Southern Cross Station

One of the largest private-public partnerships in Australia to date, the award-winning Southern Cross Station has changed the face of the city’s western edge creating a world-class transport interchange facility and a new civic landmark for Melbourne.

Location

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Client

Leighton Contractors

Project status

Completed in 2007

Changing Melbourne’s Western Edge with a New Station

WSP and its specialist services, Built Ecology and Vision Design, provided all services to the project, including environmentally sustainable design (ESD) which made good the architect’s vision with sustainable solutions.

Iconic Wave-form Roof Design

A key design feature of the station is the iconic, large span wave-form roof - an Australian first. The undulating structure was developed to assist with the extraction of diesel fumes and other air contaminants, by way of a louvred natural ventilation system. Whilst the north-west and south-west winds are essential to the operation of the ventilation system, the roof also serves as a means of sheltering passengers from the sun, wind and rain. Passenger amenities within the station include retail tenancies, a food court, waiting areas, baggage-handling and information systems; a two-story office ‘pod’ beneath the roof provides accommodation for station administrative staff.

WSP provided innovative low energy engineering solutions to support the roof's design, allowing it to disperse diesel fumes, exhaust gases, hot air, ventilate the space and to allow maximum daylight, all without the use of electric fans.

Broader environmental impacts were also included, such as developing an environmental management framework and materials advice which directly led to the use of ETFE film for the first time in a building application in Australia.

Multi-award Winning Project

The project was awarded the RIBA International Award and Lubetkin Prize 2007 for its high architectural standards, substantial contribution to the local environment and for being the most outstanding building outside the European Union. It was also featured on ABC’s television show, Catalyst.

Additional awards include: