Sofia Santos’s OSINT Exercise #002

This is our second geolocation exercise from Sofia Santo’s blog. If you enjoy reading about this kind of investigation, make sure you read my previous post as well and stay tuned for more.

OSINT Exercise #002

Task briefing:
The photo below was shared on social media. It clearly depicts a train station.
Please answer the following questions:

a) What is the name of the train station seen in the photo?
b) What is the name and height of the tallest structure seen in the photo?

In the picture above, I can see some train rails and a view of some tall buildings in the background. Doing a quick Google search of the first words I made out from the picture: “Flinders Street” reveals Flinders Street railway station. This aligns perfectly with what I was thinking the place would be.

To confirm this was the right area, I went to Google Earth and searched for Flinders Street Station, and after adjusting the view, I saw the buildings seen in the background in the original picture.

We can see the train station platforms, and right across are the two white buildings on the sides, two brown buildings with their distinctive shapes in the middle, and the black building behind them.

After adjusting the view, you can tell right away that the tallest building is the one in the back. I was able to read HWT on the left building and IBM on the middle one, but I couldn’t read the red sign on the tallest building.

I readjusted the view and zoomed in, and it reads “Central Equity”. I went back to Google Maps and searched for “Central Equity Australia”, which took me close to Flinders Street Station. I readjusted and found the IBM building, and right next to it, “FOCUS Apartments by Central Equity”.

I googled “Focus Apartments by Central Equity Height” and found that the current legal name of the building is Focus Melbourne and it’s 166 m / 545 ft tall with a total of 50 floors.

Tasks:
a. What is the name of the train station seen in the photo?
b. What is the name and height of the tallest structure seen in the photo?

Solutions:
a. Flinders Street Station
b. Previous name was Focus Apartments, currently Focus Melbourne. 166 m / 545 ft tall.