101 Collins Street
Agency
Fabio Ongarato Design
Practice Area
Client
101 Collins Street
Industry
Project Vision
Melbourne landmark 101 Collins Street is a 57-story skyscraper considered one of the city’s most prestigious business addresses. One of its many amenities, buried deep inside its underground car park, is an end-of-trip cycling facility that caters to competitive commuter cyclists and mid-day joggers.
The building owners asked Fabio Ongarato Design (Melbourne) to enliven the space, which includes bike storage, changing rooms and an equipment airing room. With no connection to the outdoors, the space needed energy and light, and the design team responded with an LED installation that celebrates the theme of “High Performance.”
Animated, color-changing LED displays—diffused behind fluted translucent polycarbonate walls—enliven the space and provide useful information for cyclists and runners at either end of their trip: the current time, outside temperature and an interactive stop watch. The color of the temperature display is programmed to respond to Melbourne’s changeable weather. FOD worked with theatrical lighting designer Ben Cisterne to bring the coded installation to life. Identification signage for the change rooms is painted on metallic colored tubes inspired by the beauty of hand-made steel bicycle frames.
Project Details
This project took a drab, lifeless space and gave it energy, very purposefully and playfully using the design inspiration—bicycles and cycling—in unexpected forms including theatrical lighting.
Some spaces are often forgotten. This project takes a bike storage room and quirkily employed technology to present relevant information when heading off for a ride.
Design Team
Fabio Ongarato (creative director), Ben Kluger (designer, project manager)
Design Firm
Fabio Ongarato Design
Project Area
860 sq ft
Project Budget
$86,000 AUD
Consultants
None
Fabricators
Benjamin Cisterne Design (LED lighting design, fabrication and programming), Premier Graphics (room identification signage), Trio Plumbing (polycarbonate façade installation)