Project Overview
The Royal Arcade remains one of Melbourne’s favourite ‘must visit’ destinations, offering extravagant boutique wares and refined delights through its many elegant and distinctive shops.
In 1868, Charles Webb won a design competition for The Royal Arcade with a renaissance revival design.
Construction started a year later in June of 1869 and was completed in May 1870. The design of the arcade was inspired by arcades typical of that time found in Paris and London, which were long, straight, and had high glass roofs, with arched windowed storerooms above each shop. The Bourke Street façade also features a coat of arms at the centre of a balustraded roofline.
The most striking feature of the arcade is the magnificent Gaunt’s Clock which is flanked either side by two giant statues of the mythical figures of Gog and Magog. Since 1892, these mammoth statues have struck chimes at every hour, and are still heard today resounding throughout the arcade. Several myths surround Gog and Magog, including one where they were guards of the underworld and gods of dark spirits. As the prophecy goes, once when Gog and Magog return to war, the war will end.
The arcade also features another symbolic statue, Chronos, a Greek mythological character known as Father Time.
In 1934, the original Castlemaine flag floor was replaced with black and white square concrete floor tiles, which in turn were later replaced by better quality black and white terrazzo tiles.
The 3D model was designed to showcase:
- Historical significance – old black and white imagery/ stories
- Architectural design – information/ imagery
- Relevance to fabric of Melbourne
- Key personality interviews
- Commercialization
- Virtual business directory
- Mini models of key retailers with full shopping cart optimization for monetization.
Client
City Precinct, Melbourne Victoria
Date
November 2020
What We Did
Created a 3D model of The Royal Arcade and 360 immersive walkthrough plus mini models of key retailers with full shopping cart optimization for monetization.
