The Emporium, Melbourne, VIC

Built on the site of the old Myer store in Lonsdale Street, Emporium Melbourne invites customers to step behind its iconic facade and into a unique retail experience that merges 21st century design with state of the art technology.

On such a large and long term development some of the key challenges that NDY and the project team faced revolved around the evolution of the retail breakup within the building envelope. Initially, zones were set up with specific allowances for types of tenants, load profiles and physical provisions (i.e. for F&B tenant spaces, fashion tenants, electrical appliance retailers etc).

As the development took shape, the breakup of which tenants were located where shifted several times, resulting in types of tenancies moving as well as physical tenancy boundaries and even new tenancy spaces being introduced. Keeping up with these changes, and ensuring that the base building provisions were appropriately defined in the services design brief for each iteration of change, warranted that the final physically constructed space met the required provisions for each tenant. Extending from this base building role, NDY then worked closely, through Vicinity, with each of the 225 tenants to execute their individual tenancy designs ensuring compliance with the building systems as well as the physical branding requirements for each space.

The building boasts energy efficient and innovative design adopting latest technology including:

• Integrated communications network (ICN) – replaces traditional building systems with a robust infrastructure that allows building systems, user systems and tenancy connectivity requirements to converge on a single platform for uniform control, monitoring and management
• The use of passive cooling throughout parts of the mall with variable controls methodologies utilised
• The integration of fire engineering solutions within the architecture to minimise visibility and maximise the available space for retail tenancy leasing.

NDY’s communications/ICT, audio visual and electronic security design for the retail centre included:

• Wireless network (WiFi)
• Voice over IP telephony system (VOIP)
• Digital signage displays
• Digital integrated public address and emergency warning system
• IP based megapixel CCTV system
• Loading dock management system
• Security management system for the entire centre
• Two-way radio system
• Internet Protocol Television distribution system (IPTV).

The ICN was designed as a single IP-based infrastructure that provides a reliable and robust platform to connect all building systems across the centre, including BMS, HVAC, lighting, electricity metering, lifts and security. The modular architecture of the ICN means that it can be easily expanded in the future as the centres digital offering grows. The ICN has also provided Vicinity Centres with the platform to provide basic tenant connectivity requirements, as well as new service offerings to its tenants, including telephony and internet services, opening up opportunities for new revenue streams.

Integrated with the building facade and wrapping around the north eastern corner at Swanston Street and Lonsdale Street is a stunning 270 m² large format outdoor LED video screen (the largest outdoor video screen in Australia at the time). The video screen permits unobstructed views through to some of Melbourne’s busiest streets, while the transparent mesh technology used allows natural daylight and activity into the centre while retaining stunning views out.