The Box Seat at Flemington

ARM with Pace Development Group will deliver this striking apartment building on the edge of Flemington Racecourse. 

We’re delighted that project was unanimously approved by councillors at the Future of Melbourne Committee Meeting earlier this month. The site was formerly owned by the Victorian Racing Club. It has a presence on the international stage because Flemington is a world-famous racecourse where events are televised globally. The building stands right at the top of the straight.

“When millions of people around the world, and here in Melbourne, tune in to watch the race that stops the nation, part of the skyline will be this building on the east side of Flemington racetrack…ARM came up with an innovative, daring and edgy design that I think is very Melbourne…this is a building that will look great from all sides.”

—Councillor Nicholas Reece

The horseshoe-shaped building’s bend faces the Racecourse. On the Epsom Road side (above), it looks as if an imaginary vertical cord has sliced away a roof-to-ground shape from one tip of the horseshoe.

The cord has then crossed the inner courtyard and carved an archway through the opposite horseshoe arm. Through the arch, you can see the 1893 Jockeys’ Convalescent Lodge, an ornate rotunda surrounded by a circular hedged garden. It will be refurbished for dining and hospitality.

The 1893 Jockeys’ Convalescent Lodge will be refurbished for dining and hospitality. (Image courtesy of Heritage Council Victoria.)

The roofline steps downwards to the bend, giving each apartment a garden terrace with a view of the track and beyond. The façades have rich jockey-silk colours, favouring green to match the surrounding trees and lawns.

At ARM, we feel that apartment buildings owe the public a design statement; they don’t just exist for their occupants. And this site definitely deserves architecture of significance.

Each of the 300 custom-designed apartments optimises the building’s 360-degree views. The horseshoe bend means the central ones have intriguing curves.

The development application will now go to Planning Minister Richard Wynne for final approval.