Stories
of the City
EOIs now open

• Is it award-winning or has it been recognised by professional design peers?
• Is it innovative, pushing boundaries and/or a great addition to the city?
• Will it inspire the next generation of design professionals/future urbanists/active citizens?
• How does it respond to the 2025 theme Stories of the City?

• Does it include First Nations Peoples’ knowledges?
• Is this an exemplar in the space of Ecologically Sustainable Development?
• Does it contribute to a more equitable, inclusive and safe city?
• Does it speak to Melbourne as a multicultural city?
• Does it represent an innovative approach?
• Does it provide better-designed public or social housing or address housing affordability?

• Does it tell an important story about Melbourne’s past, present or future?
• Is it a rare example of an architectural style or type?
• Is it important to Victoria’s cultural history?
• Does it demonstrate creative or technical achievement during a particular period in our history?
• Does it have a special historical association with a person or group of persons important to Victoria’s history or a present-day community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons.

• Does it offer insights into how the city operates?
• Does it offer a once-in-a-lifetime or special opportunity?
• How will it provide a great experience for visitors of all ages?
• Does it provide free access to a space or place that might otherwise cost to visit?

Whether in-person or online—programs should consider accessibility, to provide greater reach and inclusivity for visitors. This may include, but is not limited to closed captions, Auslan interpretation, hearing loops, wheelchair access and sensory friendly environments.

The Open House Melbourne Weekend 2025 will take place across Saturday 26 + Sunday 27 July 2025.

Open House Melbourne programming including Designing with Country, Modern Melbourne and the Heritage Address will take place in the evenings surrounding the Weekend.

The Weekend occurs across Saturday 26 + Sunday 27 July 2025 with some unique events taking place on Friday 25 July.

Collaborators with Open Access buildings or programs are encouraged to open between the hours of 9am and 6pm across multiple days where possible. Where this cannot occur, one full day or consistent timeframes across both days is preferred. For Open Access programs, a minimum open time of six hours is required.

We offer the option to program on Friday for select programs. Opening on Friday would be in addition to your offering on Saturday and/or Sunday rather than in place of – please select if this is something you might be interested in and we will be in touch to discuss further.

Whether you’re in individual or an organisation, you’ll become a Collaborator when your submission is accepted into the program. We’ll then support you to supply the required information for the print and digital program and ensure you’re prepared to deliver your event successfully during the Weekend.

All Collaborators will be invited to celebrate with us at the Program Launch!

Submissions may take the form of in-person open access building or building tour, walking tour, workshop, panel discussion or talk, film or exhibition.

Most programs operate either as Open Access while some require Pre-bookings. Some have elements of both.

Online programs, tours and events should embrace their digital context by utilising virtual tours, spotlighting typically off-limits spaces or providing access to interstate or international special guests.

We encourage EOIs from locations across the city and Melbourne’s suburbs.

Submissions—whether in-person or online—should consider accessibility, to provide greater reach and inclusivity for visitors. This may include, but is not limited to closed captions, Auslan interpretation, hearing loops, wheelchair access and sensory friendly environments.

Most of the program aims to operate as Open Access. This means buildings and spaces are open for guided or self-guided tours which are free and do not require pre-booking. Visitors can simply turn up and take part. Scheduled building tours that are not limited by strict capacity limits may be included in this offering.

Open Access programs fall between the hours of 9am and 6pm on both Saturday 26 + Sunday 27 July 2025 and must be open for a minimum of six hours.

Generally, if you can accommodate more than 20 people at a time, or will offer four or more sessions or tours of the same program on the same day, your program should be Open Access.

Collaborators arrange for knowledgeable staff or volunteers to be on site to welcome visitors and be available to share architectural and design information or share insights or stories with visitors about the space while they explore.

Open Access programs see more traffic and exposure and offer a better opportunity for more visitors to experience your building or space. In the spirit of Open House, we strongly encourage you to offer Open Access to your building or space. We can offer volunteers to support with queue management and way-finding at popular or limited capacity sites.

Pre-bookings are required for some programs with limited capacity or security considerations like residential homes, construction sites or limited capacity tours.

Generally, if you can accommodate more than 20 people at a time or will offer four or more sessions of the same program on the same day, your program should be Open Access.

Open House Melbourne will work with you to assess the structure of your program and decide if your program requires pre-bookings.

All ticketing for pre-booked programs is managed by Open House Melbourne. We will work with you to understand your capacity for oversubscription to account for attrition.

A small booking fee of $7 applies to tickets (passed on to visitors) to contribute to the ticketing administration costs and is non-refundable.

All ticketing for pre-booked programs is managed by Open House Melbourne via Humanitix. We will work with you to understand your capacity for oversubscription to account for attrition.

A small booking fee of $7 applies to tickets (passed on to visitors) to contribute to the ticketing administration costs and is non-refundable.

Open House Melbourne will create a ticketing link for your program to include in the digital program and for you to share with your networks. Collaborators are expected to review the draft ticketing link for their event to confirm the details.

Tickets are released to the public about a week after the program goes live. This allows time for people to review the program and effectively plan their Weekend.  Two releases of tickets are scheduled to increase equity of access.

When your program becomes fully booked, a waitlist will be activated. Offers of available tickets due to cancellations will be processed automatically as an offer to the next person on the list.

Reminder emails for ticketed programs will be sent 72 hours prior to your event.

You will be given access to your event via the Humanitix app which shows up-to-date registration numbers and provides scanning permission.

On the Weekend, your team (with the support of Open House Melbourne volunteers) will be responsible for checking in attendees by scanning the QR on their ticket—more on this once your acceptance into the program has been confirmed.

If you have any questions about how ticketing works or whether your program should be ticketed, please contact us via info@ohm.org.au or +61 3 8648 8612.

Before making a submission, we ask that you familiarise yourself with the Key Selection Criteria, Registration Fee structure, Collaborator Commitment and Terms + Conditions, Key Dates Timeline and FAQs.

Submissions can be made via an online form. Please be prepared to complete the form in one session. The form will not be saved should you close your browser. We recommend reviewing the form or PDF summary and keeping a separate record of your responses as a reference so you can complete the form in one go.

Submission deadline: 5pm Friday 21 February 2025

All submissions are required to meet the minimum requirements and will be assessed against the Key Selection Criteria by the Open House Melbourne Building Council and curatorial team. Submissions are reviewed regularly as they come in and we may be in touch throughout this process should we require any clarification or further information.

Successful applicants will be notified via email by Thursday 13 March 2025.

If your submission is successful and you are accepted into the program, you will be required to:

• submit your finalised program information
• pay the applicable registration fee.

These must be submitted by Thursday 17 April 2025 to ensure your program is included in the print program.

These key selection criteria will guide the curatorial process to determine programs accepted into the Weekend 2025 program.

Represent design excellence

• Is it award-winning or has it been recognised by professional design peers?
• Is it innovative, pushing boundaries and/or a great addition to the city?
• Will it inspire the next generation of design professionals/future urbanists/active citizens?
• How does it respond to the 2025 theme Stories of the City?

Seek to improve our collective futures

• Does it include First Nations Peoples’ knowledges?
• Is this an exemplar in the space of Ecologically Sustainable Development?
• Does it contribute to a more equitable, inclusive and safe city?
• Does it speak to Melbourne as a multicultural city?
• Does it represent an innovative approach?
• Does it provide better-designed public housing or address housing affordability?

Represent significant built heritage

• Does it tell an important story about Melbourne’s past, present or future?
• Is it a rare example of an architectural style or type?
• Is it important to Victoria’s cultural history?
• Does it demonstrate creative or technical achievement during a particular period in our history?
• Does it have a special historical association with a person or group of persons important to Victoria’s history or a present-day community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons.

Provide a unique visitor experience

• Does it offer insights into how the city operates?
• Does it offer a once-in-a-lifetime or special opportunity?
• How will it provide a great experience for visitors of all ages?

All applications will be reviewed by the Open House Melbourne Building Council together with the Program team.

Successful applicants will be notified via email by 5pm Thursday 13 March 2025.

This will include a link to finalise your program content and process registration fee payments.

Successful program submissions, upon acceptance into the Weekend program will be invoiced a registration fee.

It is free to submit your EOI submission – fees are applied to successful programs only.

Collaborator registration fees ensure we can continue to deliver the much-loved Open House Melbourne Weekend into the future. Registration fees contribute to administration costs, insurance, accessibility services, event management, volunteer recruitment and signage.

The fee structure is as follows:

• $65 (individual)
• $120 (not-for-profit, community group)
• $260 (school, for-profit, local government)
• $440 (higher education, State government, developers, property investment and funds management groups)

To discuss a payment plan or any other aspect relating to fees, please contact us via info@ohm.org.au or +61 3 8648 8612.

The Open House Melbourne Weekend celebrates good design by opening up buildings, places and spaces, inspiring public engagement in conversations about the future of our city.

Open House Melbourne is the largest and longest-running Open House program in Australia. The Weekend provides you the opportunity to:

• take an active role in advocating for the value of good design in our built environment
• contribute to broad public discussion around the role of design in creating better futures
• reach a broad cross-section of the community
• gain access to new audiences.

Find out more in our Weekend 2024 Event Report.

Open House Melbourne undertakes comprehensive marketing and PR activities in the lead up to and during the Weekend. We have an established database of 51,000+ email subscribers, 600,000+ annual website visits and an audience of over 62,000 across social media channels. Learn more in our 2024 Event Report here.

You will be provided a marketing kit including branding guidelines and digital and print assets to share with your networks to promote the Weekend.

More information about marketing will be provided to you once your submission is accepted.

For tailored benefits and services, please enquire about Partner and Sponsorship packages with Katie Evans, Partnerships + Communications Manager via katie.evans@ohm.org.au or +61 3 8648 8612.

We love to talk with prospective Collaborators, to help you better understand how the Weekend works and how you can maximise your participation. Please contact us via info@ohm.org.au or +61 3 8648 8612. to discuss your submission idea. We ask that you do so well in advance to the submission deadline so we can best assist you.

Or, come along to our Online Information Session—12pm, Tuesday 26 November

Hear from the Open House team about updates for 2025, tips and tricks for successful participation and get your questions answered. Past and prospective Collaborators welcome! More information and a link to join will be provided.

Terms + Conditions for participation can be found here. You will be expected to review and acknowledge you accept these T+Cs once approved for the program.