Description

Located on Flinders Lane, just steps from the new Town Hall Station, Invicta House holds an important place in Melbourne’s history. Originally built in the 1920s, over the years the building has served as a silk factory, police station and, most recently, backpackers’ accommodation.

Following a four-year, $30 million refurbishment led by Plus Studio, the building has been carefully restored and reimagined to provide eight levels of contemporary office space, including a new rooftop terrace, with restaurants at ground and basement level.

A defining feature is the new central sculptural staircase, crafted from glass-reinforced plaster and concrete. Offering a practical route through the building that connects the basement, street and lobby levels, it also serves as a visual centrepiece, thanks to its design inspired by the site’s silk trade history.

At street level, a reintroduced colonnade creates an open, welcoming entrance and strengthens the building’s connection to Melbourne’s laneway network. Meanwhile, the new setback rooftop extension increases the building's usable space while remaining largely unseen from the street.

Delivered through adaptive reuse, the project aligns with the City of Melbourne’s Retrofit Melbourne program and shows how existing buildings can be given new life rather than replaced. Owned by ST Real Estate, the project reflects a long-term commitment to revitalising a significant historic building in the heart of the CBD.

What's On

Come take a guided tour led by architects from Plus Studio. Visitors will have the opportunity to explore the building and learn about its many former lives and recent transformation.

Starting at street level, the tour will move through the ground and basement hospitality spaces and into some of the contemporary workplace floors above, before finishing at the rooftop terrace. Along the way, the design team will share how the building’s original constraints, from its narrow entry to its changes in level and retained heritage elements, created opportunities for creative thinking and innovation in the final design.

A key highlight is the sculptural central staircase in the foyer. Hear how this single intervention helps people move easily through the building, creates a clear and welcoming arrival experience and connects the building visually to the street. The tour will also look at the restored façade, including the new colonnade and windows that project towards the laneway.

Visitors will learn how Melbourne’s heritage buildings can be adapted for contemporary use. They will also learn about the collaborative process between the architect and client that made the project possible.

In Collaboration With:

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  Ben Ellis-Kemp

  Ben is an architect at Plus Studio and was part of the project team on Invicta House from the development of the design through to construction and completion. He has worked on a range of multi-residential, commercial and adaptive reuse projects. He is deeply interested in the potential of adaptive reuse to reimagine existing buildings, retain layers of history of place while providing for the future, and reduce the embodied carbon impact of new builds.