Melbourne Will Be Home to the First Apple Global Flagship Store in the Southern Hemisphere
One of Federation Square's buildings will be knocked down to make way for it.
When Federation Square opened in 2002, its supporters were few and far between. But look at it now. Fifteen years later it's not only a sorta-widely acceptable piece of architecture, but it's also managed to lure in the world's biggest tech company, Apple.
The Victorian Government announced today that Federation Square will soon be home to Apple's first Australian global flagship store. This two-level outpost will be bigger than its other Melbourne stores like Chadstone and Highpoint and, like its few other global flagships, will undoubtedly be architecturally significant. Apple has been extremely selective about the locations of its global flagships and there are only four others in the world, including Fifth Avenue in NYC and Regent Street in London.
There isn't room for the building in Fed Square at the moment though, so the Victorian Government has agreed to knock down the Yarra Building to make way for it. This will displace the Koorie Heritage Trust, which will have to relocate to the Alfred Deakin Building across the way. Apparently the build of the Apple store will free up 500 square metres of public space.
The Victorian Government's tourism body is evidently quite happy with the win, with the Minister for Trade and Investment Philip Dalidakis saying that this "reinforces Melbourne's reputation as the undisputed tech capital of Australia". Construction will start in 2019 with the build expected to be finished in 2020.
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