A total of 118 designs have been lodged for the Victorian Coalition Government’s Flinders Street Station International Design Competition after Stage 1 entries closed last Thursday.

The majority of registrations have come from Victorian based architects who make up 82 per cent of the Australian contingent.

Of the international registrations, 20 per cent are from the United Kingdom, 13 per cent are from the United States with Italy being the next largest group at 11 per cent.

A further 25 registrations came from a range of countries such as Austria, Canada, China, Germany and South Africa.

With Stage 1 entries now closed, the next phase of the process sees the expert competition jury assesses the entries ahead of announcing a shortlist in mid-October.

Dr Napthine said the expert competition jury would evaluate submissions against criteria based on the competition objectives including:

returning the station to its former glory and re-using under-utilised areas
restoring and protecting the station’s heritage;
improving the transport function of the station, catering for future growth
creating a significant civic space while allowing for a distinctive
and memorable architectural outcome with a mix of uses;
better integrating the station with its surrounding precincts; and
providing a value-for-money solution.

The jury will be looking for outstanding ideas that address the whole 4.7 hectare precinct including the administration building, the platform areas, the concourse and the rail yards to the west.

While improving conditions for commuters is one priority, competitors have also been asked to focus on how address the needs of the entire precinct.

Minister for Major Projects Denis Napthine said the high number of entries was a great outcome and the Coalition Government was delighted with the response from Australian and international architects and designers.

“The Flinders Street Station precinct is home to a heritage icon as well as Melbourne’s busiest railway station. We are looking forward to seeing what kind of innovative ideas have been put forward for restoring the much loved administration building and addressing the surrounding precinct,” Dr Napthine said.

“In order to maintain the highest level of fairness throughout the deliberation process, all entries must be delivered anonymously to the competition jury. This means we are unable to reveal any further details regarding the entrants until a shortlist is announced in mid-October.

“However, preliminary statistics on the number of registrations prior to the opening of stage 1 indicate that the competition has a broad appeal both domestically and internationally.

“The number of registrations was tremendous with 128 from Australia and 45 from overseas. This is a fantastic result given the complexity of the project which requires skills in architecture, urban design, heritage, construction and transport engineering.

“With 173 registering their interest in the competition, to receive 118 final entries is a great result by architectural design competition standards and reflects a high level of commitment,” Dr Napthine said.

Architecture & Design Team

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