Responding sensitively to its rich industrial context, the design of T3 Wellington positively contributes to Collingwood’s urban streetscape and sense of community.
The brief stipulated the delivery of a mass timber building at a height that hadn’t previously been delivered within Victoria, Australia. Meeting approval authority challenges required extensive consultant coordination and integration, with the team working closely to test multiple grid layouts and extensive fire engineering modelling and testing. Multiple structural and hybrid systems were tested to validate the final design solution. This involved extensive modelling with cost/value outcomes at every step to ensure the design was cost-effective.The high-quality 15-level commercial building provides an activated ground plane with a cafe. A glazed facade and canopies further enhance the street frontage and pedestrian experience. The building form references surrounding warehouse building typologies, with a rhythmic and visually cohesive brick facade to ground and podium levels, and upper levels to the east. Large, punched window openings form the facade, with metal surrounds providing solar shading. Achieving best-practice sustainability, the project exemplifies mass timber construction, building performance, occupancy comfort and urban environment.