Key Features & Achievements

• Central to the CBD
• 220 international and specialty retail tenancies
• Retention and restoration of heritage facades on both Lonsdale Street and Little Bourke Street
• Tunnels and bridges constructed in Little Bourke Street to David Jones and Myer

Project Profile

Emporium formed the second stage of the Myer redevelopment undertaken by Colonial First State and GIC. Design and construction started in early 2009 with construction starting in mid-2010.

The development comprised five basement levels, boasting 220 specialty retail stores and a basement level logistics hub accessed by two truck lifts from Caledonian Lane. Emporium is one of the largest CBD retail-only developments undertaken in recent years.

A heritage requirement of the project included the retention of both heritage facades on Lonsdale Street (40m tall) and Little Bourke Street (25m tall). Codicote’s idea to use external retention of the Lonsdale Street heritage facade was a first for Melbourne. We facilitated three internal retention options and one external retention option. The external option was overwhelmingly favoured from a feasibility and safety perspective. Spanning three traffic lanes, this retention option was utilised for site accommodation and craneage. The completed and authority approved design was included in the tender set issued to the builders.

The use of the external facade retention system facilitated a reduced programme duration, cost savings and provided a safer and low-risk alternative for the owners. The pre-planning, construction alternatives and logistics solutions, programming and stakeholder management outcomes involved in Codicote’s construction advice was ultimately represented in the tender documents. This construction solution represented in the tender enabled a ‘like for like’ tender analysis, with Grocon’s construction methodology varying little from the one Codicote produced for the tender.

The development also included the construction of two new pedestrian tunnels and two new multi-storey pedestrian bridges in Little Bourke Street, linking the new development to Myer and David Jones. The existing bridge to Melbourne Central was retained.