Invicta House

From a silk factory to a millennial backpackers, Invicta House’s classical forms have graced Flinders Lane for over 100 years. The building has continued to mould to the hustle of Melbourne’s CBD, but owners STRE Management felt the time was right to restore its former glory with a contemporary twist.

We were briefed to design multiple new spaces into the building, including a restaurant in the basement, a commercial office across seven stories, and a two-storey extension on top of the existing building to house a rooftop terrace. The extension needed to speak to the overall form of the building and the streetscape, while also reinstating the façade’s iconic heritage clock.

To unify the building’s many new uses, the building now provides three delineated paths of access from a central staircase: to the ground floor approximately 1.5m above street level, to the basement, and to the commercial lobby above.

The carefully sculpted staircase is equal parts functional and aesthetic, connecting all levels simultaneously. Visually inspired by the building’s silk trade history, it entices visitors in from the street with its rhythmic arched opening. That same central arch is also in conversation the glazed arcade of the Nicholas Building opposite. It’s a distinctive addition to the public laneway realm.

The rooftop extension shifts design gears, recalling the robust nature of modernist 1920s warehouses. The result is a striking structure that complements the building below, offering a forecourt bathed in sunlight for year-round enjoyment. Downstairs, spa-like end of trip facilities transform the basement into the kind of space that will attract professional tenants to the building.

A creative vision and highly technical solution coming together to transform not only a storied building, but the fine grain of much-loved city.