RECYCLING AND UTILITIES BUILDING
Queen Victoria Market, Melbourne

The new Recycling and Utilities building replaces two existing buildings which house loading/unloading activities for the Lower Market, a waste transfer station, public toilets and mechanical equipment for the Meat and Dairy Halls. The new building will house all the existing functions with an added underground rainwater storage tank. The program is distributed over 3 floors: basement rainwater tank; ground floor loading/unloading, waste transfer and public toilets; first floor mechanical and electrical equipment, staff amenities and storage.

Designed in a tough industrial vernacular befitting its pragmatic functions, the Recycling and Utilities Building is intended to be a contemporary expression of a simple, linear, gable-framed structure. Its massing is similar to the adjacent Meat Hall and open sheds but with a twist: by rotating the roof ridge in plan, the gable ends become asymmetrical and the tops of the side walls become angled rather than horizontal. This simple yet subtle device allows the building to sit comfortably among its heritage neighbours while proclaiming itself a building of the early 21st century. At the front, on Queen Street, a single pitched cantilevered canopy protects passers-by from the weather and at the rear in the crook of the L formed by the Meat and Dairy Halls, a smaller cantilevered canopy protects the entrances to those buildings. Part of the northern circulation area between the RUB and the Meat Hall is covered with a simple flat translucent roof to illuminate the space.

The ground floor has been designed with minimum internal columns and non load-bearing partitions, maximizing flexibility to accommodate future changes.