Melbourne Central is a major retail and commercial hub built above a busy underground railway station. From its opening, it faced financial challenges. A decade later, ARM won an invited international competition to masterplan, redesign, and revitalise the precinct.
Before beginning any design work, we conducted a thorough analysis of shopper movements, circulation, and arrival and departure patterns within the centre. Our findings revealed that Melbourne Central functioned more like a suburban shopping mall in the heart of the CBD—its design disrupted natural pedestrian flows, making it difficult to navigate. Many visitors found themselves lost inside, while others saw it as an obstacle rather than an inviting and convenient city thoroughfare.
In response, we introduced a matrix of laneways, transforming Melbourne Central into a seamless extension of the city’s street network. Instead of the original three entrances, the centre now has 17 access points, allowing pedestrians to move freely in all directions. This redesign encourages greater foot traffic and makes it easier for visitors to find their way through the 60,000 m² of net lettable retail space.
Rather than an anonymous, placeless environment of white plasterboard and generic retail experiences, we created a vibrant central atrium—a dynamic heart for Melbourne Central. This striking space serves as a magnetic gathering place, defined by multi-media screens, bold colour, natural light, and the heritage-listed shot tower, which was always intended as the focal point of the original design.
The nine-storey Coop’s Shot Tower is a striking heritage-listed centrepiece of Melbourne Central. Built in 1888 and decommissioned in 1961 when demand for lead shot declined, it has remained a key part of the precinct’s identity. Since Melbourne Central’s original construction, the tower has been housed beneath an 84-metre conical glass roof, creating a dramatic focal point. Today, it is home to the Shot Tower Museum and an R.M. Williams store.
Melbourne Central is more than a shopping centre—it is a major transport hub. Thousands of commuters pass through daily, especially at peak times, and our pedestrian modelling ensures a direct, unobstructed route to the station, eliminating detours and bottlenecks.
Originally, station access was designed to take commuters straight outside rather than through the retail centre, as if shopping and commuting were entirely separate experiences. This poor circulation led to congestion and peak-hour bottlenecks at station entrances. Our new entrances and improved vertical transport configuration have completely redefined station access, allowing commuters to move quickly and efficiently from all directions, even during peak hours.
Retail outlets now line pedestrian thoroughfares without hindering the flow of commuters. Catching the train is seamlessly integrated with the retail experience, as Melbourne Central has become a network of shortcuts that link key parts of the city, lined with places to eat, drink, and shop.
Located at the heart of the city, Melbourne Central must continually evolve to reflect the latest urban thinking and offer fresh experiences for the public. To ensure it remains vibrant and relevant, we are regularly engaged in both minor refurbishments and long-term strategic visioning, adapting the precinct to meet changing needs and expectations.
“The unscrambling of an impossibly confused series of disjointed and unsuccessful spaces is impressive. The project represents a metamorphosis from an ugly duckling into a kind of psychedelic swan.”
— Jury Citation, AIA Commercial Architecture Award 2006