flinders street station - John Wardle Architects

FLINDERS
STREET
STATION
Unveiled, The
Flinders Street
Station Design
by John Wardle
Architects and
Grimshaw
The collaboration between John Wardle Architects
Our design emphasises great public spaces at the four
and Grimshaw, working closely with Room 11 Architects,
edges of the station. A grand bustling station plaza
RBA Heritage Architects and SKM Engineers, has
opposite Federation Square is sheltered by the edge
brought together a highly diverse team of Australian
of a new design museum. A new park at the west end
and international architects to design the rejuvenation
leaps across the train lines weaving together the bridges
of Flinders Street Station. The design is finally revealed
over the Yarra River into the greater fabric of the city.
as part of the People’s Choice Award launch by Major
Vaulted archways hold niche activities to enliven the river
Projects Victoria, showcasing the six short-listed
walk and elevated gardens over the top of the arches
competitors.
link park to plaza. A new Grand Railway Dining Room
and restored Ballroom bookend the historic buildings
Our design conceives the station as an ensemble, each
along the Flinders Street city edge. In the centre, the
part precisely considerate of its place in the city. The
new concourse bridges become promenades further
theatrical nature of the station is amplified by the stitching
tying the river back to the city.
of city to river. Landscape, bridges and vaults are the
threads.
Together, these ideas respond to our central theme
of “Transport Theatre” where the station is a place for
The People’s Choice Award
voting takes place online from
23 July to the 5 August at
www.voteflindersst.com.au,
where the public can vote on
their preferred station design.
John Wardle Architects
and Grimshaw
with Room 11 Architects,
RBA Heritage Architects,
SKM Engineers.
Additional support by
TCL and Urbis.
Rather than a classic European end of the line station
watching the daily life of the city. It is built upon the
with a grand internalised hall, the approach has been to
experience of movement to include the theatrical and
focus on the urban edges - the interfaces with the city.
varied nature of civic experiences – promenades, vaults,
The station is not an oasis, separate from the city.
amphitheatres, seats, parks, and the spectacle.
The design responds to practical and critical transport
Neil Stonell, Partner at Grimshaw Architects adds “Our
demands, in particular the need to reimagine the station
approach is driven by a crafted balancing of urban place
to cater for the significant growth in public transport
making with a strategic redesign of the station, allowing
patronage. Our decision to reorientate the existing
us to reimagine one of Melbourne’s most loved and
concourse to the north allows the station to operate
historic buildings as the heart of the new station This
in a highly effective way, drawing people through the
newly invigorated Flinders Street Station will meet the
historic building fabric, and releases the eastern end of
demands of the coming decades, while being eminently
the precinct for new civic use.
achievable within the complex environment in which it
exists.”
John Wardle, Principal, noted that the urban context
was very different along each edge of the site ; the city on
Aaron Roberts of Room 11: “The Flinders street frontage,
Flinders Street, Federation Square to the east, the river to
the contained historic banana vaults and the reimagined
the south, and the rail lines to the west. Wardle states “In
underpasses provided us with great opportunities for the
a city known for its intimate spaces, like its laneways, we
creation of a new network of city experiences including a
see each of these conditions requiring its own response.
bazaar of newly defined markets and retail spaces linking
Our design seeks a natural flow of people across the
Flinders Street to the edge of the Yarra”.
station – both at concourse level and the underpasses
and vaults. This stitching pattern of pathways across the
railway lines has become the emblem of the project for us.”