Fed Square Cloud Canopy Development
Fed Square Cloud Canopy Development
Client
Fed Square Pty Ltd
Location
Melbourne VIC
Architect
Maddison Architects
Project Budget
$2 million
Traditional Custodians
Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung
Fed Square is Melbourne’s civic heart — a place where culture, community and creativity converge. Suspended at the apex of the Square, the Cloud Canopy is an innovative installation extending engagement and enabling year-round use. It opens new possibilities for programming, public participation and hospitality integration.
Designed to extend engagement and connection as the Square continues to evolve, Maytrix harnessed the vision to strengthen place and connection and drive a vibrant 24-hour economy and city. Defining the brief and design engagement, Maytrix worked with tenants and stakeholders to facilitate the realisation of the striking and defining installation hovering at the apex of the Square.
Conceived as a responsive ‘public room’, Cloud Canopy defines, connects and extends — strengthening Fed Square’s role as a globally recognised cultural and tourism destination while balancing civic identity, cultural vibrancy, commercial sustainability and environmental leadership. Activating a previously underutilised public space, the Canopy transforms the eastern edge of Fed Square into a dynamic civic node that supports diverse programming and precinct vibrancy with a striking visual identity.
Embedding flexible infrastructure, it guides pedestrian movement, connects hospitality and experience into the precinct’s public realm, and provides civic amenity, pedestrian legibility and connection — a programmable activated space enabling year-round accessibility and engagement. Its lightweight hexagonal form is engineered to respond to solar conditions — providing summer shade, winter light, and year-round weather protection — while enabling continuous movement and cultural activation across the terrace.
Cloud Canopy is a catalyst for broader precinct vitality — driving engagement, boosting tourism, strengthening Melbourne’s creative economy and reinforcing Fed Square’s enduring place at the centre of the city’s cultural landscape. Cloud Canopy is a catalyst for precinct-wide activation — enhancing engagement, attracting tourism and reinforcing Melbourne’s position as a global cultural destination.
Maytrix supported the business case for Fed Square - scoping retail, hospitality and public engagement, and subsequently informed design development for retail, hospitality and public rhealm, and operator procurement to realise the delivery of Fed Square.
Cloud Canopy Fed Square
Image - Maddison Architects
Cloud Canopy Fed Square
Image - Maddison Architects
Cloud Canopy Fed Square
Image - Maddison Architects
Cloud Canopy Fed Square
Image - Maddison Architects
Awards
International
– 2017 International Design Awards – Architecture of the Year
– 2017 International Design Awards – Gold Prize, Institutional Category
– 2017 International Design Awards – Gold Prize, Landmarks – Symbolic Structures – Public Category
State
– 2018 AIA (VIC Chapter) – William Wardell Award for Public Architecture
– 2018 Australian Timber Design Awards – Grand Prix
