Five insights into Melbourne’s new State Library Station

State Library Station – the fifth and final new station to be finished for the forthcoming Metro Tunnel Project in Melbourne, Australia – is now ready for testing ahead of the underground rail line’s grand opening in December.

Here, we reveal five key facts about the design of this new city landmark.

1. State Library Station is situated 42 metres deep underground, deeper than the height of Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium. A spacious main entrance and a distinctive three-arched (trinocular) structure for the underground platforms ensure the station feels open and generous.

2. Underground, the station is remarkable for its sweeping arches and wide platforms, which are some of the widest underground metro platforms in the world. At street level, the station’s Latrobe Street entrance echoes the gravitas of the monumental State Library of Victoria above, with a large, concrete-framed portal.

3. The reconfigured road space above State Library Station will create 3,500 sqm of new public space, laden with 50% more mature trees across the precinct.

4. From the station’s La Trobe Street entrance featuring Danie Mellor’s artwork Forever honouring Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung women, you’ll be able to access Melbourne Central Station via a shared concourse. Mellor’s artwork features historical photographic portraits acknowledging Victoria’s First Peoples, sourced from the archives of the State Library of Victoria.

5. Along Franklin Street, a modest portal entrance provides convenient access into the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) for students. Boulevard-style planting aims to establish a native, bio-diverse tree-lined promenade to encourage walking between the station and Queen Victoria Market, and into the northern end of the CBD. The landscaping features plant species selected for their resilience to climate change. Plants are predominantly Australian native species with a low water demand.

The design for the Metro Tunnel is a collaboration between leading design practices Hassell, WW+P Architects and RSHP.

Image top of page: Photography by Peter Bennetts