Kevin McCloud reveals Federation Square one of his favourite Melbourne buildings, but says Flinders St Station shouldn't be redeveloped

UPDATE: DESIGN guru Kevin McCloud says the State Government shouldn't redevelop Flinders St Station.

DESIGN guru Kevin McCloud says the critics have got it wrong about Federation Square - it's one of his favourite Melbourne buildings because it brings romance to the city.

And the host of popular TV show Grand Designs is sceptical about the State Government's plan to redevelop Flinders St Station.

"Perhaps controversially I'm going to say that I like it as it is, I like the rawness of it," he said.

"The station, where it is, how it operates, what it looks like, how it's arranged with the sheds right in the centre of the city is almost unique on the planet.

"It's not the most beautiful building but it is a really powerful thing, it's of its time, it's bang in the middle."

Kevin McCloud says the State Government shouldn't touch Flinders St Station.

McCloud, who is in Australia to present a series of live shows, gave the Herald Sun a rundown of his favourite Melbourne architecture while visiting Fed Square.

Expat entertainer Barry Humphries has famously bagged the square, but McCloud would have none of it.

"It's very easy to slag off a building because you don't like it without actually looking at how people use it," he said.

"Right now it's full of people, this place is constantly populated and they enjoy it."

The famed TV presenter says Fed Square is the last jigsaw piece of the city.

McCloud said that the square was the last big jigsaw piece of the city and it reminded him

of an Italian hill top village.

"Amidst all this high rise and these glass walls there's a romance here," he said.

"I don't even have a developed opinion about the buildings here. I'm more interested in what's on the ground, the shape, the way it follows the hill, it's just a magical experience."

McCloud said he liked the way the square connected with Flinders St Station - another Melbourne icon he liked.

"I can't think of any other cities that have got the city station right there as the object of focus of the entire city," he said.

Also on his list was the Manchester Unity building on the corner of Swanston and Collins streets.

"It's almost a building which you couldn't find anywhere else, maybe in South America. It's got a sort of a raw quality and energy about it, it's very exciting, it's still palpable," he said.

Manchester Unity rooftop penthouse and spire.

McCloud is also smitten with the National Gallery of Victoria - "it's just a great monolithic block".

"I like it because it's a very simple large thing. It makes a big contact like a piece of rock," he said.

National Gallery of Victoria.

And in terms of modern architecture, he's impressed by the Eureka Tower, especially as it's an apartment building.

"It doesn't look like it, it looks like the headquarters of you know, General Zod," he said.

"What I find interesting about Eureka is that it wasn't really that trumpeted and yet, bizarrely, it's kind of crept into the imagination."

Eureka Tower at Southbank.

McCloud, an architectural historian and designer who runs his own business, will appear at the Grand Designs Live exhibition running from Friday to Sunday at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Tickets available HERE