222 Exhibition Street, Melbourne, is an iconic 26-storey office tower built in the mid-eighties. After being purchased by LaSalle Investment Management in 2015, Gray Puksand was engaged to deliver a new masterplan for the tower, and design solutions for its podium, lobby, end-of-trip facilities, and office tenancies. The first stage comprises a new facade and ground-floor lobby.
With the building’s prominent architectural history came a need to respect yet modernise the podium.
Gray Puksand worked closely with the City of Melbourne’s Urban Design and Heritage teams. The new designs respond directly to the building’s context. On the corner of Little Bourke and Exhibition, it is at the heart of Chinatown and the theatre district. This positioning called for a little bit of drama.
The podium actually houses a carpark, and it wasn’t feasible to remove all of the masonry associated with the existing structure, so a ‘reskin’ was developed.
“Rather than simple cladding, Gray Puksand’s design team devised an origami-like series of folded diamond shapes. This geometric design uses a white-gold gloss finish, adding drams to the podium facade. “With a clever use of some external lighting, which you don’t see often in facades in Melbourne, this feature really references the district; adding a bit of life and excitement to the building. It has a really beautiful day/night cycle to the building,” says Dale O’Brien, Senior Associate at Gray Puksand.
The main design brief was to update the original entry and podium, which was quite fortress-like, with faceted glass, a heavy canopy detail, and a relatively short throw to the core of the building. This restricted space was further compressed by an existing elliptical bulkhead, which was visually heavy and imposing. Gray Puksand’s design team aimed to bring light and openness into the space.
By installing Bluestone in the lobby, the exterior is invited into the building, increasing the sense of space by borrowing from the streetscape.
As is typical of Gray Puksand’s approach, the team also partnered with Glowing Structures as the lighting designer, who coordinated bespoke chandeliers by Mark Douglas designs.
