Melbourne is known as the design centre of Australia. Lately, office architecture has been a lot more adventurous, giving fans of quirky or inspirational buildings more to look at. Check out some of the options below...

EUREKA TOWER

Riverside Quay, Southbank  map
This is the tallest residential tower in the southern hemisphere.
Check out the views from the Skydeck (pictured) or for more of an experience, go the extra yard and get onto the glass viewing platform. Entry fees apply.
www.eurekalookout.com.au/

FEDERATION SQUARE

Cnr Flinders and Swanston streets, Melbourne
opposite Flinders Street Station. map
When this was built, people either liked or hated the complex. Now it seems to have grown on most people and is the focal point for community gatherings and big city events. There are numerous cafes and bars here, an outdoor area with a huge tv screen where big sporting and other events are broadcast to the general public. The Ian Potter Gallery of modern Australian art is also here. Fed Square, as it is often referred to, is opposite the Flinders Street Station and right next to the Yarra River.
www.federationsquare.com.au

FEDERATION BELLS

at Birrarung Marr, on the Yarra River  map
between Federation Square and the MCG
These bells were built to commemorate Federation and are a public musical instrument.
Playing Times: daily from 8 - 9am, 12.30 - 1.30pm, 5 - 6pm
www.federationbells.com.au

FLINDERS STREET STATION


Cnr Flinders St and Swanston St. map
This building is a Melbourne landmark. It is a major train station, a major meeting point for people and a great example of some of the classic architecture Melbourne has to offer.





  CULTURAL PRECINCT

The Arts Centre and Hamer Hall

St Kilda Rd, Southbank. map
One is round, the other has a spire. This is where concerts, the opera, dance and theatrical performances are held by distinguished local and overseas artists.
Tours are available.
www.theartscentre.com.au/

Melbourne Recital Centre
Cnr Sturt St and Southbank Blvd, Southbank map
This is Melbourne's latest addition to the arts/music scene where a lot of emphasis has been placed on acoustics.
The exterior was built to look like the inside of a beehive.
www.melbournerecital.com.au




Melbourne Theatre Company
Cnr Sturt St and Southbank Blvd, Southbank map
This theatre is next door to the Melbourne Recital Centre. It was founded in 1953 and is Australia's oldest professional theatre company. It is a semi-autonomous department of the University of Melbourne. Ph: (03) 8688 0800
www.mtc.com.au



National Gallery of Victoria
St Kilda Rd, Southbank map   
This is a long, rectangular, dark grey building from the outside. The glass entrance has a constant flow of water sliding down the panes, and inside you will find a huge stain glassed ceiling.
www.ngv.vic.gov.au



VCA Centre for Ideas
St Kilda Rd, Southbank  map
This was a collaborative design by Paul Minifie and Fiona Nixon for the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA). The Centre for Ideas explores the link between philosophy and art.
www.vca.unimelb.edu.au





SOUTHERN CROSS STATION

Cnr Spencer St and Collins or Bourke St. map
It cost tens of millions more than it was supposed to (final cost was $700-million), and not one square inch of this amazing roof has been built to catch rainfall to help with Melbourne's chronic water shortage. Still, the design is fab and one massive improvement on the old, dark, stinking building that used to sit in its place. This was a public/private funding project.  website

SHRINE OF REMEMBRANCE

St Kilda Rd, Melbourne map
The Shrine was built to honour all those who fought in the great wars. It is a peaceful place that offers great city views. On Anzac Day (April 25), thousands gather at dawn to commemorate the fallen. It is situated between Birdwood Ave and St Kilda Rd, opposite the Royal Botanic Gardens.
Any tram that runs along St Kilda Rd and Swanston St will get you there. www.shrine.org.au/

 


  DOCKLANDS

This is where tall residential towers and office buildings have gone up, and where quirky is encouraged. Go check out the colourful buildings that would not be out of place in a Dr Seuss novel, and see the Cow Up A Tree sculpture. Melbourne's largest ferris wheel is here too but has not exactly been placed in the most picturesque of locations. This is largely a soul-less place, where parking is ridiculously expensive, where there are too many huge restaurants at the expense of smaller more intimate cafes that make Melbourne unique in Australia, and where the wind is out of control on most days.
To get here, take the free City Circle Tram or make your way to Southern Cross Station and walk across the adjoining walkway. map
www.docklands.com



MELBOURNE MUSEUM

This museum is in the Carlton Gardens behind the Royal Exhibition Building
Nicholson St, Carlton
map
www.museumvictoria.com.au/MelbourneMuseum/




ROYAL EXHIBITION BUILDING

Royal Exhibition Building
Cnr Nicholson St and Victoria St, Carlton
This is a World Heritage listed building and one of the world's oldest remaining exhibition pavillions. In 1901 it was also the site of the opening of the First Commonwealth Parliament. The building went up in 1879 when Melbourne was in the midst of a gold boom and there was plenty of money to build grand buildings. The park in front of the building is a great example of Victorian - Edwardian era gardens. Tours of the building are available.
map
http://museumvictoria.com.au/REB/


  BRIDGES / ROADS

Sandridge Bridge
Between Flinders St and Southgate. map
This bridge crosses the Yarra River and was built more than 100 years ago to connect the city with Port Melbourne. Port Melbourne is where tens of thousands of migrants landed when they arrived in Melbourne by shop. The bridge now has giant moving steel sculptures, called The Travellers, that represent different waves of migrants who settled in Melbourne.

Webb Bridge
This is another bridge that crosses the Yarra River at the east end of Southbank, in a quieter part of the city. And that means very few Melbournians know about it even though it was built in 2003. The bridge was designed by sulptor Robert Owen who imagined the bridge as a Koori (indigenous) eel trap.

Bolte Bridge (citylink)
You have to pay to get onto this piece of bridge architecture. It's very minimal in its design and nearby on the Flemington section of citylink is a designer tunnel has been used for numerous TV ads and is on the Flemington section of citylink.

map

  McCLELLAND GALLERY AND SCULPTURE PARK

McClelland Gallery and Sculpture Park

360 McClelland Drive, Langwarrin 3910
Ph: (03) 9789 1671

map

  HAROLD HOLT SWIM CENTRE

Corner High St and Edgar St, Glen Iris
Ph: (03) 8290 1678

Harold Holt was a former Victorian Premier who drowned. Call it Aussie humour, but a swimming pool in the brutalist architectural style was named after him.
Map
website