InterContinental Melbourne The Rialto

Hours Open
10am - 5pm

Address
495 Collins Street

Architects
1889 William Pitt; 2008 The Buchan Group

Year Built
1889; 1980 restoration and connection to hotel

Building Type
Hotel

What is Open
The main atrium

Tour Frequency
None

Tram Stop
Stop 3: William Street and Collins Street on routes 31, 112 and 109 Stop 4: Collins Street and William Street on route 55

Description
The InterContinental Melbourne The Rialto, previously known as the Rialto Hotel, was built from a conversion of two heritage buildings, the Rialto and the Winfield, both designed and built in the 19th century. The large complex has facades to Collins Street, the Rialto Plaza, Flinders Lane and the redeveloped rear section of the Winfield Building to the east. Inspired by the Gothic palazzos of Venice, the Collins Street entrance is a polychromatic façade with a diverse range of decorative materials including cement, ceramic tiles and pressed zinc. The long east façade was incorporated into an atrium in 1984 and faces the Winfield Building finished in a sympathetic style on the opposite side. The original bluestone cobbled laneway, which served carts and wagons delivering wool and other products to the Rialto building warehouses, survives intact on the ground floor of the atrium.

Signific ance
The Rialto Building is one of the finest 'boom style' buildings in Melbourne, and is an integral part of an exceptional group of late Victorian commercial buildings in Collins Street. The richly articulated surface mouldings, the array of Gothic windows and polychromatic brickwork to the Collins Street facade is a quintessential expression of 'boom period' architecture. It is one of the finest examples of the commercial Gothic style successfully developed by prominent architect William Pitt.

What’s Open?
The hotel has recently gone through a $65 million redevelopment to modernise guest facilities whilst retaining the historically significant features of the buildings. As part of Melbourne Open House you will enter from Collins Street to wander through the main atrium viewing the facades of the original Rialto and Winfield buildings. You will exit onto Flinders Lane.

Referenced from: Victorian Heritage Database, www.heritage.vic.gov.au