Make Architects is bringing its architecture, urban planning and interiors expertise to a unique project for leading retail landlord Vicinity Centres as part of its aim to diversify development at the Chadstone shopping centre in Melbourne.

Chadstone – The Fashion Capital, recently added an office tower and a new (soon-to-open) luxury hotel to the site, with further development in the pipeline. To aid connectivity and enhance the journey between the buildings, Make is designing a tranquil, glulam structure that will choreograph the route.

Running adjacent to the Myer car park, ‘The Link’ will create a composed, elegant journey for customers, hotel guests, retailers and office workers. The Link will become the front door to Chadstone, providing a striking, effortless pedestrian transition from the recently renovated luxury cross-mall to the new hotel and commercial offices at Tower One. 

Taking cues from the arched glass roof that covers the internal shopping malls, Make has designed an innovative, 15m-high arched passageway created from a diagrid of beautifully detailed Italian larch glulam. A highly translucent PTFE fabric will be tensioned over the top of the glulam structure, allowing The Link to be flooded with natural light while sheltering pedestrians from the weather.

The Link will neatly traverse the change in site levels with both travellators and stairs, facilitating an effortless journey for hotel guests and customers. It will incorporate extensive landscaping and seating, providing a green oasis where visitors to Chadstone can pause and dwell. Bespoke lighting will celebrate the architectural structure, while the lighting of the landscaping elements will create an ambient night-time experience. The flexible design and lighting will accommodate curated art installations, exhibitions and events, while seating for a new hotel restaurant will spill out to animate the space.

The sustainable, tactile materials and the soft, native landscaping will introduce a different atmosphere and pace, providing not only a functional connection but also a physical change in environment.

It is scheduled to complete at the same time as the new Hotel Chadstone Melbourne MGallery by Sofitel in November 2019. Demolition and enabling works have already started.

Fiona Mackenzie, General Manager, Chadstone said: “Chadstone – The Fashion Capital is Australia’s leading integrated lifestyle destination incorporating retail, dining, entertainment, tourism and business. Make is helping us enhance connectivity via The Link which is both bespoke and beautiful, and most importantly functional for our hotel guests, retailers and customers.

Mattias Dorph, partner at Make Architects, said: “The Link will connect a currently fragmented site and integrate the different uses. It is a wonderful project to work on, combining our different streams of expertise, including urban planning, architecture and interiors.”

Jacob Alsop, partner at Make Architects said: “The Link will be a beautiful, contemporary yet tranquil structure that is adaptable for different uses and stands the test of time, accommodating new uses and functions in an ever-changing retail context.”

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