Younghusband will reimagine and revitalise one of Melbourne’s largest heritage sites, delivering a new destination village that blends office and retail to create a thriving new climate ready, carbon neutral precinct. Set to remake a landmark 56,000 square-metre site in Kensington, and reinvigorate buildings dating back as far as 1901, Younghusband will be Melbourne’s largest carbon-and-water-neutral adaptive reuse project, setting benchmarks for sustainability and urban regeneration projects globally.

Constructed over three stages, the considered Woods Bagot design will preserve the industrial heritage of the 122-year-old architecture, while transforming it into A-grade office space. It will add two sustainable and architecturally significant new buildings – creating a vibrant precinct for businesses seeking to draw their workforce from Melbourne’s four corners via an unrivalled location at the apex of some of the city’s best transport infrastructure.

Stage one of the plans, to be delivered in 2024, preserve and showcase the heritage of the 122-year-old architecture of the two existing historic woolsheds, while transforming them into 17,560 square metres of A-grade office space and adding a new town centre, village-style F&B offerings and an activated retail laneway that will bring new energy to the site throughout the day.

Younghusband will breathe new life into this historic setting, conserving its distinctive red-brick buildings for future generations. This forward thinking translates to a world-class environmentally friendly precinct guided from the ground up by sustainability principles. Younghusband will achieve some of the most robust sustainability targets when completed, including 5.5 Star NABERS Office Energy (Base Building), 4.5 Star NABERS Water, 6-star Green Star Design, WELL Core v2 Gold, as well as being fully carbon neutral.