Younghusband Work-Play Village Revamp Under Way

Construction has begun on Melbourne’s largest carbon-neutral adaptive reuse precinct, the first stage converting two historic woolsheds into 17,560sq m of A-grade office space.

The redevelopment of the Younghusband heritage site at inner north-west Kensington will also deliver a new town centre, village-style food and drink venues, and a retail laneway.

The Younghusband site is part of the Macaulay urban renewal project covering 90ha in Kensignton and North Melbourne.

Construction and development company Built, investment group Ivanhoe Cambridge and asset manager Irongate acquired the 1.57ha Kensington site last year and have now begun work on reimagining it as a “a vibrant new destination village” precinct with office and retail.

Stage one preserves and showcases the heritage of the two 122-year-old woolsheds, and is expected to be finished by mid-2024.

The approved stage two would add a further 14,000sq m of net lettable area across two sustainable and “architecturally significant” new buildings, the development team said.

This includes a new contemporary office building that references surrounding silos through a curved facade spanning seven levels and includes an adjoining glass-clad extension with hipped roofs that mimic the adjoining heritage buildings visual language while maintaining the historic facade to Elizabeth Street.

A third stage, pending approval, is proposed for the corner of Chelmsford and Elizabeth streets, and comprises an additional 13,300sq m of A-grade office across a six-level building with cascading greenery and a large public zone to encourage foot traffic.

Sustainability would be prioritised across the project and its three stages, the developers said, with Younghusband targeting ratings of 5.5 Star NABERS Office Energy (Base Building), 4.5 Star NABERS Water, 6-star Green Star Design, WELL Core v2 Gold and WELL Platinum, as well as being fully carbon neutral.

Built managing director Brett Mason said Younghusband would create Melbourne’s largest carbon-neutral adaptive reuse precinct, “reimagining and revitalising one of the city’s largest heritage sites and creating a connected and sustainable destination for work and play”.

“With design and construction principles guided by sustainability and heritage preservation from the ground-up, Younghusband will create an environment where the past is respected and engineered for a sustainable future.”

▲ The historical Woolsheds have had a variety of uses and now await redevelopment as a new office precinct.

Project architect Woods Bagot principal Peter Miglis said the redevelopment would restore the iconic red brick exteriors of the warehouses and their hipped roofs, with minimal changes to facades.

“For generations, these buildings have been impenetrable heritage monuments that people couldn’t access. This design flings open that history for the first time, creating a community asset and modern workplace that utilises an incredible location and the demand for authentic, contemporary office environments,” Miglis said. 

“Sustainability might have been challenging to achieve for existing buildings in the past but our approach has taken into account the retention of existing materials to reduce waste, the use of sustainable new materials where required and 100 per cent renewable energy including rooftop solar, battery storage and no gas.”

Younghusband was built in 1901 at the height of Victoria’s wool trade, when Australia was the world’s largest producer of wool. Although it was built by wool sellers R Goldsborough Row and Co, it was wool broking agent Younghusband & Co who gave the site its name and remained there in operation until the 1970s.

Since the wool days, Younghusband has had a variety of uses, spanning arts and creative businesses to storing the Australian Ballet’s various goods.