Morris Moor is the adaptive re-use of a series of the former Phillip Morris cigarette factory buildings into a vibrant commercial and hospitality precinct. Key to Genton’s urban design principles is the opening up the site to the surrounding mixed neighbourhood and commercial/industrial context to activate the surroundings as well as the integration with the surrounding street network. Genton re-imagined the site through these principles to create a new urban park setting for the existing built form. At completion, the site will host over 50,000sqm of technical and creative office space, cafes, restaurants as well as a child care facility. The emphasis on crafting workspaces for artisans to make and sell together from a single location.

Genton has worked with the existing fabric of each of the respective buildings to draw upon the heritage of the architecture as well as the long standing highly recognisable presence of the buildings. The refurbishment involves stripping back inconsistent additions to celebrate the inherent beauty of the brutalist architecture alongside new insertions to increase permeability and new elements to improve presence and potential uses. The outcome will deliver an urban environment sensitively integrated with the surrounding residential and industrial/commercial context, introducing permeability through the site to the surrounding area and creating a safe and welcoming place for local residents, families and workers to work, eat and play.

We are proud to acknowledge the Bunurong Boon Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation, the Traditional Custodians of the Country in which Morris Moor is located. We recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture.

Photography: Peter Clarke