Woolworths Supermarket Anchors Fishermans Bend Transformation While Nodding to Building’s Industrial Past

By 2050, approximately 80,000 people will live in Fishermans Bend, which stretches from the City of Melbourne to the City of Port Phillip in Australia. As a result, it has become the star of a significant urban renewal project that will create a bustling inner-city neighborhood filled with shops, residential apartments and offices.

Woolworths supermarket is driving one phase of this project with its Fishermans Bend Neighbourhood Shopping Centre, which opened in July. The center is located in the Wirraway precinct and is an adaptive reuse of an existing warehouse. The 13,500-square-meter space includes a market-style full-line Woolworths supermarket, a Dan Murphy’s store, contemporary eateries, community spaces and even a space for food trucks.

The architecture of Woolworths Fishermans Bend was developed to celebrate the raw industrial materiality of the old warehouse as a way to reveal glimpses of the building’s past. Because of this, design firm Hames Sharley opted to keep the existing metal-clad warehouse shed but strip and peel pieces of it to reveal the new neighorhood centre within. The center was designed to fit “snugly” underneath the warehouse room to provide an inviting and welcoming environment that inspired families to explore the space.

The neighborhood center is positioned across from the JL Murphy Reserve, which locals use for sporting events and recreational activities, as well as the Port Melbourne primary school.