DRIVENxDESIGN Now Awards Concept (Space) - Gold

London Design Awards Architecture (Proposed) - Silver

Decibel Architecture have conceived a radical new purpose-driven residential tower on the site of the Royal Society of Victoria (RSV), at the north-eastern corner of Melbourne’s Hoddle Grid. The RSV is one of the oldest Scientific Organisations in Australia, and One Victoria has been conjured to create a sustainable foundation and endowment fund for their delivery of Science to Community.
Soaring more than 60 storeys and a possible 330m into the sky, One Victoria will become the tallest resident in Melbourne’s growing skyline. Driven by world-leading Victorian expertise in construction, engineering, science and technology, the proposition will secure a sustainable future for the Royal Society of Victoria, push building technology to the limit and reinforce Melbourne’s leadership in science and liveability. The building is an instrument, an iconic and abstract marker for the World Heritage Listed Royal Exhibition building, another bold, innovative and record-breaking proposition by Melburnian’s to reach for the impossible and expand the volume of knowledge in the world.

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(Sir Arthur C. Clarke)
One Victoria’s foundation and philosophy is an innovation through testing and pushing the boundaries of science and technology.
Decibel Architecture looked to the writings and ideas of the highly influential science fiction writer and futurist, Sir Arthur C. Clarke, a voracious proponent of innovation.
Clarkes &#8216;laws&#8217; of prediction state:
<ol>
<li>When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, they are almost certainly right. When they state that something is impossible, they are very probably wrong.</li>
<li>They only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.</li>
<li>Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from&#8230; Magic.</li>
</ol>
(The Royal Society of Victoria)
The Royal Society of Victoria (RSV) convenes Victoria&#8217;s science community. It is the State&#8217;s oldest learned society and a part of Australia&#8217;s intellectual life since 1854. The Society provides a dynamic program of lectures, symposia and forums about science.
Established in 1854 (as the Philosophical Society of Victoria), the RSV&#8217;s purpose has been the promotion and advancement of science, and the dissemination of scientific information to the public.
For nearly 170 years the RSV has continued to play a significant role in the growth of scientific endeavour, the dissemination of scientific knowledge and its technological application in the community.
One Victoria will secure a sustainable future for the RSV, enabling the continuation of their important state-wide work into the future and creating a flow of millions of dollars to revitalise the organisation, enabling it to:
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<li>Support citizen science, technology, and science clubs across Melbourne and Victoria.</li>
<li>Enhance and upgrade the heritage listed home of the RSV to meet modern accessibility requirements and be fit of the 21st century public engagement required.</li>
<li>Develop a science engagement centre and science café.</li>
<li>Create a perpetual endowment fund, enabling the RSV&#8217;s purpose, projects and awards programs to be supercharged for the next 200 years.</li>
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One Victoria will become an iconic marker within the Melbourne and Australian skyline. As the tallest possible proposition on an extremely constrained site, it will become the city&#8217;s tallest and skinniest skyscraper as well as the most innovative, most sustainable and tallest possible &#8216;reach for the stars&#8217; proposition that can be created, demonstrating ingenuity and utilising cutting-edge sustainable technologies.