Melbourne has an urban heart condition, but don’t panic. It isn’t fatal. It will, however, require surgery in order for Melbourne to reach her full potential.

The heart is an excellent analogy for the role that Flinders Street Station fills because it is both a central pump for the circulatory system and, more poetically, it is also the centre of one’s being.

In 2012, it was noted that more than 150,000 people pass through the station each day – a number expected to more than double by 2022. We know that train stations across the network are being updated to allow for trains nine carriages in length to operate. This challenge for Flinders Street is yet to be addressed and is not just going to go away because of other priorities. As a functioning pump for the city’s circulatory system, the station clearly needs surgery.

As Melbourne’s centre of being, Flinders Street Station is a shell. A pretty backdrop for the iconic photo, it is operating at a mere fraction of its full potential.

The anonymous shopping centre aesthetic of the eastern concourse and the derelict pedestrian underpass at the western side of the platforms detract from the high quality Melbourne experience we are aspiring to. We will meet under the clocks, but as far away from those failed public spaces as possible.

Fortunately, we already have a world class solution. In 2012 then-Premier Ted Baillieu implemented an international design competition to find a long term solution.

In a recent interview, Mr Baillieu said that there was nothing preventing the winning design by internationally acclaimed architects HASSELL + Herzog & de Meuron from being implemented in the future. This revitalisation project might occur piece by piece, over a decade or so, rather than being delivered as a single project. This would also spread out the expense for the project, reducing the investment required from the state in any particular year.

The world-beating design by Hassell + Herzog & de Meuron is a brave solution. It references the barrel vaults from the 1899 concept by Fawcett and Ashworth but brings the refreshed areas firmly into the present. This would allow the overall station to be read in distinct layers of time, which is the only way to be sensitive and respectful of the existing heritage fabric.

The revitalisation would make Flinders Street Station a destination in its own right, reflecting our identity and ambition as a cultural capital by providing diverse spaces for art, live performances, markets and shops. These are precisely the things tourists and Melburnians alike love to experience in our city.

With the contemporary design born out of an international competition, we can have every confidence that we will end up with an extraordinary result. Federation Square, the Sydney Opera House and indeed the current Flinders Street Station building, were all brought into existence via design competitions. This design-focused approach has a track record of producing world class places. All that is needed now is the will to get there.

In its current state, Flinders Street Station is simultaneously our proudest, most iconic, architectural treasure and also our biggest embarrassment of urban space neglect. This is not just about a ballroom. It is not just about public transport infrastructure. It is first and foremost about our cultural identity as a city.

Michael Smith is a director of architectural practice at Atelier Red+Black. He also writes the blog The Red+Black Architect.