Interior Award

After many years of dormancy, a classic Melbourne landmark, the old Georges department store on Collins Street, has been refurbished by London retail specialists working with local architects. The new fitout amends the existing Victorian bluestone shell to introduce natural light on every level and visually open up the shopping spaces. Modern timber, steel and glass display units have been custom-tailored to present and store ‘urban lifestyle’ products—food, flowers, fashion and homewares. The building also includes several dining areas.

Jury Verdict

Light floods into the old Georges. It streams through the glass in the roof, is diffused through the translucent floor and then trickles down through glazed apertures to the restaurant on the lower ground floor. Light beams through the windows of the bistro on Collins Street and upper floors. Diffused lighting gives an ethereal glow to every part of the store and allows a new reading of the city block in the potential to look through the building from street to street. This sense of openness and uncluttered space allows the merchandise to be seen clearly and the customer to move freely.

The shop is full of design surprises: the suspended staircase from the top floor which hovers over a pool of glass; the bluestone display cases and the seamless continuum of old bannisters into glass and steel in the staircase. The use of glass, metal and stone gives the interior a new, ageless quality which serves as an exciting prelude to the browsing and buying experience, whilst invoking a vivid memory of the old Georges.

The refurbished building is a delight to enter and wander through; an old-world department store that now stands out as a most elegant and exciting environment for modern shopping.

Photography Trevor Mein

Georges Redevelopment, Melbourne
Architects and Interior Designers Daryl Jackson Architecture and Interiors with Conran Design Partnership—design architects Daryl Jackson, Jane Mackay; project architect Peter Quidley; project team Brian Richards, Geraldine Maher, Hamish Guthrie, Olivia Jackson. Developer Georges Melbourne. Structural Engineers Bonacci Winward. Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Simpson Kotzman. Hydraulics Engineers CLG Plumbing Consultants. Lighting Design Lighting Design Partnerships. Services Consultant Watson Moss Growcott. Quantity Surveyors Donald Cant Watts Corke. Programming Case Meallin & Associates. Builder Probuild Constructions.

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