- Area: 16000 m²
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Photographs:Trevor Mein
Text description provided by the architects. Located on the original Batman Hill in Melbourne 's Docklands precinct Seven 17 Bourke Street houses a complex mixed-use programme including 36,000 sqm of commercial A-grade office space, the Travelodge 290 room Hotel, 16,000 sqm of retail and 436 carparks over four levels. Sitting on the eastern edge of the Docklands precinct the building creates both a visual and physical connection between the street level activities to the West with the elevated link between the CBD and the Docklands stadium to the East. Seven17 Bourke becomes a nodal point in the pedestrian paths into and out of the Docklands, linking existing thoroughfares with Southern Cross station via a new bridge over Wurundjeri Way.
Rising from the Southern edge of the site, a blanket of bronze finished in matt, satin and gloss, wraps up to envelope firstly the 14 story Hotel and then folds down and wraps over the 4-storey podium to create a public domain before terminating at the Bourke Street retail frontage. Pods pierce the fabric of the blanket to form windows in the Hotel rooms.
Protruding through the level 4 public domain on the podium the office tower proper rises a further 14 floors, sheared at alternate levels. The articulation of the facade aids in the mitigation of the `reverent Docklands winds, causing the wind to skirt around the building rather than down the face onto the public spaces. Sheathed in a skin of high performance glazing the facade is articulate firstly via an applied fit and secondly with a random fins - both of which assist in the reduction of glare and heat load internally.
Internally, the Office Tower offers a 9 story atrium allowing light to penetrate deep into the large 3,000 sqm floor plates. Intra-tenancy staircases span floor to floor within the atrium zone to allow quick and effective communication within the tenancy floors. A raised floor system facilitates underfloor displacement air conditioning enabling a degree of user control over their internal environment while also allowing communication services to be reticulated immediately to the desk. All help contribute to the accredited Greenstar Design Rating of 5 stars.
Externally at street level both the Hotel and retail opportunities help active the laneway whilst the wide stair case leading from Aurora lane provides a thoroughfare for those traversing the site from Southern Cross station on the foot into the Docklands precinct. Landscaping within the public realms undulates between plantings, trafficable zones and seating in a variety of materials creating informal spaces for small groups or individuals: each space offering a framed view of the cityscape
