Melbourne Jet Base seeks to redefine the entry and departure experience for high net worth individuals, foreign dignitaries, celebrities and sports stars who demand level of service, security and privacy well beyond what is available in a commercial airline terminal.
Project Name: Melbourne Jet Base
Studio Name: Cox Architecture
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Photography: Peter Clarke
Project size: 16000 m2
Completion date: 2018
Situated in a discreet location at Melbourne International Airport Tullamarine, the facility boasts 24 hr access to full length runways, two expansive hangars with ancillary ground support spaces, in-house customs and immigration screening, generous pilot support areas, function spaces and high-end guest facilities more akin to the World’s finest luxury hotel lobbies.
Melbourne Jet Base’s architectural expression is defined by its elegant and iconic wing form, articulated using aviation inspired materiality and a play on the poetic tension of earth and sky.
Conversely, the warm interior spaces embrace a uniquely Australian palette of materials, textures and colours, designed to both calm and comfort those in transit.
In July 2019, Melbourne Jet Base was celebrated with a Victorian Architecture Award in the Commercial Architecture category.
Commended by the jury for being a shining star amongst mundane airplane hangars and industrial A-frame sheds, ‘the Jet Base in Tullamarine provides a refreshing addition to [Melbourne’s] aviation scene.’
‘The project’s brief, along with its security and safety requirements, presents a degree of complexity that would have tested most design teams. Cox Architecture articulated these elements with beauty and ease within a highly complex and striking form, delivering a project that deserves reward and recognition.’
