Olderfleet Building, VIC

Marvellous Melbourne
Meets Urban Melbourne

Marvellous Melbourne, a nickname dating back to the 1880’s, still applies to Collins Street. It was only natural to preserve a part of the city’s rich tapestry in the Olderfleet building as it remains a bookmark of one of the most exciting chapters in Melbourne’s history.

As a heritage listed site, a unique challenge during the engineering and design stage of this development was attaching to the existing structure. Since Olderfleet’s original construction (1880’s) and redevelopment (1980’s), the methods and quality of Australian construction have immensely improved. The Studco technical team needed to first understand the impact 30 years had on the existing structure to account for any irregularities.

Whilst it was important to preserve the city’s marvellous history at the Olderfleet building, it was equally important to embrace the urban culture of modern Melbourne. The Deloitte offices house Australia’s largest art collection, where each piece is created by local artists. A key challenge facing this fit out was to accommodate this collection. Engineering designs needed to ensure the walls in this fit out could be the canvas for these expansive art pieces. The design of these walls included support and bracing with Studco StrongArm® brackets and additional noggings. Designing these walls in this way meant they could support some of Melbourne’s urban artistic visions by meeting the significant shelf loads required.