City Square acoustic shed to come down

A six-month operation to dismantle the massive acoustic shed at City Square has started as part of Metro Tunnel works.

It marks an exciting new phase of construction at Town Hall Station as work to install two 50-metre cranes starts on Swanston St for construction to begin on the station’s upper levels and entrance.

The shed, designed to reduce construction noise, light and dust, went up nearly three years ago and allowed crews to work 24/7 as they build the underground train station – one of two new stations in the heart of Melbourne.

The shed also provided a massive canvas for Emma Coulter’s bold artwork Spatial deconstruction #23 (resilience) adding a colourful boost to the CBD since the start of 2021.

With work on the station up to 30 metres below ground now well advanced, crews have begun installing footings for the first crane that will be used to dismantle the temporary shed.

The cranes will sit over the Swanston St footpath, between Collins St and Flinders Lane, on 20-metre-high gantries – tall enough for people to continue using the footpath beneath them.

Installation of the first crane, at the northern end of the footpath, will require closing the southern Collins St footpath at the corner of Collins and Swanston streets for about two weeks, with some changes to access for the southbound City Square tram stop on Swanston St.

The second crane, at the southern end of the footpath, will start going up in early July and be fully installed by early August.

From late August, the cranes will start dismantling the acoustic shed in stages, which will take around three months.

Once the shed is removed, the cranes will use the new loading bay to move materials and equipment to and from site. 

This is the second Metro Tunnel acoustic shed to be brought down after the St Kilda Rd structure over Anzac Station was dismantled earlier this year.

Town Hall Station is 260 metres long – longer than a city block – and as deep as a five-storey building. When it opens in 2025, it will connect to the Metro Tunnel’s four other underground stations and the new Sunbury to Cranbourne/Pakenham Line, and will have a direct, underground pedestrian link to Flinders Street Station and City Loop services. •

For more information: metrotunnel.vic.gov.au