End to End Building

This building strives to develop the elements of hip hop and to be in return embraced by this culture. Collingwood remains one of the world centres of graffiti, the convergence place of an art culture that veins out into Melbourne along it's suburban train lines. A concrete dripping letter P with arrow is centred at the crest of the facade remembering the scribbled 'panel' indicator on the front face of a Hitachi that might signal to a young graffiti disciple which platform to dash to in order to see a fresh piece ride by. Rolling Stock nostalgia appears at street level in solid railway track doors, sleeper canopies and train station platform facade panels.

The building structure relies on bridge technology in order to support each 27 ton carriage, the considerable point load has been spread by casting rail into the upper slab. Customisation was required in many aspects of the fit out and base building construction, not the least the modified elevator that serves the uppermost train level. A crane was required to build the crane that built the crane that hoisted the railway cars into place. 

The construction budget was successfully achieved, the ongoing value will be achieved in cultural capital over generations. Potential 'shortcuts' were consistently shunned through the duration of the project, for instance the structural engineering required to install the trains could have been radically reduced by not including the wheels or bogeys as they are known. These type of compromises were successfully avoided as the monetary cost weighed well against the cultural value achieved by presenting the whole cars.