One Wellington

CLIENT | Drekoncile Pty Ltd / LAS Group + Qualitas 

TYPE | Architecture, Documentation 

SECTOR | Mixed-Use, Build to Rent 

STATUS | Under ConStruction 

LOCATION | St Kilda, VIC

HEIGHT | 96m / 43m, 26 / 10 storeys 

SCALE | GFA: 34,544 sqm, Site 2,335 sqm, 252 apartments 

COST | $74 M 

collaboration | K.P.D.O

RENDERS | Gabriel SauNders

One Wellington is situated on a prominent, historic junction in central Melbourne.  

In 2015, Plus Architecture was tasked by developer Drekoncile to set a new benchmark in the area for quality, liveability and activity. The brief required a true mixed-use development with substantial commercial and retail spaces in the lower levels and build to rent residences above, each with defined entrances on the ground level. 

Extensive past, present and future analysis recognised that the site required an architectural outcome that considered historical scale balanced with the current urban environment and what the future of the St Kilda Junction should be. 

Ian Briggs, Plus Architecture Director said the mix of built to rent apartments would include studios, one bedroom, two bedroom and three bedrooms to provide a wider variety of affordable housing options to those looking to make One Wellington their home. 

Future residents would enjoy incredible, sweeping views across the city, the Bay and the Dandenongs, that can never be built out due to its unique positioning.

Briggs hoped the project will bring significant improvement to the junction.

"It's such an important junction for pedestrians as well as cyclists and motorists and yet it's a bit of a wasteland at the moment. We wanted to turn something that is renowned for its unfriendliness into something that is going to be incredibly approachable and usable," Briggs says.  

After the site was purchased in 2016 by a joint venture LAS Group + Qualitas, K.P.D.O. was appointed design architect, with Plus Architecture continuing to support the project documentation and delivery.

Fully sold out and currently under construction, completion of One Wellingston is estimated in late 2023.