OUR HISTORY

We welcome you to the neighbourhood, and look forward to bringing you on this journey as Melbourne Quarter moves into its next chapter.

Melbourne will see this important site rise again as an integrated, layered part of the city. The making of this place presents a once in a generation opportunity to retell its stories, to acknowledge the past, and in doing so, create and connect with new communities.

A MEETING PLACE

Melbourne Quarter was once a significant meeting place for the Woiwurrung people of the Kulin nation, who cultivated its surrounding lands and waterways. For the traditional landowners, the area was a source of life, a rich wetland fed by the fertile waters of the Birrarung (Yarra River).

Prominent places in Woiwurrung territory, such as Yarra Park, were important places for tanderrum (or ngaree), and other meetings and ceremonies within and between clans, such as a tradition of marrying women between clans. It is likely that the elevated rise of Batman’s Hill would also have been used for similar purposes.[1] Meetings of clans from all the tribes of the Kulin Nation would see sometimes hundreds of people gather together for dances, storytelling, negotiations and to settle disputes.[2]

Pictured: Birrarung (Yarra River), 2022.

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GUNPOWDER WALK

Rich in heritage significance, Gunpowder Walk is aptly named to symbolise a city with an explosive narrative – in 1846, the colonial government decided to build a powder magazine on the north-west side of what was known as Batman’s Hill. Just outside of the growing township, the gunpowder was within reach when needed, but also a safe distance away from the most densely populated area of the colony.

Pictured: Gunpowder Walk – a new laneway nestled between One Melbourne Quarter and Two Melbourne Quarter featuring eateries and rotating art murals by local artists.

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1980s-1990s

The Batman’s Hill surrounding region begins its transformation with the Kennett government setting the wheels in motion. The aim is to connect the western end of Collins Street to the CBD, with Wurundjeri Way and Victoria Stadium (now Marvel Stadium) under construction.

Pictured: New railway goods shed at Spencer Street. Charles Rudd, ca. 1892–1900. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria.

2000s

The Batman’s Hill surrounding region undergoes significant redevelopment, with Collins Street extended to connect the city’s west side to Melbourne’s expanding central business district. Numerous corporate businesses and organisations set up their headquarters throughout the Southern Cross precinct as the population grows..

Pictured: Elevated view looking towards the west, from Rialto Tower, Melbourne, Victoria. Laurie Thomas, 1983. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria..

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2018

Construction commences on Two Melbourne Quarter.
Completion of the precinct’s first building, One Melbourne Quarter, and the first instalment of the Sky Park.

Pictured: Melbourne Quarter site, August 2018

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2020

Melbourne Quarter’s first residential tower, East Tower reaches practical completion. At 40 storeys high, housing 719 apartments, it is the largest apartment tower to be developed and built by Lendlease in Australia.

Two Melbourne Quarter reaches practical completion, with some of Australia’s leading businesses moving in.

Pictured: East Tower, November 2020

2021

Construction commences for Melbourne Quarter.

Pictured: Construction of Melbourne Quarter Tower, January 2022

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2024

Melbourne Quarter reaches practical complete in June 2024.

Pictured: Completed Melbourne Square, September 2024

[1] Ibid; Presland, Aboriginal Melbourne, 1994, p. 85.
[2] Fitzgerald & Ducrou, Welcome to Wurundjeri country: the Wurundjeri History of Yarra, 2014, p. 8.

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