Melbourne Market is Victoria’s wholesale fruit, vegetable and cut flower trading centre, one of six central fresh produce markets in Australia. Servicing more than 3,000 visitors a day, the Victorian State Government made the decision to move and upgrade the market in 2011.

Now located in Epping, the new Melbourne Market was designed with the intention of reducing environmental impact in the areas of water, energy, waste and biodiversity. Whilst this was at the forefront of project design, it has also become a key component of the subsequent operation of the market. Specifically, the new Melbourne Market was designed to minimise portable water usage, achieve a four-star green star industrial building rating, enable the separation of waste for recycling and allow for the construction of frog habitats/wetlands.

Extensive consultation was undertaken, including international market research, to ensure that the project was adopting international best practice from a development level. This was a time consuming process, but this emphasis was designed to ensure that the finished market could be a world leader in sustainable practice, both in terms of design and operation. As a result, the new Melbourne Market is able to save 68 million litres of Victoria’s drinking water per year, reduce its energy consumption by 30% compared to the old market, recycle food waste to farms and zoos and compensate for habitat loss through the establishment of adjacent wetlands.

The research and methodology that informed the sustainable design of the Melbourne Market was, and will continue to be, integrated into the planning of the Melbourne Market and throughout the Melbourne Market Association’s corporate and strategic planning.