Melbourne Airport opened at Tullamarine in 1970 with a golf course, a hotel, a conference centre, an art gallery, a cinema, an exhibition centre, a bottle shop, several bars, a VIP lounge and a fine-dining restaurant headed by a chef on his way to three Michelin stars. Arun Chandu and Matt Harvey argue that none of this was excess—it was design intent.
About this book
Tullamarine was conceived from the outset as an airport city, and the authors make the case that it was the first purpose-built example anywhere in the world. The planner behind it was Bill Bradfield, son of John Bradfield, chief engineer of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and the ambition of the scheme reflects a moment when air travel was still being invented as a civic experience rather than merely serviced.
Chandu and Harvey follow the project from its earliest planning through construction, opening and half a century of operation, into the present round of terminal expansion, road and car park upgrades, the recently approved third runway and the rail link now in development. The result is a study that sits at the intersection of engineering, airport design, interior design and urban planning—a serious account of a piece of infrastructure most Melburnians pass through without ever reading as architecture.
Key features
- Written by Arun Chandu and Matt Harvey, drawing on planning records, design documentation and archival photography
- Extensively illustrated, with images covering the airport's planning, construction, interiors and operation
- Traces the full arc from Bill Bradfield's original scheme to the approved third runway and planned rail link
- Praised by Philip Goad, Michael Buxton and Tim Ross
What you'll discover
- How Bill Bradfield's plan built hospitality, retail, culture and recreation into the airport from the beginning, rather than retrofitting them later
- Why Tullamarine's 1970 facilities were unmatched internationally, and what that says about Australian ambition at the time
- The engineering and urban planning decisions that allowed the site to keep absorbing growth across five decades
- How the current expansion program—terminals, roads, third runway, rail—reads against the original masterplan
About the authors
Arun Chandu researches and writes on aviation, infrastructure and the design of the built environment, and leads the historical account at the centre of this book. He is joined by Matt Harvey, whose work brings the airport's more recent development and its ongoing expansion into the frame.
Specifications
- Format: Softcover
- Dimensions: 240 × 190 mm
- Pages: 232
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9781761170805
- Publisher: NewSouth Books
- Publication date: August 2026
Perfect for
Architects, urban planners and infrastructure historians interested in Australian modernism and airport design, alongside readers drawn to Melbourne's built history and the civic ambition of the postwar decades.