The $150 million Geelong development located at 44 Ryrie Street within the Geelong Activity Centre Zone will comprise 1,000sqm of ground floor retail, 7400sqm office space, 24 residential apartments and a 180 bed hotel, all connected by a highly activated street level plane with public access.
Architectus, the design studio behind 1 Bligh Street, Sydney and 383 La Trobe Street, Melbourne (in collaboration with Ateliers Jean Nouvel), has been appointed as the project design team, with Hansen Partnership managing the project’s urban planning.
Located on a prominent corner at the intersection of Ryrie and Fenwick Streets, the project design embraces the future direction of Geelong while celebrating its history and building on the character and amenity of the neighbouring civic building vernacular.
According to the firm, the orientation of the site forms a 90 metre northern frontage to Ryrie Street with a physical split, creating a public thoroughfare linking Ryrie Street to Cuzens Place, while the tower elements vary in height across the precinct, with subtle articulation of each component’s (hotel, office and apartments) personality throughout the design.
“The design of 44 Ryrie Street draws upon the history of both the city and the site. The materiality, rhythm and scaling of the buildings reference the iconic wool stores of Geelong, and the grain of the city’s rich heritage fabric,” says Matthew Smith, managing principal at Architectus.
