A historical sacred meeting ground for the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people has returned to its roots as a modern gathering place, now welcoming visitors from around the world in Melbourne’s Seafarers precinct. 

Ten thoughtful years of regeneration along the Birrarung (Yarra River), opposite South Wharf, have resulted in the $600 million Seafarers project by Riverlee. Spanning 220 metres of river frontage, the development introduces 1 Hotel and Homes Melbourne, transforming the heritage-listed Goods Shed No.5 into a destination that redefines sustainable luxury in Australia’s second largest city.

At the heart of the new precinct, which had lain dormant for 50 years, is Australia’s first nature-inspired luxury lifestyle hotel featuring 277 guest rooms and 114 hotel-branded residences. The project is an amalgamation of design ethos and philosophies rooted in nature and storytelling where sustainability meets Riverlee’s aspiration towards thoughtful urban renewal. 

Renewed vision

Once the bustling heart of North Wharf where 175,000 tonnes of cargo passed through each year, the Goods Shed No.5 was acquired by Riverlee from the State Government in 2015. The vision was to create the community-focused heritage refurbishment project.

That vision has been realised through the extensive use of preserved elements and more than 2000 original items from the shed salvaged and repurposed throughout the precinct. One such feature is Melbourne’s first electric crane. Built in 1949, the crane has been restored as a landmark of the hotel’s Crane Bar and Lounge, where guests see its stalwart legs through the windows and its cabin and arm through a skylight above. 

Clement Lee, founder and chairman at Riverlee says, “We want to create a place that Melbourne can be truly proud of, a place that inspires, excites and brings the Yarra River to life.”

Aligning with 1 Hotel’s nature-guided ethos, the precinct showcases material innovation, including 4500 square metres of reclaimed timber. Thoughtful design elements include a handcrafted reception desk and bench seating carved from trees cleared for Melbourne’s Metro Tunnel construction. 

“Starwood Hotels (parent company of 1 Hotels) global CEO Raul Leal says 1 Hotels was created to celebrate the beauty of nature through meaningful design. “At 1 Hotel and Homes Melbourne, that vision comes to life through biophilic design,” he says, “spaces that feel deeply connected to their surroundings and honour the site’s story of renewal along the Yarra. It’s a place where sustainability, craftsmanship and a sense of belonging come together.” 

Architecture and residential by FK

Set against the layered memory of Melbourne’s working waterfront, the project draws its architectural language from both industry and ecology, with FK shaping a form that embraces the past while looking to the future. The building unfolds as a triptych, each volume responding to a different aspect of the site’s identity, where the solid base of the restored Goods Shed No.5 anchors the project, and a middle volume carries the shed’s angular rhythm, housing the hotel’s guest rooms. Above, the levels soften into a more fluid expression reflecting the surface of the river and housing the private residences.

Across its exterior, more than 4000 façade panels emulate a textured skin that interacts with light to fashion the illusion of movement. With no immediate neighbours crowding its edges, the structure stands in full view, its sculptural qualities revealed from every angle as it settles into its role as a new landmark along the river’s edge.

Interiors and guest rooms by One Design Office

Inside, One Design Office channels the wider Victorian landscape into a tactile and immersive interior, guided by the global direction of Starwood Hotels. The design draws from winding waterways, dense forests and coastal formations, embedding a sense of place through material and form while maintaining a quiet focus on wellbeing.

Rather than impose a fixed aesthetic, the design evolves through what is found, with salvaged Victorian ironbark logs marking the threshold and reclaimed elements from the original Goods Shed reworked into architectural features throughout. Recycled granite, old railway bridges and Oregon beams carry the story of the site into each surface, while a rich layer of living greenery, spanning more than 950 square metres and including 7000 plants, brings a sense of vitality that breathes through the hotel’s interior space.

As the Birrarung flows past its edge, 1 Hotel and Homes Melbourne settles into the city’s evolving narrative, where memory, material and landscape converge. This revived ground invites connection once again, bringing forward a rich and layered story of culture, craft and place into a new era of global hospitality.