A Look Inside Coburg's New Pentridge Prison Precinct
Once a notorious gaol, soon to be a bustling urban village.
Once Victoria's longest running gaol, Coburg's Pentridge Prison is in the process of becoming a trendy arts, culture and food hub. Just this week, Palace announced that it'll be moving in with a 15-screen cinema and, over the past few months, we've been drip-fed other plans, from hotel rooms to a microbrewery. So, we thought we'd take a closer look.
According to Pentridge's developers the , who bought the site in 2013, the former prison will be transformed into an urban village, combining retail, commercial and retail spaces. There'll be new buildings, but the plan is to merge them with existing, well, cells, and to keep heritage features, like the gaol's famous bluestone walls.
Interested in moving in? In the site's northwestern corner, PRO-ARK architects are turning two, six-level bluestone blocks into 53 two- and three-bedroom apartments, with private balconies and views as far as the Dandenong Ranges.
If a temporary stay sounds more like you, then check out the site's opposite corner, where Adina will be setting up a 120-room hotel, designed by Cox Architecture. The rooms will be spread over a new, 16-storey tower and the prison's notorious B Division cell block. It was from here that Ronald Ryan escaped in 1965, before being captured two years later and hanged, becoming the last person to be executed in Australia.
Smack-bang in the centre, you'll find a multi-level retail centre. Palace Cinemas is taking over the top floor, with 15 screens, mammoth-sized comfy chairs and its usual mix of mainstream flicks, indie films and international festivals.
Meanwhile, the laundry will be getting put to excellent use, given that it's being turned into a microbrewery, restaurant and beer garden. To be called Coburg Brewing Co., it's a joint venture between Coburg Lager and the Post Office Hotel's Daniel Caneva.
There's a bunch of other buildings with yet-to-be-announced futures. Keep an eye on the master plan over here.
