At 242 Exhibition Street, the lobby becomes more than a passage. It is redefined as a cultural threshold, a place where architecture and art converge to create an encounter with Country, and story.

Yinga Baan — Song of Water, by Wurundjeri/Yorta Yorta artist and designer Simone Thomson, traces the story of the Birrarung — the River of Mists and Shadows. A narrative of flow, resilience and deep connection to land, the work grounds the lobby experience in an enduring cultural presence.

Our role was to steward this vision from site to inception and built form. Working closely with the artist we reviewed site and material translations, providing curatorial support and technical translation to ensure the integrity of her story remained at the heart of the final work. Through close collaboration with the artist, her original painting details were reimagined in laser-cut brass and hand-set tile, materials chosen for their capacity to carry light, texture and permanence.

The result is an integrated artwork that sits within the architecture rather than upon it — a surface alive with shifting detail, welcoming those who enter with a story that predates the city itself. In celebrating water as both life force and memory, the work transforms the lobby into a site of connection, where contemporary design acknowledges and amplifies cultural narratives of place.