PUBLIC OFFICE – Where work is social, relaxation is productive, communities are natural and nature is common. PUBLIC OFFICE – Where work is social, relaxation is productive, communities are natural and nature is common. PUBLIC OFFICE – Where work is social, relaxation is productive, communities are natural and nature is common. PUBLIC OFFICE – Where work is social, relaxation is productive, communities are natural and nature is common.
PUBLIC OFFICE – Where work is social, relaxation is productive, communities are natural and nature is common. PUBLIC OFFICE – Where work is social, relaxation is productive, communities are natural and nature is common. PUBLIC OFFICE – Where work is social, relaxation is productive, communities are natural and nature is common. PUBLIC OFFICE – Where work is social, relaxation is productive, communities are natural and nature is common.

Public Office will support creative work in all its forms. Public halls on ground and level one bring together cultural, social and wellbeing activities. Artists, creatives and knowledge businesses occupy the upper levels. A rooftop botanical garden provides a place of connection.

A building of three parts – public halls, workspaces and a rooftop botanical garden.

The public halls bring together thirteen food, drink, retail, cultural and wellbeing spaces.

Public Halls

Double-height spaces connected across levels by a grand central stair. On the ground floor, a marketplace of shops and hospitality spaces: an all-day canteen, a casual eatery, a neighbourhood bar, a corner shop and a street-facing clothing store. On level one, a cavernous bathhouse, a gallery hosting performances and exhibitions, a light-filled movement studio, a cultural venue and a series of retailers united by their concern for artisanship and materiality.

Workspace interiors reflect a robust architecture of carefully detailed everyday materials.

Workspaces

Public Office will be a place of concentrated creativity. Tenancies include micro ‘ateliers’ for making and working opening out to a garden terrace; affordable artist studios; hard-wearing, small-footprint creative offices for tenants to evolve and grow; and open floorplates for larger creative or knowledge-based companies. All workspaces prioritise volume and light with generous 3.6-metre ceilings.

Public Office

View workspace types -> Enquire ->

A reverence for nature

More than 3,000 predominantly native plants will form part of the architecture. Semi-circular balconies run up the spine of the building, with hanging gardens warmed by the morning sun. Set within the 700 square-metre deep soil botanical rooftop garden is a central glasshouse pavilion providing seating and refreshments.

Location

Overview

Public Office will be located at 81-89 Rupert Street, Collingwood. It is 400 metres from the corner of Melbourne’s popular Smith Street and Gertrude Street retail and entertainment strips, and at the heart of the emerging Gipps Precinct – home to Collingwood's creative industry cluster. The neighbourhood is walkable and connected, with easy access to public transport routes. It is home to a lively cultural and hospitality scene, a discerning retail offering and a growing contingent of health and wellbeing providers. A selection of those within moments of the site are included here.

Transport

Victoria Pde tram stop Smith St x Gertrude St tram stop Hoddle St bus stop Wellington St protected bike lane Collingwood train station

Cultural

Sullivan+Strumpf Melbourne outpost of the Sydney gallery with an Asia-Pacific focus. Gertrude Glasshouse Satellite gallery of art incubator Gertrude Contemporary. Artbank Melbourne Art storage facility and exhibition space in a converted warehouse. Collingwood Yards Not-for-profit creative precinct set around a leafy courtyard.

Hospitality

Allpress Espresso Coffee roastery and cafe with a sunny green courtyard. Rupert on Rupert Plant-filled warehouse bar for share plates in front of an open fire. STREAT Cromwell Flagship cafe of the leading youth-focused social enterprise. Falco An expanded second location for one of Melbourne’s best bakeries. Stomping Ground Brewery Neighbourhood brewery and beer hall. Builders Arms Hotel Historic pub expertly steered by chef Andrew McConnell. Akasiro Homestyle Japanese diner for a traditional teishoku lunch plate. Above Board 12-seat cocktail bar perched above the bustle of Smith St. Smith & Deli Shannon Martinez’s beloved vegan dining hall, deli and grocer. 

Retail

Pan After A collection of carefully sourced objects from around the world. Hub General Store Everyday provisions, vintage furniture and handmade goods. MAAP LaB Concept store by the Melbourne-based cycling apparel label. Aesop Meticulously formulated hair, body and skin care. Blackhearts & Sparrows  Family-run bottle shop focusing on the best drops from near and far.  Meatsmith  Specialty butcher, providore and wine merchant.

Health and Wellbeing

Ofuroya Japanese Bath House Traditional Japanese sento and shiatsu in simple surroundings. Urban Climb Collingwood Friendly rock climbing and bouldering gym. Little Company Holistic skin care down a nondescript laneway. Inner Studio Stress resilience training through breathwork, yoga and hot and cold exposure.

Designed to minimise environmental impact and maximise tenant wellbeing

Project Team

6a architects

6a architects was founded by Stephanie Macdonald and Tom Emerson in 2001. The practice has gained an international reputation for producing award-winning cultural buildings and is best known for its contemporary art galleries, educational buildings, artists’ studios and residential projects, often in sensitive historic environments. Their work is defined by a simple humanity and material clarity.

Dan Pearson Studio

Dan Pearson Studio was established in 1987, founded by internationally renowned landscape designer, gardener, journalist and television presenter Dan Pearson. The studio works on a wide range of projects, from private domestic gardens to large rural estates, public parks and civic landscapes. They are known for a responsive and integrated consideration of a site and its inherent sense of place.

Molonglo

Molonglo was established in 1964 and has offices and active projects in Athens, Canberra and Melbourne. Molonglo sees property development as the willing of architecture into being; from an abstraction of drawings and ideas into something to be touched, inhabited and lived in. Molonglo does this through property investment and development, programs and publishing.

Fender Katsalidis

Fender Katsalidis was founded on the philosophy of innovation through collaboration. A highly awarded, multi-disciplinary international design firm influencing built environment thinking across the globe, the practice has a long relationship with Molonglo, including working with Japanese architects Suppose Design Office to deliver the Nishi building in NewActon, Canberra.

Openwork

Openwork undertakes projects, research and speculation into public space and cities. Founded in 2016 by urban designer and landscape architect Mark Jacques, the studio works across scales and disciplines, from sensory gardens to public memorials, temporary pavilions and public realm strategies. Their work is known for a reflective quality and collaborative approach.

Workspace types

Expressions of interest are welcome from individuals and businesses engaged in all forms of creative work, from art, design and culture, to technology, food, publishing, fashion and creative services – and the businesses that support these activities.

Garden Office

75-150 people

Open and customisable spaces that look out to a densely planted garden terrace.

Enquire

Atelier

4-8 people

Robust, compact spaces for working and making, with a shared kitchen and meeting rooms.

Enquire

Artist Studio

1-35 people

Hard-wearing spaces for the production of art and design in a communal setting.

Enquire

Creative Studio

12-30 people

Fully furnished spaces with a warm domestic feel, tailored to small-to-medium creative businesses.

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Creative Office

25-65 people

Adaptable spaces for medium-sized creative businesses, colocated with like-minded neighbours.

Enquire

Full Floor Office

120-150 people per level

Open, flexible floorplates for larger businesses, including unified tenancies across contiguous levels.

Enquire

Express interest in a workspace at Public Office, a new centre for creative work coming soon to Collingwood.

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