Industry gathers to celebrate Australia's new home of architecture, 41X
While Andrew Demetriou was doing his best to steal the limelight at a press conference at AFL House, the movers and shakers of Melbourne’s architecture scene were gathered at the other end of town for the opening of 41X.
The new commercial tower at 41 Exhibition Street in Melbourne was developed by the Australian Institute of Architects, who began proposals for the site eight years ago. Yesterday, the organisation was joined by strata owners, tenants and friends of the institute like former premier Ted Baillieu to launch the building with Governor-General Quentin Bryce and the institute’s president, Paul Berkemeier.
Photo: Governor-General Quentin Bryce speaking at the opening of 41X, supplied.
Bryce, an architect’s wife herself, spoke of the importance of good architecture to the community and its role in improving overall quality of life. To her mind, with the development of 41X, the Australian Institute of Architects has lived up to its mission statement, “making the world a better place through architecture”.
The 21 storey 41X will be home to 15 tenants, with the Australian Institute of Architects national president Paul Berkemeier noting that many had signed on early in the development process. Sotheby’s Australia will occupy two floors, with one devoted to its gallery and another for its offices. Other occupants include law firm Anzarut & Partners and Lion Capital, along with the Australian Institute of Architecture’s Melbourne offices which occupy five floors. The building is strata-titled, with insurance firm Planned Cover owning three floors. The floor’s first level will be a dedicated “design haven”, with a café and a comprehensive design and architecture bookstore.
Set on a narrow footprint, the building was designed by Lyons Architects after a two-stage design competition, with the internal fit outs of the institute’s levels by HASSELL. The tower was designed with sustainability in mind, and the institute is targeting carbon neutrality over its 30 year operating lifespan – the first building in Melbourne to do so. According to Berkemeier, this target will account for embodied energy, base building operational energy, transport and waste, and will be using both operational strategies to ensure its low carbon output as well as offsetting emissions off site. The $31 million building has a Five Star Green Star design rating.
On the 21st floor of the new 41X, overlooking the Yarra River, Birrarung Marr and Treasury Gardens, there were murmurs among architects that it had been a slow year so far for the industry. But those murmurs were quickly drowned out by the buzz for Australia’s new home of architecture.
jrichardson@propertyobserver.com.au