William Angliss Tram Cafe, Melbourne, Victoria

William Angliss Tram Cafe in Melbourne

6 August 2026

Architects: Gray Puksand

Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Photos: Nicole England

Gray Puksand have been working with William Angliss Institute for nearly two decades across a range of specialist hospitality training spaces.

In 2020, the institute was offered an opportunity to become custodian of one of Melbourne iconic W class trams as these were decommissioned and retired from service.

The institute saw an opportunity to utilise this historic tram to establish a unique new training venue for students, to be integrated with their Melbourne city campus. A street side urban cafe was imagined, offering an iconic new addition to the coffee culture and hospitality landscape of the inner city.

Sensitively repurposing the W class tram as a fully functioning café venue and real-world hospitality training experience will contribute to the activation of the La Trobe Street frontage situated within the Institute’s North-facing Courtyard and adjacent to the Heritage-registered Food Trades School Building.

Strategically, its location on a major pedestrian route between Flagstaff Gardens and Southern Cross station will provide the café and institute with a re-invigorated identity and re-activated street frontage.

Gray Puksand worked with the institute to develop a feasibility scheme to establish the tram café upon an integrated plaza with associated urban design initiatives and landscaping. The historic tram would retain exisitng historic fitments and be sensitively fitted with spaces for dining and café training service areas. A complementary, fixed canopy has been integrated overhead to provide shelter for patrons and protection to the tram itself.

The tram café has been imagined as a truly unique space for students and professionals alike and clearly evidences William Angliss Institute’s pre-eminent role in contemporary and inspirational vocational training for the hospitality and tourism sector.