Melbourne Central Shopping Centre

Melbourne Central is a major regional shopping centre, office, and public transport hub in the city of Melbourne, Australia. The complex includes the Melbourne Central Shopping Centre, which was refurbished in 2005 by architects Ashton Raggatt McDougall; the Melbourne Central railway station (a part of the City Loop underground railway and formerly called Museum); and the 211 m high office tower with its distinctive black colour and two communications masts. The centre features a gross leasable area of 55,100 m². It is owned by GPT Group.

History

Contained underneath the shopping centre's massive glass cone sits the Coop's Shot Tower which was built on the site in 1888. It ceased to be used in 1961. The tower was retained to become a focal-point of the centre, R.M. Williams and the Shot Tower Museum now take up the inside of it.

The original design of the shopping centre, office tower, and railway station was by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa. The shopping centre's original primary tenant was the first Australian branch of the Daimaru department store, which closed in 2002 after a decade of unprofitable operation. Daimaru was on six floors of the centre. Daimaru also briefly had an operation on the Gold Coast in Queensland, which also closed.

The renovated centre, with a postmodern design, by architects Ashton Raggatt McDougall, aimed to open the complex to more natural light, new street-front shopping strips, and...
Read More