SIGNAL

Architect: City Of Melbourne

City of Melbourne | C48

Building Description

The SIGNAL building was formerly known as Signal Box A, the last remaining signal box of Flinders Street Station. A place where the switching engineers presided over the railyard, it was important for them to be able to have the full vista of this yard and the line crossing to Port Melbourne. The signal box became obsolete in the 1900’s when Flinders Street station upgraded to electronic switching. The building was abandoned and left derelict for many years, with the first floor and roof destroyed in a fire in 2003. The 126-year old heritage listed building has now emerged into a modern youthful presence, an artistic hive attracting youth from all over the city to partake in Signal’s multi-art form program offerings. The SIGNAL building leads by example of sustainable architecture. It uses simple environmental concepts of fresh air, night purging of the heat from the building, cool energy capture with thermal mass and where thermal mass is not available using a phase change material in the plasterboard. The building also collects rainwater for reuse, uses photovoltaic panels to offset energy used for the projectors, computers and energy efficient lighting. The interior stairwell is made from reclaimed timber from Melbourne’s own parks. Signal is now a creative studio for young people 13 to 25 years located in the heart of Melbourne. The program offers young people the opportunity to work alongside professional artists in a collaborative way, through multi-artform workshops and mentoring. Signal provides emerging and established artists with opportunities and spaces for exploration, creation and showcasing.

What's On

Join young people from SIGNAL’s program to make collages, zines and badges or try your hand at junk jewellery or clay modelling. Usually just for 13-25 years old SIGNAL is open to all for Open House Melbourne weekend so come in and get creative.

Location