Local councillors say Apple store it has designed out of keeping with city’s Federation Square
Plans by Foster + Partners for a new Apple store in Melbourne have been criticised by local councillors who have complained the proposal is out of keeping with its proposed location in the city’s Federation Square.
The pedestrian zone is opposite the Australian city’s Flinders Street railway station and is widely regarded as a magnet for tourists.
The designs for the store, which were unveiled shortly before Christmas, include a two-storey pavilion with wraparound glass.
But the city council’s Future Melbourne Committee said the Victorian state government had approved the demolition of a building earmarked for the Apple store – without public consultation.
In a debate on the plans last week, the council said it had asked the state government to redesign the store “to avoid [the current] pavilion or temple-like design that is out of context in Federation Square and poorly integrated with the square’s existing architecture”.
The state government approved the plans for the contentious development after a heated Cabinet debate at the end of December.
Three senior ministers, including Victorian planning minister Dick Wynne, argued against approving the plans but they were overruled meaning Wynne OK’d the scheme in the end.
His approval meant the city council was bypassed in the planning process.
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