Weird+Wacky+Wonderful+-+Fed+Square



Federation Square was designed to be a public space in the heart of Melbourne to celebrate the federation of Australia. This structure was built over a period of 4 years but before that there was a design competition to decide who the architect would be. There were over 170﻿ entries and the lucky winners were Lab Architects in association with Bates Smart Architects who were awarded the contract in 1997.

The deck alone took 12 months to construct because of the fact that there were railway lines running underneath it. The aim of the deck was to eliminate all sound and movement from the trains so that the areas above would not be affected by them. The deck contains over 3000 tonnes of steel beams, 1.4 km of concrete crash walls and over 4000 vibration absorbing spring coils and rubber pads. It has to be this thick because Federation Square holds some of the most delicate structures in the world such as; an art gallery, a cinema and a range of cafes and restaurants.

Federation Square was meant to be opened in 2001 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the federation of Australia but due to delay with the construction it wasn't opened until October 2002. Federation Square hosts over 2000 cultural events per year which includes sporting events, exhibitions, event launches, wine showcases, book clubs, fashion festivals, films, concerts and Guinness World Records Book attempts.

The main square is paved in 470,000 sandstone blocks from Western Australia and calls upon images of the outback, there are also certain landscaped areas in the square where Eucalyptus trees have been planted. There is a large screen which faces the square where people can come and watch, it broadcasts major sporting events such as the AFL Grand Final and during the 2006 and 2010 FIFA world cup it was used to broadcast games to fans that would gather in the square to watch.

 Underneath the square there is a huge passive cooling system that has been sandwiched between the roof of the railway tracks and the floor of the square. It has been labelled the labyrinth because it is exactly that, it is a maze of cooling vents that has 1.2km of interlocking, honeycombed walls. The walls are zig-zagged to increase the surface area and are spaced 60cm apart. The entire area covers 160 square metres.

By Liam

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