In June, Mirvac together with its tenants Pitcher Partners, AGL, ExxonMobil, Nexus Mutual and Fujitsu, celebrated the official opening of its new office building at 664 Collins Street in Melbourne’s Docklands. 

The completion of 664 Collins Street represents the final stage in the redevelopment of the Southern Cross Station precinct and builds on the success of 699 Bourke Street, which was officially opened in July 2015. 

Both buildings feature a unique design by Grimshaw Architects that has seen the structures ‘floated’ on concrete decks above the rail concourse above the station.

As an island site, the building’s pivotal location, rising above the station, provides incredible amenity and transport options for tenants. It also provides stunning light-filled workplaces with some of the most spectacular and uninterrupted views of the city.

The project allows for the provision of innovative smart technology, allowing better understanding of the building’s utilisation, collecting real-time data to improve efficiency and effectiveness. 

With a heavy volume of commuter foot traffic set to travel past the building each day, Mirvac wanted to create a striking feature for the lobby, which would engage passers-by through the expansive glass façade on the ground floor. 

Mirvac partnered with Grimshaw Architects and Swinburne University to develop an eight metre LED modular wall, which has over 255 screens weaved together to create a stunning platform that showcase digital artwork in the main lobby.  

Over 50 students studying for either a Bachelor of Design (Digital Media Design) or Masters of Design were offered the opportunity to craft pieces of digital storytelling to intrigue, entertain and relate to the local urban context. 

Each piece of selected content runs for five minutes and is then blended together in a continuous loop to ensure the artwork is ever changing.

Public art plays an integral role in creating engaging spaces with a unique sense of place. 

As a company, Mirvac says that it has a “strong focus on collaborating with artists at their buildings to bring value and purpose to the urban landscape,” and as such, the large public facing lobby at 664 Collins Street “offered the perfect opportunity to support up-and-coming artists, showcasing their work in a prominent public space and contributing to the community.”