City-shaping

Media August 18, 2023

Mock Metro Tunnel stations set up in Footscray warehouse

The project team working on the Metro Tunnel stations is finalising architectural elements for the five new stations inside a Footscray warehouse. Victoria’s Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Jacinta Allan said the design and construction of the Metro Tunnel is creating jobs and supporting businesses. ​“As the stations take shape, test trains are running at line speed deep beneath Melbourne – bringing us closer to the opening of the Metro Tunnel in 2025, a year ahead of schedule,” said Minister Allan. Read the article in Inside Construction. Image: Inside Construction.

Media August 20, 2023

First glance into Metro Tunnel

New Metro Tunnel stations are in the works, as architectural elements are being finalised for the five new stations inside a Footscray warehouse. Work at the five stations is also forging ahead, with installation of escalators and lifts, plumbing and electrical work continuing. The Metro Tunnel remains on track to open a year ahead of schedule in 2025. Read the article in Star Weekly. Image: Star Weekly.

Podcast

Arden and Parkville:
Creating convergence in innovation precincts

Exploring the glue that makes innovation precincts thrive.

Media August 09, 2023

10 years on: Flinders St Station design competition complete… but isn’t there something missing?

A decade ago, with much fanfare, the state government announced a winner of the Flinders Street Station design competition, but the government is yet to allocate any funds towards the project. The winning design, by HASSELL, Herzog and De Meuron, looks spectacular with large white tubes enclosing the stations platforms. Minster for Major Projects David Hodgett noted, ​“the jury praised the HASSELL, Herzog and De Meuron design for its ​‘evident sophistication and overall quality’ going on to add that it ​‘could indeed provide a major city-changing outcome with benefits for all Victorians’”. Read the article in Southbank Local News.

Media August 11, 2023

First Look: University of Melbourne Masterplan Unveiled

The University of Melbourne has revealed the masterplan for its Parkville campus. Hassell was the principal design consultant for the Estate Master Plan, a blueprint for the University of Melbourne’s precincts and campuses. Under the masterplan, more than 22,000sq m of new open green space will be created for students and the community to share at the Parkville campus. Grattan Street will become an expanded green corridor connecting the historic northern precinct and a contemporary southern precinct. Read the article in The Urban Developer.

Conversation

Property X-Change: Transforming high streets through collaboration and knowledge sharing

In 2022, a new knowledge-sharing initiative — aptly called Property X-Change — was launched with a mission to support London’s struggling high streets in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. After a year of facilitating community events, collaboration and knowledge sharing, we reflect on the successes so far across all corners of the capital.

Media August 08, 2023

New architectural film inspired by Wes Anderson celebrates Singapore’s built environment

Hassell’s GSK Asia House features in a new architectural documentary ​“A Wes Anderson-ish Singapore (Volume 2)” showcasing Singapore’s fusion of urbanity meets tropical retreat. Documentary director Kevin Siyuan draws inspiration from the visual style of acclaimed filmmaker Wes Anderson, known for films like ​“Asteroid City” and ​“The Grand Budapest Hotel,” to chronicle the city and landscape of Singapore. Read more in ArchDaily.

Media August 02, 2023

Sydney Airport inaugurates new T1 International Arrivals Forecourt

T1 International Arrivals Forecourt has been designed [by Hassell], built, and maintained with First Nations viewpoints integrated throughout. The Hon. John Graham, MLC, NSW Minister for Jobs and Tourism, Jasmin Speedy, a board member of Wildflower Gardens for Good, and Geoff Culbert, CEO of Sydney Airport, planted a native Banksia tree in the forecourt to commemorate the ceremonial inauguration. Read more at Travel Radar. Image courtesy of Sydney Airport Corporation.

News August 03, 2023

Harbourside vision closer to reality as construction commences

In a major milestone, Australian property giant Mirvac has broken ground on the $2-billion Harbourside mixed-use precinct in Sydney’s Darling Harbour on Gadigal Country. 

Media July 27, 2023

‘Missing piece’: Work starts on divisive $2b Harbourside redevelopment

Seven months after retailers moved out, and bulldozers rolled in, construction on Mirvac’s massive mixed-use complex comprising shops, offices, and a 42-storey apartment tower started on Thursday. ​“The new Harbourside will reimagine the Darling Harbour waterfront, reconnect the people and places of Pyrmont, and create a network of new public spaces to bring together community, visitors, residents and workers,” said Mirvac’s chief executive of development, Stuart Penklis, who hails the project project as the ​“critical missing piece” in the NSW government’s $15 billion overhaul of the harbour front west of the CBD. Read the full article in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Media July 25, 2023

City planning: In which the middle goes missing

Hassell's Flour Mill development in Sydney's Summer Hill
Columnist and urban commentator Elizabeth Farrelly asks why Australia’s city planning has failed to rein in endless sprawl arguing we could easily end sprawl altogether, doubling and quadrupling our density while still creating lively, walkable streets and habitable dwellings. She points to ​“small pockets of success, like Sydney’s delightful Flour Mill of Summer Hill (designed by Hassell for EG Funds) and Melbourne’s Nightingale developments” as exemplars of sensitive, community-minded medium-density developments. Read the full article in ArchitectureAU. Image: Mark Syke.

Media July 12, 2023

7km of gold: The Sydney waterfront stretch set to generate billions

Close up visualisation of Harbourside at Sydney's Darling Harbour
Once the scaffolding has been cleared and the new developments are opened, Sydney’s western waterfront is forecast to generate $6.2 billion for the local economy, the Business Improvement District says. The design by Oslo-based Snøhetta and Hassell Studio features a five-storey shopping centre with 87,000 square metres of gross floor area, 45,000 sq m of which will be commercial and retail space and 42,000 sq m of residential in a 166-metre-high tower with 350 apartments. There will also be extensive public space for entertainment and recreation. Read more in the Sydney Morning Herald. Image: Mirvac.

Podcast

Transcendent change and connectivity: Lessons for Brisbane from the London Olympics

How can this moment of collective political will and public funds change the fabric of the city for the better?

Conversation

Leading the way: inclusion and accessibility shape
Cross River Rail’s stations

On Yuggera and Turrbal Country in Brisbane, Australia, the transformational Cross River Rail (CRR) project is making public transport accessible and inclusive for all.

Media July 17, 2023

Major gongs for precinct design

Award winning Wangaratta Railway Station Precinct
The Wangaratta Railway Precinct project has taken out two Australian Institute of Landscape Architects’ state awards, offering a ​“new benchmark” in regional Victorian transport hub design. The project won a Regional Achievement award and a Landscape Architecture award in the Civic Landscape category. Read more in the Wangaratta Chronicle. Image: Sarah Pannell.