Lendlease restores first stage of historic wall on Flinders Street
Lendlease has completed the first stage of restoration works on the heritage-listed Flinders Street wall, located within the Melbourne Quarter site.
The works are designed to acknowledge the presence of the wall and reposition it in a new, urban context for Melbourne’s future generations to appreciate, according to Lendlease.
Built in 1890 by Victorian Railways, the 174 metre bluestone heritage-listed wall was where workers would congregate before the Second World War in the hope of receiving a day’s work at the docks.
The restoration is being carried out as construction works begin on the 2.5 hectare Melbourne Quarter neighbourhood.
The Melbourne Quarter precinct will offer nearly 130,000 sqm of agile and flexible office space for more than 12,000 employees, Lendlease said.
Last year, Lendlease secured approval from Heritage Victoria to carry out restoration works to the wall to secure and preserve its long term future.
Lendlease’s managing director for Urban Regeneration, Mark Menhinnitt, said Lendlease was proud to be preserving an important part of Melbourne’s past.
“The retaining wall will be restored and seamlessly integrated into Melbourne Quarter as part of a new grand porte cochere arrival experience on Flinders Street.
“This hotel-style entrance will give apartments their own distinct identity and offer residents concierge services.
The sites is closely linked with the foundation of Melbourne, with the heritage wall marking the original location of Batman’s Hill where city founder John Batman built his home in 1835.
With designs informed by heritage experts Lovell Chen, the precinct’s residential architects Fender Katsalidis and landscape architects Aspect Oculus, the wall is an important piece of Melbourne’s history, built to retain Batman’s Hill as Flinders Street was extended to create access from the CBD to the newly created Victoria Dock, Lendlease said.
"The site is also linked to the city’s former railyards and structures,” added Menhinnitt.
It will also form part of a new public pedestrian connection from Melbourne Quarter to the CBD’s Spencer Street.
New openings through the wall will give the public access to the precinct’s new plaza and retail laneway, which will connect Collins and Flinders Street.
Bluestone components will become publicly visible as part of these works for the first time, he said.
Earlier this year, Lendlease's second commercial tower at the Melbourne Quarter development was given the green light by Planning Minister Richard Wynne.