{"id":75260,"date":"2026-08-19T02:46:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T02:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/75260\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T02:46:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T02:46:11","slug":"melbournes-chinese-museum-shares-plans-for-seven-storey-addition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/75260\/","title":{"rendered":"Melbourne\u2019s Chinese Museum Shares Plans for Seven-Storey Addition"},"content":{"rendered":"

A dramatic expansion is planned for Melbourne\u2019s Museum of Chinese Australian History.<\/p>\n

The plans for the museum, home to the Melbourne Dai Loong Association\u2019s Millennium Dragon\u2014the largest Chinese processional dragon in the world\u2014are currently on exhibition with the City of Melbourne. <\/p>\n

An seven-storey tower atop the four-level museum in the city\u2019s Chinatown is at the centre of the $35-million proposal.<\/p>\n

The planning report outlines the redevelopment of the Chinatown site at 20-24 Cohen Place and 104-106 Little Bourke Street, also known as Chinatown Plaza, in what the planning report said was the oldest Chinatown streetscape in the Western world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The proposed development aims\u00a0\u201cto commemorate the history of Chinese immigrants and their journey, which is reflected through the cultural history present within the area\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The museum\u2014\u201da significant civic and cultural asset\u201d\u2014was established in 1985 as a not-for-profit organisation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is in a four-storey brick building originally constructed in 1890 and refurbished as the museum in the mid-1980s.<\/p>\n

The museum has permanent and temporary exhibition spaces, a visitor centre, office and education spaces.<\/p>\n

\"Chinatown<\/p>\n

\u25b2 K2LD is behind the designs for the tower that would sit above the historic museum building. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe museum\u2019s deep-rooted history and strong ties to the community are intrinsically linked to its … location,\u201d the planning report said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The proposal seeks to develop a contemporary tower addition to the current building, with a subterranean connection under Cohen Place between the two spaces.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The seven-storey addition to the four-storey building has been supported by a $1.4 million contribution detailed in the 2025-26 Federal Budget.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The addition has been designed by K2LD architects, and would add 1475sq m of exhibition space across five areas of the building, as well as additional events spaces, lobby and retail uses, and a roof terrace.<\/p>\n

\"Millennium<\/p>\n

\u25b2 The museum is home to the Millennium Dragon, which has the biggest dragon head made\u2014it weighs 200kg and takes eight people to carry it. Image: K2LD<\/p>\n

\u201cThis expansion underscores the museum\u2019s enduring connection to Chinatown and the broader Chinese community,\u201d the planning report said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe role of Chinese Australians in becoming a vital part of Melbourne\u2019s community has been crucial to shaping the city\u2019s vibrant and contemporary multicultural landscape.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe essence of what the museum represents is reflected throughout the four city blocks of the Chinatown Precinct, with its influence extending far beyond the walls of the current building.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A dramatic expansion is planned for Melbourne\u2019s Museum of Chinese Australian History. The plans for the museum, home…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75261,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[11286,7065,10795,855,260,16298],"class_list":["post-75260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-melbourne","tag-architectural-design","tag-cbd","tag-design-reveal","tag-development-applications","tag-melbourne","tag-social-infrastructure"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}