Federation Square Melbourne

Location Federation Square Federation Square is located at intersection between Flinders Street and Swanston Street/St Kilda Road in Melbourne's Central Business District. open squares St. Paul's Court The SquarecoveredThe Atrium It covers an area of 3.2 hectares and consists of two major public spaces: open squares (St. Paul's Court and The Square) and one covered (The Atrium).

The idea behind the Square Jeff Kennett 1997 An architectural design competition was announced by premier Jeff Kennett in 1997 that received 177 entries from around the world. The idea was to better connect Flinders Street to the Yarra River and to enhance the neighbouring heritage buildings including St Paul's Cathedral and Flinders Street Station.

The Design Lab Architecture Studio LondonKarres en Brands Landscape Architects Bates Smart The winner announced in 1997 was a consortium of Lab Architecture Studio directed by Donald Bates and Peter Davidson from London, Karres en Brands Landscape Architects directed by Sylvia Karres and Bart Brands and local architects Bates Smart. A$110$128 A$467 The original design was costed at between A$110 and $128 million. The final cost was approximately A$467 million.

26 October October 2002 The square was opened on 26 October ochre-coloured sandstone Nearamnew number of textual pieces. The complex of buildings forms a rough U-shape around the main open-air square, oriented to the west. The eastern end of the square is formed by the glazed walls of The Atrium. While bluestone is used for the majority of the paving in the Atrium and St. Paul's Court, matching footpaths elsewhere in central Melbourne, the main square is paved in 470,000 ochre-coloured sandstone blocks from Western Australia and invokes images of the Outback. The paving is designed as a huge urban artwork, called Nearamnew, by Paul Carter and gently rises above street level, containing a number of textual pieces.

Plaza and giant screen A key part of the plaza design is its large and fixed public screen, which has been used to broadcast major sporting events and festivals. The plaza is used for installations such as the Christmas tree at Christmas.

The Stage The stage is used for festivals and all sorts of celebrations. Especially on Sundays, it is packed with spectators.

The Shards Three shards Three shards (walls of broken glass, metal, ceramic) frame the square space. The eastern and southern shards are completely clad in metallic surfaces with angular slots, while the western shard is clad in glass.

The Atrium "atrium" The "atrium" is one of the major public spaces in the precinct. It is a laneway-like space, five- stories high with glazed walls and roof. The exposed metal structure and glazing patterns follow the pinwheel tiling pattern used elsewhere in the precinct's building facades.

The Melbourne Visitor Centre Melbourne Visitor Centre The Melbourne Visitor Centre is located underground, with its entrance directly opposite Flinders Street Station and St Pauls Cathedral There are interactive screens promoting current activities.

The Edge Theatre The Edge theatre The Edge theatre is a 450-seat space designed to have views of the Yarra River and across to the spire of The Arts Centre. The theatre is lined in wood veneer in similar geometrical patterns to other interiors in the complex. The Edge was named "The BMW Edge" until May 2013, when a new sponsorship deal with Deakin University caused it to be renamed "The Deakin Edge".

The Ian Potter Centre The Ian Potter Centre The Ian Potter Centre houses the Australian part of the art collection of the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), and is located at Federation Square (international works are displayed at the NGV International on St Kilda Rd). There are over 20,000 Australian artworks, including paintings, sculpture, photography, fashion and textiles.

ACMI ACMI (The Australian Centre for the Moving Image) ACMI ACMI has two cinemas that can play every film, video and digital video format, with high-quality acoustics. The screen gallery, built along the entire length of what was previously a train station platform, is a subterranean gallery for experimentation with the moving image. Video art, installations, interactives, sound art and net art are all regularly exhibited in this space. Additional venues within ACMI allow computer-based public education, and other interactive presentations.

SBS SBS The Melbourne television and radio headquarters of the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), one of Australia's two publicly funded national broadcasters is in one of the office buildings along Flinders Street.

Eat, drink, relax There are a number of restaurants and cafes around the square. It is also a place to meet friends or just relax.