Brunswick Terminal Station shortlisted for World Architecture Award

Brunswick Terminal Station, a Beca architectural design project, has been shortlisted for an award at the 2019 World Architecture Festival in the Production, Energy and Recycling category as one of fourteen finalists.

Reaching the shortlist this year, which saw a huge number of entries, is an outstanding achievement for our team!

Located in Melbourne’s Inner North, the Brunswick Terminal has been supplying power to over 90,000 local customers since 1939.

In 2012, AusNet Services, the terminal’s owner, engaged Beca to help deliver a major rebuild of the facility, so that it can continue supplying uninterrupted power well into the future.

Our role was focused specifically on the integrated architectural design of three major buildings on site, housing and supporting the 66kV, 220kV and 22kV of power equipment. As a requirement of planning approval, these buildings needed to blend seamlessly within the surrounding residential and recreational environment, minimising their visual impact, noise and waste, without compromising critical functionality.

To address these challenges, the Beca project team consulted closely with the local community to develop several concepts for the site, drawing upon our expertise in industrial infrastructure design. For example, a green-themed ‘tree leaf’ design, inspired by nearby Merri Creek, was selected to inform the extensive exterior cladding and integration of  landscape treatments to the site frontages.

Further aiding our successful design concept, much of the associated infrastructure was able to be moved indoors and underground, reducing the structure height from 26 metres to a far less imposing 10.5 metre building. Superfluous structures no longer required were removed from the site, adding to the sense of increased space and increasing landscape setbacks, improving visual amenity.