Australia Architects Appointed Tender

Melbourne design practice HASSELL in partnership with New Yorks SO-IL will lead a local and international team to design the new the public space that will form part of the Melbourne Arts Precinct redevelopment.The Melbourne Arts Precinct transformation project will include an elevated inner-city park and new pedestrian connections into and throughout the area enabling visitors to move seamlessly from Southbank and the Yarra through Melbournes iconic St Kilda Road cultural institutions.The project will deliver 18000 square metres of new and renewed open public space in what is one of Australias most densely populated suburbs.HASSELL is an award-winning design practice with extensive experience in public space design from Darwins waterfront to Sydney Olympic Park. The team is currently working on the Melbourne Metro Tunnel project as well as major new public spaces in Shanghai and Shenzhen.Based in Brooklyn SO-IL Solid Objects Idenburg Liu has previously worked with New Yorks MoMA and Frieze Art Fair. SO-IL is currently creating a new waterfront in Paris. The architects will lead a rigorous collaborative design process to make sure that this massive new public space is the beating heart of Melbourne as a cultural capital.The winning bid puts a strong focus on nature and will include seasonal gardens by world-renowned horticulturalists Nigel Dunnett and James Hitchmough who transformed Londons Barbican Centre.The Andrews Labor Government has invested 208 million over two years in the first phase of the project to kick-start planning and enable the NGV and Arts Centre Melbourne to begin raising philanthropic funds for the revitalisation.Overall the project will create 10000 jobs during construction and 260 ongoing jobs. Once complete it is expected to draw an additional 3 million people to the area each year.