MELBOURNE | Australia 108 | 388m | 108 Levels

[SkyscrapersOfNewYork]

Southbank high-rise gets OK from VCAT
Philip Hopkins
September 6, 2010

THE way has been cleared for a 226-metre, $400 million Southbank tower by noted architects Fender Katsalidis after the City of Melbourne lost a legal battle with the state government.

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) has rejected an appeal by the city council against the government's decision in April to grant the tower a permit. The 72-storey building will be built on the corner of City Road and Southbank Boulevard.

The council had argued that the tower dramatically broke what it regarded as the 100-metre height limit in the current planning scheme - and in the council's proposed Southbank structure plan - for that part of Southbank.

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However, VCAT found that the design overlay did not specify a maximum height or preferred maximum height. The approval of earlier planning amendment C122 had ''effectively made 100 metres the threshold for the consideration of height in this location''. The proposal achieved the design objectives of the policy, it said, and was an example of exemplary architecture.

The chairman of the council's Future Melbourne (Planning) Committee, Cr Peter Clarke, said the proposed development failed to meet the objectives and requirements of the Melbourne planning scheme.

"The appeal to VCAT was lodged because we believe the development is excessive in both height and bulk," Cr Clarke said. ''It has excessive building bulk, inadequate separation from other towers nearby and relative to future developments, and potential for adverse wind effects.''

Cr Clarke said the council generally supported the architectural quality of the proposal, but the height was more than double the discretionary height limit.

The building will include 532 apartments, six levels of office space, a fresh food market, cafe/restaurant, car and bicycle parking as well as several ground floor retail shops. At 226.4 metres, 70 Southbank Boulevard is a little shorter than its neighbour Eureka Tower, which has 92 floors and is 300 metres high.

Two of the development partners are Benni Aroni, director of Stralliance Developments, and Nonda Katsalidis of Fender Katsalidis Architects, both of whom worked on the award-winning Eureka Tower. The third partner is Adrian Valmorbida Group.

Mr Aroni said Southbank needed a quality fresh food market. One innovative design feature was a vertical garden of living foliage, designed by Steve Calhoun of Tract, that would be installed over the car-parking levels, he said. VCAT said the design element provided a welcome green space in Southbank.

VCAT's decision casts a shadow over Melbourne City Council's structure plan for Southbank - developed because the council fears growth patterns threaten to turn the precinct into a skyscraper jungle like Hong Kong.

The structure plan divides the precinct into seven sections with different height maximums, ranging from 160 metres directly on the south bank of the Yarra, to 100, 60, 40 and 24 metres. However, the state government can overrule the plan through its power to approve buildings of more than 25,000 square metres.

The council envisages a range of zoning changes to give planning flexibility to enable the establishment of shops, services and entertainment, and more ''street life''. It will meet later this month to finalise the structure plan

[WibblyWobbly]

That's a pretty nice looking towers!

[tayser]

can a mod change the title of the thread to the building's address? (70 Southbank Boulevard)

[tayser]

this one is up for sale: site + permit.

there was a slight redesign.

could be a bad/good outcome. The site can fit a higher building given it's so close to Eureka, but who knows..........

[GoldenBoot]

Great design!!!

[tayser]

1270 feet I think (for those of you still working in the old money) Australia's first super-tall proposal (well actually, the first "proposal" in about 20 years).

This was unexpected - Designed by Eureka's architects (Fender Katsalidis) a few metres away - this was actually the site of a proposed 220m tower - now with a whole lot more.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1226514699810

Planned super skyscraper in Southbank would dominate Melbourne's skyline

GRANT MCARTHUR From: Herald Sun November 12, 2012



EXCLUSIVE: THE tallest building in the southern hemisphere - a mammoth 388m skyscraper - is planned for Melbourne in a development that will radically alter the city skyline.

Designs for the huge Australia 108 are being finalised and, if approved, will feature 600 apartments, the nation's highest hotel and restaurants seemingly floating 84 stories above the city.

The 108-storey tower, which will be the 18th-tallest building in the world, is planned to rise near the 297m Eureka Tower.

Architects Fender Katsalidis, who also built Eureka, gained planning approval for a 228m apartment building on the 70 Southbank Boulevard site in 2010, despite objections from Melbourne City Council.

But Nonda Katsalidis has super-sized his plans by adding a 288-room hotel and sky deck on top, saying the economy had strengthened and Melbourne was more confident and ready for an iconic centrepiece.

"Buildings like this change cities, they make the city more dynamic, more interesting, more exciting," he said.

One of Australia 108's most striking features will be a two-storey sky lobby which will house two restaurants and two bars, extending 9m out of the building, 84-storeys above Melbourne.

A hotel check-in and swimming pool will also appear to hang over the city, with sections of glass floor enabling visitors to see all the way to the ground in a much larger version of Eureka's Sky Deck.

Although the skyscraper is intended to dominate Melbourne's skyline, Mr Katsalidis said it would form a pair with Eureka.

Originally Posted by Grollo on OzScrapers

I thought this was a possibility.

Looks like some kind of observation pod between the two sticks:

[tayser]

pic of the site:



from OzScrapers

The core visible in the above pic is WRAP Southbank (which you can see in the full scale render in the first post).

[Dale]

Never saw this coming. Your thoughts on viability, possible panjandrums from nimbies ?

[tayser]

Melbourne City Council wouldn't approve it, but as it's over 25,000sqm in GFA, it's not up to them to approve it - goes straight to the State Government and can be contested at VCAT.

The previous ~200m proposal went to VCAT and was eventually approved.

[Fabb]

Very impressive !
It definitely has the angular style of Eureka and, together, they will create a distinctive skyline.
I hope it gets built !

[Dale]

Originally Posted by tayser

Melbourne City Council wouldn't approve it, but as it's over 25,000sqm in GFA, it's not up to them to approve it - goes straight to the State Government and can be contested at VCAT.

The previous ~200m proposal went to VCAT and was eventually approved.

And if memory serves, the current State Government is skyscraper-friendly.

[tayser]

yep - state governments of both political colours have been skyscraper (more accurately: pro redevelopment) for decades.

It's the age old Local Council (who are more often than not elected on what they're NOT going to do) versus State/Regional Government (who are more often than not elected on what they WILL do) debate and I am very much opposed to increasing the size and influence of local government (to something which resembles the city councils in North America) for this reason. Regions/States/Provinces will always have their finger on the bigger picture and this is manifested by the 25ksqm / GFA rule we have for planning in Victoria.

[tayser]

can a mod please merge this thread with: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=202398

This proposal is now defunct and the Australia 108 proposal is the current one.

Cheers.

[tayser]

[thanks mod!]

[TallBob]

Outside of New York, Toronto and Chicago, North America is becoming unfriendly towards skyscrapers. SF and LA have some supertalls planned.... and that's really it! Nice propoal Melbourne!!

[tayser]

Another interesting tidbit: the previous proposal was intended to use FK's unitised construction method and it sounds (from various media resources today - radio/TV) that this is still the goal... as Karl Fender said on radio today that they are aiming for a construction period of 2 freaking years (Eureka was double that and done with a more traditional method)

[Duck From NY]

That's a sick design.

[TallBob]

I don't like that thing that sticks out of the building at the 84th level. Get rid of that and it would be a great building.... If it gets built!

[LMich]

I liked the design until you get up to the outcrops, and then all hell breaks loose at the top. It looks kind of ridiculous for a supertall, in particular.

[tayser]

^ I dont disagree, but have a look at the evolution of Eureka's design (repost from OzScrapers):

Original Proposal:

Originally Posted by Adam from Oz

Found the original Eureka render on my hard drive.

A bit, "meh".

Originally Posted by Curtain

Yeah they went a few iterations. That evolved into this:



There was also this:





Their Petro Vietnam Tower proposal has some similar DNA, but its pretty unsatisfying too.

This was launched for the shock and awe (snort) of a 388m building proposed, I wouldn't be surprised if we have some revision.

In saying that though: the crown / top third is unusual, but how many towers are not uniform? not many!