The Wesley Place precinct represents an entirely new versatile area within the City of Melbourne. The vision of Charter Hall to combine, open out and develop the space (combined with the architectural vision from COX Architecture) has created an inviting public and commercial space in an area that was previously largely unused, or an old car park.
Within the precinct is 130 Lonsdale Street, a new 35-storey premium grade tower that connects to heritage buildings. The project required luxury accommodation, leading to extensive design studies before the final architectural approach was chosen. The tower features office spaces that are divided into podium rise, high rise and sky rise, with floor plates ranging from 1,700 m² to 1,900 m².
NDYLIGHT collaborated with COX and precinct strategy designer Oculus to develop an integrated lighting solution for the tower’s foyer and end-of-trip facilities, as well as the precinct’s public realm connecting 130 Lonsdale Street to the open precinct space and its Lonsdale Street frontage. Key within this public realm is Wesley Church and a series of other heritage listed buildings including the Former Manse, Caretaker’s Cottage and the Former School House.
The lighting approach to the foyer space, which wraps sinuously around the heritage listed Caretakers Cottage, was to use concealed lighting in the coffered ceilings combined with linear lighting to wash down its limestone clad core walls.
This setup creates a soft, ambient light in the foyer, visible through its glazed facades. The concealed lighting illuminates the plants within the foyer, drawing people’s attention from outside through the glass to make the foyer seem more open and connected to the outdoor landscape.
The lighting to the public realm continues this theme, with lighting levels gradually diminishing in a smooth transition further away from the building envelope. Local lighting highlights the main columns of Wesley Church and discrete lighting illuminates the heritage buildings, connecting them to the foyer. Additionally, low-level lighting for seating and plants creates a welcoming, people-friendly atmosphere.
NDY’s vertical transportation design for the 55,000 m² tower includes 15 passenger lifts, a dedicated goods lift and 2 escalators. Ancillary lifts also provide access to the car parks, end-of-trip facilities and public areas.
A key challenge was designing premium grade passenger and goods lifts while accommodating multiple tenants, with the added requirement of dedicating the sky rise lift group to a single tenant with an exclusive lobby.
We addressed this by collaborating with the project team to develop a design featuring entrance levels at ground and upper ground, connected by lifts and escalators. This met the sky rise tenant’s needs while maintaining adaptability for future tenants within the base building design.
The design also includes sustainable features such as variable voltage and frequency drive control with regenerative systems that return power to the building grid during overhauling mode. Lift lighting and screens automatically power down when idle, with LED lighting used in lift cars, wells and machine rooms. For the office tower, building management can activate ‘eco mode’ to set non-essential lifts to standby during periods of light traffic. In addition, user interface technologies enable secure destination selection via mobile devices, offering access to any office level.
The transformation of Wesley Place illustrates how thoughtful design can revitalise urban spaces, creating a warm and welcoming environment for both businesses and the community. It’s now a vibrant hub that will continue to bring life and energy to the area for years to come.
