415 Flinders Lane

Client | fidinam

TYPE | Architecture, Interior Design, Documentation

SECTOR | Commercial

STATUS | Design Development

Location | Melbourne, VIC

HEIGHT | 45m, 11 Storeys

SCALE | GFA: 9,093 sqm, Site 825 sqm

COST | CONFIDENTIAL

Renders | Plus Architecture

Balanced outcome between the old and new.

Plus Architecture was commissioned by Swiss institutional investor Fidinam in the major refurbishment and extension of a commercial building at 415 Flinders Lane in Melbourne’s CBD.

The building is located adjacent to the Immigration Museum’s Tribute Garden - a public artwork that pays tribute to 7000 people who have made the journey to Victoria.

415 Flinders Street is inspired by the streetscape and hidden courtyards of Flinders Lane. Plus Architecture sort to find a solution that balanced the relationship between old and new, as the significant existing and heritage building posed a key challenge.

The outcome recreates the light refractions that filter down into the narrow spaces of Melbourne’s famous laneways through a new glazed annex to the original historic building. This allows natural light and air into the interior of the new office spaces providing a fresh healthy experience for all its users.

The new façade and extension features rhythmic glazing, informed by both the existing building’s window break up as well as the wall treatment to Immigration Museum’s Tribute Garden. Creating a visually vibrant addition to the Tribute Garden and Flinders Lane, the façade materiality is one of transparency and light in contrast to the heavy masonry with small, punched openings that typify the existing 19th-century building.