The corner of the Mail Exchange Building, looking over Spencer and Bourke Street with pedestrians and cars passing by. The building has orange bricks and light sandstone coloured columns with triple height windows running along the facade
Inside the lobby of the Mail Exchange building, looking over a group of visitors who are part of a tour group. There are two entry doors beside them and a winding staircase going above their heads, along the wall of the very high space. The walls are beige and the balustrades are a black metal with vertical members and a timber top rail
The back of a group of eight people who are standing outside looking at the facade of the Mail Exchange Building. The wind is blowing and a woman is talking to them about the building
A man and a woman are both looking at different exhibition pieces. The woman is wearing a striped top and glasses, she is adjusting her glasses as she leans over a table covered with photographs and drawings of buildings. The man is standing behind the woman and is wearing dark clothing with a cap and a backpack. He is leaning in to a drawing of a atrium space which is mounted on a vertical display
From behind, a man wearing dark clothes and a flat cap is looking at six black and white photographs of the Mail Exchange Building. The photographs include the corner of the Mail Exchange Building, an old delivery truck and other buildings. Beside him, on his right hand side, another person is looking at the images and together they obscure what three of the photos show. To the man's left, a hand is pointing at the image of the truck.
The corner of the Mail Exchange Building, looking over Spencer and Bourke Street with pedestrians and cars passing by. The building has orange bricks and light sandstone coloured columns with triple height windows running along the facade.

Mail Exchange Building Tour by Buchan

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John Smith Murdoch 1917, Buchan 2014.

Description

Reconnect with a quiet jewel of Melbourne’s past. Originally constructed in 1917 and designed by Commonwealth Home Affairs architect John Smith Murdoch, the building represents a rare example of remaining Beaux-Arts classical architecture.

More recently restored by Buchan, who were both the lead architects behind the building's restoration works and designers of the practice's own fit-out on Level 1, The Mail Exchange forms an intrinsic part of not only the architectural history of Melbourne, but also Buchan’s legacy that celebrates over 130 years of practice.

What's On

Experience a guided tour through The Mail Exchange led by designers and architects from Buchan, the lead architects behind the building's restoration works.

In Collaboration With:

  • Buchan

    Buchan is an acclaimed global architecture and design studio with distinction in mixed-use, precincts, hotels and hospitality, commercial, retail and health sectors. For more than 130 years, Buchan has created assets of enduring architectural quality and magnitude, worldwide.

Images: (1-6) Buchan, The Mail Exchange Building. All photos: courtesy of Albertus Magnus Yudhistira.

Important Details

Time & Date

Saturday 27 July
Tours run 10.30am, 11am, 11.30am + 12pm
Running for 25 minutes in groups of 20

Bookings required—$7 booking fee applies
First release tickets: 12pm Wednesday 3 July
Second release tickets: 12pm Saturday 6 July

Meet in the lobby of The Mail Exchange Building. Enter via corner of Bourke St + Spencer St.

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ACCESSIBILITY

Partially wheelchair accessible, Accessible bathroom, Elevator access

There are three steps from the entry of Bourke St + Spencer St, where there is lift access available.

Location

1/696 Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000

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Major Sponsors
City of Melbourne logo Efront logo

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Acknowledgement of Country

Our programming exists on what always was and always will be the land of the people of the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging, as well as to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the wider Melbourne community and beyond. Indigenous sovereignty has never been ceded in Australia and we are mindful of this in everything we do, given our focus on the modern built environment.

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Built By Efront

Our programming exists on what always was and always will be the land of the people of the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging, as well as to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the wider Melbourne community and beyond. Indigenous sovereignty has never been ceded in Australia and we are mindful of this in everything we do, given our focus on the modern built environment.

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