed the region’s, architectonic mainstay keeps the quality of community ownership and excitement that the original station incited. in keeping with the idea that architecture services the public, each proposal is up for a vote today through august 5th.

zaha hadid:

image © zaha hadid architects
all images courtesy of flinders street station competition

the lauded architect has proposed a sweeping composition of crisp white beams aimed at ushering in a new era of railway travel. the design reframes the former glory of train travel and adds impossible glamor to the warm-hued historic structure in form of a new galleria space, amphitheater and performance pontoon on the river. bikes and pedestrian pathways carve the space in a more publicly welcoming network of circulation. characteristically sinuous volumes and bands of glazing create a more permeable space.

‘our proposal weaves together the history of the station with a potent new form creating a new public place for the future, resolving the functional challenges and celebrating the grandeur of travel.’

ashton raggatt mcdougall

ample greenery and a micro ecologies characterize the local firm’s entry
image © ashton raggatt mcdougall

melbourne firm ashton raggatt mcdougall make use of local insight to translate the heart of the site into a rippling, reflective form. understanding that the ambitious aim of the original plans remained unfulfilled, the proposal approaches the dome and clocktower as pebbles in a body of water and the subsequent architectural manifestation as an expression of river’s edge. the natural lines of the site become a wandering promenade, while the historic queen’s bridge responds to urban blight with a greened path for pedestrians and cyclists.

our scheme provides a new school in the iconic old building; brand new connections to platforms, city, and river; the riverwalk wanders over water and under a green roof ecology for plants and birds.

the interior and exterior forms draw from the movement of the yarra river, which runs along the site
image © ashton raggatt mcdougall

herzog & de meuron + HASSELL

shared public space is central to the vaulted herzog & de meuron proposal
image © herzog & de meuron

the swiss duo are working with firm HASSELL for an arched network that recalls the significant banana alley vaulted ceiling while carving out space for connective programming. the central architectural gesture is a rich tectonic fabric along the interior of the multiplied long-span vaults. the weather-proofed, latticed interior skin creates terminals replete with dappled light and allow passengers a more dynamic experience. infrastructurally, the proposal seeks to weave together various disparate programs through circulation and share public space. a below-grade bike path through the old western concourse will link the river and the nearby elizabeth street.

the station itself is better integrated with the city, the river and federation square. distinctive and memorable architecture sits with significant civic space and high quality public amenity.

see the full designboom article on the herzog & de meuron proposal here

a vaulted lattice creates a light-fracturing envelope around terminals
image © herzog & de meuron

grimshaw + john wardle architects

flinders street station shortlist reveals fantastic proposals
image © grimshaw architects

a hybrid team of grimshaw and john wardle architects proposed perhaps the most dramatic programmatic change in that the design posits the relation of the existing concourse so as to liberate the eastern edge of the station precinct. the move frees federation square to become a covered public area that restores historic lines of sight. the integration of a new melbourne design museum and thickened riverside vaults is part of a greater synthesis of old and new urban compositions and possibilities for the precinct. an elevated park complete a veritable and verdant area that both enhances and continues the architectonic language of the city at large.

the station is an ensemble, each part precisely considerate of its place in the city. its theatrical nature is amplified by the stitching of city to river. landscape, bridges and vaults are the threads.

eduardo velasquez + manuel pineda + santiago medina

flinders street station shortlist reveals fantastic proposals
image © eduardo velasquez + manuel pineda + santiago medina

an large-scale expansion of colombian architect eduardo velasquez’s award-winning graduate thesis, the proposal enhances the existing heritage fabric with a design strategy centered on the connective potential of a courtyard. the out-of-use ballroom and gymnasium will be converted in a transportation museum. the greatest additions are a glass box atrium that allows the passage of daylight while creating a protective skin for the sensitive historical structures. a corridor-ridden urban park is set to grow with the recreation-hungry city and open the waterfront to evolve into a cultural corridor.

a courtyard within a station is an urban vision that respectfully embraces the site heritage whilst meeting the demands of a modern train station. it is a project for the people where a new urban forest will become the true heart of melbourne.

metal trusses and ample glazing recall the historic tectonics of the station while providing a new, breatheable central courtyard
image © eduardo velasquez + manuel pineda + santiago medina

local firm NH architecture attempts to bridge the victorian past of melbourne with its present and ever-global future by way of a glass lattice roof that floats above the concourse. the weather-conscious, dynamic roof allows for uninterrupted views of the historical station while making for the introduction of pedestrian commuter bridges. in the spirit of retaining the station’s open-air spatial sequencing, the dome and elizabeth clocktower will remain untouched; however, the proposed ‘melbourne room’ will accommodate cultural spillover from federation square and the victorian arts center.

NH architecture’s proposal connects flinders street station to a new future through elements drawn from the memory of this city’s citizens…[their] collective melbourne-ness.