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Behind the façade | 318 Little Collins Street
More than 30,000 Australian-made bricks, months of design coordination and a carefully planned prefabrication process have come together to create the striking new façade at our 318 Little Collins Street project.
Set along one of Melbourne CBD’s most character-filled streets, and sharing its surrounds with the historic Royal Arcade, the new façade was designed to give the existing late-1960s Hub Arcade a contemporary new identity while responding thoughtfully to its established streetscape.
But behind the finished arches is quite a journey.
Working closely with architect AOA Christopher Peck and façade subcontractor Erne Facades, the Building Engineering team undertook around three months of shop drawing development and detailed design coordination before fabrication commenced.
Rather than constructing the intricate façade entirely on-site, the frames and distinctive arches were prefabricated locally in Greater Melbourne, allowing the team to carefully control quality and resolve the complex geometry before each element arrived on Little Collins Street.
Once complete, the panels were transported into the CBD and craned into position, an important consideration on a constrained inner-city site where access, logistics and installation sequencing are critical.
The façade incorporates the Tru-Brix advanced lightweight brick-and-rail cladding system, finished in Brickworks Nubrik Wave Rock. Despite the visual complexity of the finished elevation, just two brick types have been used across the design.
With the prefabricated panels now fully installed and final detailing underway, the result is a façade that brings together architecture, craftsmanship, Australian-made materials, and clever construction methodology.
A fantastic collaborative effort by the project team to bring this design to life.
