Fender Katsalidis Architects’ Seafarers Place project has received planning approval for its $450 million redevelopment of the Northbank Goods Shed. Designed to revitalize the industrial waterfront site, the project will include a mixed-use precinct and a 5-star luxury hotel along the Yarra riverfront. Created with property developer Riverlee, the project aims to radically rethink the area's public space with a 3,500sqm public park and significant restoration along the historic wharf.
The Northbank Goods Shed development will include structural reinforcement and cosmetic renovations to the wharf and historic crane on site. The 5-star hotel will rest atop the historic goods shed and include 280 rooms, 150 luxurious residences and a 1000-seat event center, along with a range of retail amenity space. The event cetner will occupy the heritage-listed former cargo shed, Berth 5, at the North Wharf site. Built in the immediate post-war years, Berth 5 is recognized as “the oldest surviving shed specifically designed for modern mechanized goods handling.”
The Seafarers Place project, designed by Fender Katsalidis Architects with landscape design by Oculus, was inherited after a proposed change of use on the site from commercial to residential. The proposal received the unanimous support of the City of Melbourne in February, and construction is expected to begin in mid-2019.
