Anzac Station opens to the public for Open House Melbourne

Hundreds of lucky architecture buffs descended upon the Metro Tunnel’s new Anzac Station in July as part of the Open House Melbourne program, getting a rare glimpse of the space before it opens to the public later this year.

Visitors were buzzing as they were able to, for the first time, go down the escalators and into the station for a sneak peek at the artworks, the concourse and the platform.

It was a rare opportunity to see features like the station’s platform screen doors – a first for Victoria - and artwork Tracks, by renowned First Nations artist Maree Clarke.

Open House Melbourne is an event that celebrates the city’s built environment, giving people a chance to see inside many of Melbourne’s buildings that are usually closed to the public.

Anzac Station was at the top of the Open House lineup, with around 1500 tickets selling out almost immediately upon release.

Anzac Station has been designed as a “pavilion in the park” that blends into its leafy surrounds and draws natural light underground into the station concourse.

The station’s distinctive timber canopy is 85 metres long and 23 metres wide. Its 13 timber cross beams – weighing around 4500kg each – sit on massive steel support columns up to 17 metres above the station concourse.

The station features the major artworks Future Wall Painting by contemporary Melbourne artist Raafat Ishak on the concourse and Tracks by pre-eminent First Nations artist Maree Clarke embedded within the floor surface of the platform.

The Metro Tunnel station designs have been guided by the principles of openness, authenticity, integrating the station below ground with the streets above and connection to nature and First Nations culture.

Each station has a unique identity that responds to the history and character of its place.

Anzac, near the Shrine of Remembrance on St Kilda Rd, is one of five new underground stations built as part of the Metro Tunnel. The others are Arden (in North Melbourne), Parkville, State Library and Town Hall (both in the CBD).

The Metro Tunnel is the biggest upgrade of Melbourne’s train network since the City Loop opened in 1981 and will transform the way people move around the city.

With construction on the first three new stations finished last year, work is continuing at pace on the final two stations – Town Hall and State Library. •