Melbourne Central Shopping Centre
Melbourne Central is a large shopping, office, and public transport hub in the city of Melbourne, Australia. The complex includes the Melbourne Central Shopping Centre, which was refurbished in 2005 by architects Ashton Raggatt McDougall; the Melbourne Central railway station; and the 211 m high office tower with its distinctive black color and two communications masts.
Contained underneath the shopping centre’s massive glass cone sits the Coop’s Shot Tower which was built on the site between 1889 and 1890. It ceased to be used in 1961. The tower was retained to become a focal-point of the centre, R.M. Williams and the Shot Tower Museum now take up the inside of it. The original design of the shopping centre, office tower, and railway station was by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa. The shopping centre’s original primary tenant was the first Australian branch of the Daimaru department store, which closed in 2002 after a decade of unprofitable operation. Daimaru was on six floors of the centre. Daimaru also briefly had an operation on the Gold Coast in Queensland, which also closed.
The renovated centre, with a postmodern design, by architects Ashton Raggatt McDougall, aimed to open the complex to more natural light, new street-front shopping strips, and bubble-like additions to the footbridge across Little Lonsdale Street, but largely compromised the geometrical modern themed design of Kurokawa.
Other Information
- Location : Melbourne, Australia
- Use : shopping, office, and public transport hub
- Architects : Ashton Raggatt McDougall, Kisho Kurokawa
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