Stroll the city with ARM

Using the St Kilda Road/Swanston Street corridor as a guiding structure, this free linear tour through Melbourne’s CBD tells the story of ARM’s development as an architectural firm from its early work in the 1990s through to the present day. Concert hall acoustics, redevelopment of significant heritage sites and innovative computer modelling all feature on this stroll through ARM’s bold contributions to the identity of the city.

The tour begins at the Shrine of Remembrance. After a detour to the purpose-built Melbourne Recital Centre and Melbourne Theatre Company buildings, Founding Director Ian McDougall and Director Jesse Judd guide the tour from south to north along St Kilda Road/Swanston Street. From Hamer Hall, the tour moves to what Jesse calls “ARM corner” (Melbourne Central, Storey Hall and RMIT’s “Green Brain”) before ending at the Barak Building. Along the way, architectural historian and academic Dr Conrad Hamann contextualises ARM’s work in the history of the city’s architecture.

Some parts of this tour are indoors (eg. Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne Recital Centre, Hamer Hall), with limited or restricted access, but there’s still plenty to listen to from outdoors.