Devine have announced that they are scaling back their Festival Hall Tower from around 428 units to 350 units.

Anybody got any more info???

I wonder will they just take a stack of floors off the top or redesign the thing, making it slimmer....

thanks

As mentioned in the other thread, according to today's AFR, it has been reduced from 42 to 34 levels.

Seems like Cox Rayner Architects (also The Georgian) and Devine are a dangerous mix.

Sorry, didn't see the other thread.

<table cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0 width=98% class="quoteBox">
<td align=left valign=center> <smallfont> <b>Quote</B> <I>originally posted by museumb </i></b> </smallfont> </td>
<tr><td align=left valign=top>Seems like Cox Rayner Architects (also The Georgian) and Devine are a dangerous mix.</td></tr>
</table>

I don't understand what you mean by dangerous.

I think the canning of The Georgian (despite public statements at the time) was related primarily to disagreements between Devine and Urban.

Changes to Festival Towers are presumably related to the current more subdued market.

I think its great that a substantial development will still be going ahead.

Wow, now it's shorter, so it's not only bland but now it's also short, just spiffing, well at least it's not making an impact on the skyline could be a good thing if it looks like river place (or whatever the one down the road is called), which it seems to.

Anyway, why is it so difficult for Devine to fill out 30 floors in Brisbane? There are a tonne of 30 storey buildings going up on the Gold Coast, I really don't think any developers there have any qualms about going from 30 to 40.

Well I guess it's better than nothing...

but not much.

Boy I hope brisbane gets some cool new developers soon to shake the place up.

@ Duke. By "dangerous", i don't mean anything so deep or literal. Just seems like the combo does not have the best of luck, let's say.

this is a shitter isnt it. i think devine should just leave this site to somenone else who is willing to built something worthwhile in this prime CBD spot, rather than a 30 storey box

It would be nice to see some of the mediocrity happening in some apartment complexes dealt with by the council. Instead of blocking reasonable proposals like Emerald why not concentrate some effort on the shoeboxes springing up all over the place. I saw Tim Quinn (Lord Mayor in waiting) taking the credit for stopping the building of sixpacks but at the same time he is responsible for beauties such as river place! If only developers could see beyond the almighty dollar sign!

Anything has got to better than Festival Hall. It is a blight on inner Brisbane.

<table cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0 width=98% class="quoteBox">
<td align=left valign=center> <smallfont> <b>Quote</B> <I>originally posted by hoffburger </i></b> </smallfont> </td>
<tr><td align=left valign=top>this is a shitter isnt it. i think devine should just leave this site to somenone else who is willing to built something worthwhile in this prime CBD spot, rather than a 30 storey box</td></tr>
</table>
I totally agree. Why waste the land. There arent many blocks left in the cbd and what if there comes a need for office towers, which is what a central BUSINESS district is designed for. And there will be a pox 30 story residential there. Also, even if height restrictions are lowered next year, wouldnt towers around the size of reparian be the more common proposals rather than all these 30 - 40 story ones. There will be lil 30story building on a block that could have been used for something bigger.

actually, heres the solution.... build emerald on the site of festival....and put festival tower on the little site of emerald. hehehe what do you think? im guessing the festival site is a bigger more useful block.

Latest update from Devine to the Stock Exchange yesterday.

FESTIVAL HALL SITE - BRISBANE

Planning on this site is proceeding and a date for the launch of the
proposed development will be announced later in the year.

I saw a news article on CH10 news tonight. Last night was the last concert played at Festival Hall. They showed a model of the Festival Tower, and said Festival Hall was to be demolished for the 42 storey tower.

The site was bought for $15million.

http://www.skyscrapers.com/files/transfer/6/2003/01/180480.jpg

i think they said demolishment will start sometime b4 the end of the year. might go take some piccies b4 that to preserve the memories. im getting all emotional

Hang on a minute!

Has this gone back to being 42 levels again??? Also, from that pic has the design changed? Cause its not THAT bad. I think Casino towers, with its location and shape will look ALOT worse personally.

yeah that render there is a lot like river city which shocked a lot of us with how good it turned out. and that render is for 42 stories, so whats the go? also is there going to be retail at the bottom, or just some little pissy retail like one or two cafes and a 7/11. hope there is a lot of retail, because the QSM area just keeps adding shop after shop lately.

They said on ch9 news tonight that it was a 47 storey tower, and that it would be Brisbanes tallest! Either they know something we dont or they are getting their wires crossed :baaa:

How would a 47 story tower be Brisbane's tallest? A commercial building (I'm not sure what's taller residential or commercial)?

Originally posted by m01lim
How would a 47 story tower be Brisbane's tallest? A commercial building (I'm not sure what's taller residential or commercial)?
they probably not up on things like we are but a 47 level residential tower would be brisbanes tallest if it was built today, but obviously they dont know about Aurora place!!lol
residential levels can range from 2.7m to 3.2m ( basically 3m high). Office levels can range from 3.2m- to 4m) average-3.7m.
cheers
nice pic thomas!

While I'm happy that this is back to 42(47???) levels again I'm concerned that this and Panorama might spell the end of emerald. Combined these 2 will be putting about 550 apartments into the market. Emerald has ~350. Isn't the inner city market supposed to be slowing down!

We'll have to wait and see what Devine announce. I think the weekend news reports about Festival Towers were based on old news reports rather than any current proposal from Devine.

As far as Emerald is concerned, I think it is is a totally different market segment. Some of the comments from the Emerald developers last year suggested that they were prepared to go ahead irrespective of presales.

The end is really near for this monster! All the shops on Edward St are empty (I think the newsagency is still there though) and the sign thingy that lists (used to) upcoming events had "Seats for sale" up on it.

Let the demolishion and construction of a hopefully half decent tower begin!

It's a bit sad really, Brisbane is losing something a bit historic, and without a good replacement. I would rather have seen an updated venue on this site, or at least a tower that included something to justify the name Festival.

David Devine is quoted in todays Sunday Mail saying the new tower will have 4 podium levels and "around 40 residential floors".
Construction starting in around 8 months time.

yes i read that as well. except the 8 months thingy..

demolition of the building is starting soon though they said. i wonder if there will be any protestors at the scheduled date of demolition

David Devine said that there would be a tribute of some kind of Festival Hall, somewhere in the podium levels.

Has anyone seen the new renderings of Festival Towers?

All Glass!!!

http://www.aldy.com.au/projects_image/festivalmap.jpg

There were some great photos of this project. 3 out of 4 of the Chinese newspapers had great renderings of Festival Towers and skyline shots in them.

Devine now has a partnership with Aldy Group of Melbourne and are planning to build their new tower soon.

http://www.aldy.com.au/project_b_festival.html
http://www.alfresco.com.au/clients/devine/_festivalentry.cfm

Both the www.festivaltowers.com.au website and the Aldy website aren't running properly yet.

jt

that all glass rendering of festuval looks fantastic, very classy indeed. if only it were a tad taller

Hmmm....

Its still a box. But a classy box!

In this case its a case of all glass all class. Will look alot better than the rest of their stuff. And ditto...wish it were taller...

It's certainly an improvement - vaguely reminicent of Melbourne's ASX.

I like it, though it barely looks even 100m.

A larger render.

http://www.festivaltowers.com.au/content/tower_large.jpg

Memories of Festival Hall
Reporter: Lachie Campbell
Friday, 15 August 2003
If you have been to Brisbane to see a big rock concert in the last forty-five years, then chances are you've been to Festival Hall.
After almost half a century of service, Festival Hall has seen it's last days and will finally be pulled down.

When it comes to Queensland's live music venues, you just can't go past Festival Hall.

For nearly fifty years it’s been the rock and roll capital of the state, hosting hundreds of super-stars, and entertaining generations of Queenslanders who've gone there to rock!

In 1959 Queensland turned 100 years old, and to celebrate our centenary the government of the day built a concert hall big enough to host ballets, boxing matches, rock concerts, and even roller-derbies. They called it Festival Hall.

Since it was built, Queensland suddenly had a venue good enough to attract touring acts from Australia and abroad who would have otherwise overlooked the big state in the north.

It was for this very reason that the Beatles came to Brisbane during their Australian tour of 1964.

Alison Campbell was one of the keen fans screaming them on in Festival Hall, sitting merely a few rows back from the stage. This is her story.

"It was terribly exciting going there! I went there with some school friends, but just the atmosphere - there were crowds and there were policemen, and I can remember sort-of bouncers carrying away teenage girls who would swoon and faint during the concert!" said Alison.

"We all seemed to wear badges that said 'I love John' or "I love Paul'. I had to be different, so I wore one that said, 'I love George', because everyone else was wearing 'I love John' and 'I love Paul'! So I thought I'd better wear something else!" she said.

If you look back over the last 45 years, it's easier to say who didn't play at Festival Hall than who did. Here's just a taste of the acts that graced the old wooden stage.

Billy Joel, U2, the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, Neil Diamond, Dr Hook, Roxy Music, Bette Midler, Alice Cooper, Nat King Cole, Regurgitator, Bob Dylan, Nirvana, Cliff Richard, the Kingston Trio, Blondie, The BGs, Ozzie Osbourne, the Monkeys, the Who, the Go Betweens, Lou Reed, Nick Cave, REM, INXS, The Cure, The Pretenders, silverchair, Ben Harper, Powderfinger, the Beatles, the Foo Fighters, Bob Downe, Johnny O'Keefe, the Sex Pistols, David Grey, Led Zeplin, Johnny Mathis, Samy Davis Jnr, Radiohead … and that's just the tip of the iceberg!

Despite nearly half a century of service to the community, Festival Hall is being ripped down to make way for another high-rise apartment block in the city, but it didn't go without a fight.

Dr Lissane Gibson was the spearhead of a group who tried to save the building from demolition, claiming it has cultural significance to people across all ages.

"You can talk to people across the board, and across age, and across interests and they will all have some memory of seeing somebody, or going to a dance, or going to boxing at Festival Hall," said Dr Gibson.

"Festival Hall is a part of our history. It's not part of Australian history more broadly, it's not part of German history, or British history, it's part of Queensland's history, and the more that we knock down these icons that demonstrate and celebrate that, the more we homogenise what Queensland is, and I think that that is the greatest shame, that here we have in the city yet another residential tower block going up which will have no doubt yet another 'Starbucks' or something on the ground floor that doesn't say anything about Queensland," said Lissane.

Michael Franti and Spearhead played the last gig ever at Festival Hall on Saturday, August 15, 2003, and it was a show to remember.

Festival Hall was built so that ordinary Queenslanders could see something extra-ordinary. It was built because, in Franti's own words, "Everyone deserves music"!
The last ticket below.
http://www.abc.net.au/widebay/stories/Festival_H_m678063.jpg
http://www.abc.net.au/widebay/stories/s924191.htm
It’s a bit of a pity its going. I stood outside one Saturday night a few months back and listened to Moby play. It was very late and they already had the doors open with music flooding out onto the street.
You can’t stop progress I guess.
jt

I roughly count about 42/43 stories. I think this rendering might be a case of making it look smaller than it really is.

Wow, this new rendering of festival Tower is awesome. It really shits all over the older design. Plus it has an impact on the skyline:-
http://www.aldy.com.au/projects_image/festivalmap.jpg

[DOUBLE POSTED]

Its almost as if they've taken the old proposal design and covered it in glass. The shape and proportions are very similar. I guess it would have meant less work design-wise. I'm interested to note that pirices start at ~ $220k. Devines still aiming at investors from from the website. Overall I'm happy with it though. Maybe it is a sign that Devine is getting alot more creative with there work what with the georgian also looking pretty good.

One other thing. I suspect that this tower will already have a few presales before it goes online. I remember reading an article in the CM last year after the georgian went under and it had a few couples who were simply going to take their depostits from the georgian and go to festival towers. Makes sence i guess....

I don't think some of you guys are getting the loss that this is to Brisbane. A 40 level tower could have gone up anywhere, there are heaps of rubbish buildings or car-parks that could have been demolished.

We are losing Festival Hall here, even if you don't appreciate the history of the building, you still have to think we are losing a big inner city venue for music, sports, etc. It could have been upgraded, or even replaced.

It's like New York knocking down Madison Square Garden, just to build another mid level building. Just like people talk about losing the trams, or Cloud Land, or Her Majesty's theatre in 20 years you will look at this glass box and say, "why did we lose Festival Hall?"

Originally posted by Aussie Bhoy
I don't think some of you guys are getting the loss that this is to Brisbane. A 40 level tower could have gone up anywhere, there are heaps of rubbish buildings or car-parks that could have been demolished.

We are losing Festival Hall here, even if you don't appreciate the history of the building, you still have to think we are losing a big inner city venue for music, sports, etc. It could have been upgraded, or even replaced.

It's like New York knocking down Madison Square Garden, just to build another mid level building. Just like people talk about losing the trams, or Cloud Land, or Her Majesty's theatre in 20 years you will look at this glass box and say, "why did we lose Festival Hall?"

Well said, I an not a NIMBY but I will miss Festival Hall, especially when they opened it for factory outlet shopping.

jt

Woah I like the new design. It breaks away from the River City look, I didn't like Festival because by the render the 2 were too much alike. There green glass looks very nice, more green glass buildings needed IMO.

Old and new designs together Old on Left and New on right.

http://www.skyscrapers.com/files/transfer/6/2003/01/180480.jpghttp://www.festivaltowers.com.au/content/tower_large.jpg

It does look like they covered the old design in glass. Be interesting to see what the roof looks like.

jt

You guys do realise that most of that sea green coloured material that you can see is painted concrete - don't you? The white areas are painted concrete as well, so the only glass is around the balconies on the top 2/3 of the tower.

http://www.aldy.com.au/projects_image/festivalmap.jpg

I really like the base, but I think the earlier design had a lot more flair than the current one.

Originally posted by finn
You guys do realise that most of that sea green coloured material that you can see is painted concrete - don't you? The white areas are painted concrete as well, so the only glass is around the balconies on the top 2/3 of the tower.

http://www.aldy.com.au/projects_image/festivalmap.jpg

I really like the base, but I think the earlier design had a lot more flair than the current one.
I think we did realise that, but it is more striking than the original render, with its beige/greenish, boring coloured paint and clear glass balconies!

hmmm looks like to similar to river city or whatever its called...

blah blah blah, this design looks better than the first.

It looks taller too. If the rumours about it containing a hotel aswell is true, then it is in direct competition with 333 Ann St.

I can just imagine the theming behind the hotel...Each room will be dedicated to an act that played at Festival Hall...yada yada yada. Who will get the penthouse? The Beatles?

Demolition of the existing hall must be getting close, the newsagent has closed now, and it looks like he will be completely moved out in the next day or two...

Culwulla, are you in contact with Devine at all? It would be interesting to see exactly what is happening with the new design.

According to Devine's report to the Stock exchange today, construction is scheduled to start in the Sept 2004 quarter but may start in the June 2004 quarter if strong presales interest is maintained.

Marketing is scheduled to commence in September 2003.

whats the stats on this baby

looks a smigeon like the ASX tower in Melb.

whats the stats on this baby

looks a smigeon like the ASX tower in Melb.

Big news on TV here in Melb.

Originally posted by jag
whats the stats on this babyAccording to both skyscrapers.com & skyscraperpage.com, it's height will be 134m at 42 floors above ground.

BTW There is a small advertisement with the latest render of Fest. Hall Tower and anouncing its Sept. 6 launch in last week's edition of Sydney's "Inner Western Suburbs Courier"

Those stats are old though, it may have changed a bit.

Originally posted by museumb
According to both skyscrapers.com & skyscraperpage.com, it's height will be 134m at 42 floors above ground.

BTW There is a small advertisement with the latest render of Fest. Hall Tower and anouncing its Sept. 6 launch in last week's edition of Sydney's "Inner Western Suburbs Courier"
3 out of 4 of the local chinese newspapers have it on the front page with a massive aerial view of the city!!!

jt

Yeah jayT, I saw a copy in the newsagency a few days ago. The Chisese publications are always great for renderings and pics of developments.

Check out the Aldy website.

Marketing started on Festival Towers today - they claim to have sold all 400 units in 138 minutes! Unbelievable!

http://www.aldy.com.au/index_main.html

Jeepers creepers thats alot of apartments sold out in just 138 minutes. I didn't realise it was so popular! I suppose this means this development will have no troubles of going through.

Originally posted by BrizzyChris
Those stats are old though, it may have changed a bit.
im pretty sure its still the height. but ill recheck if you want!
42storeys x 3m = 126m, plus plant ect. so more than 134m is pushing it. anyway ill check.
just on the selling of units! that is bloody great positive news for inner brisbanes unit supply! Emerald will definatley sell well!

cheers

400 units in that thing? They must really have packed them in there!!

It's a shame a record like that couldn't be in a more landmark development - like with a bit more style and a bit more height.

Oh well, hopefully this kind of demand will bode well for Emerald! :)

WTF?
If they are selling that fast you have to wonder why they didn't build taller?

I hope they have a landmark development in mind for Charlotte St.

Wow thats nearly as fast as a Suburban Subdivision!!! I read that a massive subdivision on the Gold Coast sold out in less than an hour a few weeks ago leaving people angry because they couldn't get land.

jt

fuck who said the market was overheating if this is anything to go by....

insane. Who can we be sure that this isnt the result of the salespeople hallucinating? I'll bet you their phones werent even plugged in.

As much as I dont mind the look this tower, I'd love to join protesters on the night of festy's demolition.

Hopefully it wont be another midnight 'stealth' assault...

Devine have added floor plans to the website.

http://www.festivaltowers.com.au/floorplans.html

Devine announced to the stock exchange on Thursday that construction is forecast to commence in the March quarter of 2004.

195 contracts have already been exchanged (out of a total 400 units) and they are confident of having 70% of the units at unconditional contract status with 10% deposit by the end of November 2003.

There is a brand new display office/center set up in the Festival Hall building where the old newsagent used to be.

They have a large model of Brisbane CBD with festival tower added.

There is also a huge model of festival tower on its own with the Sebel tower next to it in clear plastic - sebel looks tiny in comparison!

Just thought I'd let people know.
You can see it all from the street without going in too.

jt

Some new pics from the festival towers website - take a look http://www.festivaltowers.com.au/entry.html

http://www.festivaltowers.com.au/content/aerial1_large.jpg

http://www.festivaltowers.com.au/content/aerial2_large.jpg

http://www.festivaltowers.com.au/content/gardens_large.jpg

http://www.festivaltowers.com.au/content/alfrescoroom_large.jpg
An interesting read - But True!

Watch out Sydney and Melbourne, Brisbane is snapping at your heels once more.

The lull in Brisbane property while the other cities surged in the past decade is well and truly over. National market analysts are forecasting up to 36% growth in the sunshine city for the next few years, compared with less than 10% elsewhere. And the good news for investors is that Brisbane’s prices start much lower!

Brisbane has everything people are moving to in the new age of lifestyle priorities. It has the sunshine, the warmth, the waterfront of its own beautiful river and the nearby beach resorts of Noosa and Surfers Paradise, and a friendly atmosphere that makes living here more relaxed – even when you’re keeping up with the pace of Brisbane’s astounding business growth.

With companies such as Boeing and Virgin choosing Brisbane for their Australian base, it’s no surprise to discover that Brisbane is even ahead of NASA in designing the next generation of space travel!


http://www.festivaltowers.com.au/content/boeing_large.jpg

http://www.festivaltowers.com.au/content/borders_large.jpg

http://www.festivaltowers.com.au/content/onphone_large.jpg

http://www.festivaltowers.com.au/content/qpac_large.jpg

http://www.festivaltowers.com.au/content/bridge_large.jpg

http://www.festivaltowers.com.au/content/gilhooleys_large.jpg

http://www.festivaltowers.com.au/content/noosa_large.jpg

Just some nice piccies from the website.

jt

Thanks for the pics JAYT (reminiscent of a number of marketing campaigns for other towers in the area) though I have to wonder, what's with this statement....
it’s no surprise to discover that Brisbane is even ahead of NASA in designing the next generation of space travel! What are they talking about? If it's the Scramjet, then somebody best remind the author that that particular product requires an atmosphere and as such wont get you very far into space.
I know that no Brisbane based consortium is bidding alongside the likes of Boeing and Locheed Martin for the Orbital Space plane, nor is anybody in this neck of the woods working on Chemical Electric Propulsion (Ion Engines) etc....
I'm not trying to be a smart-arse or anything...I'm just really curious as to what they're talking about.

cheers

BTW, skyrocketing property prices have spread from Brisbane and the Gold Coast to places like Beaudesert, Kooralbyn and even Boonah.
Real estate agents are knocking on peoples doors looking for properties to sell.
Entire housing estate releases are selling straight off the plan in a matter of days. I can't see it slowing soon enough. The government won't up interest rates though for fear of sending the dollar through the roof. WIll it slow or will it bust? It doesn't look like we will know for a couple years yet.

Has Gilhooleys expanded to take up the entire building? I hope so, who wants yet another coffee shop when you could have a bigger Irish pub!

http://www.festivaltowers.com.au/content/gilhooleys_large.jpg

Also have you noticed in promotions shots like this how un-naturally blue the river looks? Nice angle and shot though, even if it does make the city only look about 2-3 city blocks in length.

http://www.festivaltowers.com.au/content/aerial1_large.jpg

There is still a coffee shop/resteraunt on the corner but it is bordered by Gilhooleys on both sides....they only have one enterance but they did snatch a bit more room to the south a while ago.

Don't forget the river used to be naturally blue ;)
Since dredging stopped it has cleared a little though alot of pictures fall victim to "tricks of light" when it comes the reflective river.

Originally posted by Mr MacPhisto


BTW, skyrocketing property prices have spread from Brisbane and the Gold Coast to places like Beaudesert, Kooralbyn and even Boonah.
Real estate agents are knocking on peoples doors looking for properties to sell.
Entire housing estate releases are selling straight off the plan in a matter of days. I can't see it slowing soon enough. The government won't up interest rates though for fear of sending the dollar through the roof. WIll it slow or will it bust? It doesn't look like we will know for a couple years yet.

Who can say beyond well educated speculation?

I do know that it's going to make things far more difficult for me to buy a property. Jim Soorley says a lot of things, but some of them stick - one such quote was approxiamately :

"The property boom will cause a social divide between those who bought property before 2003 (or ~2000 in real terms) and those who bought afterward".

He may well be right too. I for one, feel angered by the perpetuation of real estate price esculation in SEQ, as much as it has spurred the current boom in skyscrapers which i obviously encourage. Surely it cant be merely the result of natural market forces at this point - A combined effort of property valuers & the economic cognigenti?

Originally posted by Mr MacPhisto There is still a coffee shop/resteraunt on the corner but it is bordered by Gilhooleys on both sides....they only have one enterance but they did snatch a bit more room to the south a while ago.
Umm, You will probably find that that Restaurant/Coffee shop on the corner has probably already struck a deal to get space under Festival Towers - But what would I know !!!!???

Originally posted by oztraelian
Who can say beyond well educated speculation?

I do know that it's going to make things far more difficult for me to buy a property. Jim Soorley says a lot of things, but some of them stick - one such quote was approxiamately :

"The property boom will cause a social divide between those who bought property before 2003 (or ~2000 in real terms) and those who bought afterward".

He may well be right too. I for one, feel angered by the perpetuation of real estate price esculation in SEQ, as much as it has spurred the current boom in skyscrapers which i obviously encourage. Surely it cant be merely the result of natural market forces at this point - A combined effort of property valuers & the economic cognigenti?
I'm in the same boat. It's scary. A couple years ago I was looking at buying 1 acre in the Canungra Valley for $62k
Problem is, once you have the land, it siphons away income. Council rates of perhaps 12-1500 quid a year for no services at all.
I'm not in a rush to build a house so where's that leave me?
It sucks. Were getting closer to Sydney and Melbourne every day.
Now I'm feeling pressure to go out, get a big loan, and purchase something before it's too late. What's a bloke to do?
Where's my crystal ball?

Originally posted by JayT
There is a brand new display office/center set up in the Festival Hall building where the old newsagent used to be.

They have a large model of Brisbane CBD with festival tower added.

There is also a huge model of festival tower on its own with the Sebel tower next to it in clear plastic - sebel looks tiny in comparison!

Just thought I'd let people know.
You can see it all from the street without going in too.

jt I missed your post and was wondering what the second tower was when I drove past the other night. This must be devines new inner city sales office...maybe they will market their Margaret St Tower (if and when it's announced) from here before construction starts on Festival Hall?

I wasn't aware Devine had any "Margaret St" project....do you mean Charlotte St?

Originally posted by BrizzyChris
I wasn't aware Devine had any "Margaret St" project....do you mean Charlotte St? Oops, Yup, 120 Charlotte

Compared to you guys I am an amateur all over on this forum, but have a keen interest in this sort of stuff which leads me to this: I was out at lunch and talking to a guy that just opened a coffee shop in one of the new highrises in the city and he told me that he was talking to some of the guys from Divine and Multiplex ( I think he said ) and he proceeded to tell me that they are talking about adding 20 more floors to Festival Towers (rasing it to about 60 floors) because of all the interest and that most of the units were sold off the plan and now that they've opened the display centre people are just flooding in with offers.
Are they able to just add another 20 floors?
Can anyone confirm that this may be happening?

I don't really like the design of this tower, there seems to be too much bare concrete all along. Im not sure if I would really want an additional 20 stories added on.

Originally posted by m01lim
I don't really like the design of this tower, there seems to be too much bare concrete all along. Im not sure if I would really want an additional 20 stories added on.

Yeah I don't like it much either, but if they were gonna take the tower to 60 storeys, I reckon they might go for a bit of a general exterior aesthetic re-design to make it more of a "landmark".

Originally posted by NCC1701D
Compared to you guys I am an amateur all over on this forum, but have a keen interest in this sort of stuff which leads me to this: I was out at lunch and talking to a guy that just opened a coffee shop in one of the new highrises in the city and he told me that he was talking to some of the guys from Divine and Multiplex ( I think he said ) and he proceeded to tell me that they are talking about adding 20 more floors to Festival Towers (rasing it to about 60 floors) because of all the interest and that most of the units were sold off the plan and now that they've opened the display centre people are just flooding in with offers.
Are they able to just add another 20 floors?
Can anyone confirm that this may be happening? A tower of that size and height at that location would realy help balance the skyline as seen from the South. I wonder what the folk in the sales office have to say (or can say)?

Originally posted by NCC1701D
Compared to you guys I am an amateur all over on this forum, but have a keen interest in this sort of stuff which leads me to this: I was out at lunch and talking to a guy that just opened a coffee shop in one of the new highrises in the city and he told me that he was talking to some of the guys from Divine and Multiplex ( I think he said ) and he proceeded to tell me that they are talking about adding 20 more floors to Festival Towers (rasing it to about 60 floors) because of all the interest and that most of the units were sold off the plan and now that they've opened the display centre people are just flooding in with offers.
Are they able to just add another 20 floors?
Can anyone confirm that this may be happening?

Technically, they cannot just add on another 20 floors without gaining council approval, which could take months. A change of that scale would be treated by council as a whole new development application, and is really a whole new building. When Felix added an extra 2 floors, that was not too much of a problem, because it was under the 10% (or thereabouts) of a change to a council DA. If they were very, very smart, they would have submitted seprate applications for the two different heights, but that is doubtful (and expensive). However, Devine being bullish may just barge in and start marketing new units without approval....

The other problem is that adding on 20 storeys would radically change the building structural column and core sizes, mechanical plant rooms, number of carparks required, number of lifts needed (although devine being cheap b#$tards would probably keep the same number of lifts anyway) etc....is a huge design change, not just simply extruding the envelope up.

Also, I pity the fool who bought the penthouse.....or rather 20 storeys below the penthouse;) A change like that would completely change the pricing structure of the apartments. If they are considering it, it may be a good thing and force a redesign of the whole thing as mentioned - which can only be good:D But, normally these sort of radical changes are made very early in the process - when Devine bought the site for River City, they only were considering a 25 storey tower. They later changed it to 40 storeys, but that was long before marketing started.

Fountainhead: As I said, Im not really in the know but even I thought it wasn't possible or feasible to have a change of that scale. Someone should go into the sales office and interrogate the chick that is there. The thing that gets me is that I don't know who this guy was really talking to but I asked this guy about 3 times "are you sure that they're thinking of adding an extra 20 floors?" and all 3 times he was adamant that that was the plans.

Wouldn't it make more sense for Devine to accelerate their plans for 120 Charlotte St, especially given the new height limits to take effect in 12 months. They could market a very tall tower their and still take advantage of the Brissie apartment boom before it flames out!

This undoubtedly sounds like a crazy unfeasible thing to do, but devine may just be mad enough to do it. The advantage over going ahead with this instead of Charlotte street is that they have already "hit the mark" with this product. For all the disadvantages, they are probably bullish enough to pull it off. I guess another advantage is that it gives them flexibility with charlotte street. And I would rather see them put 20 more floors on top of this thing rather than build another clone a block away!

I dropped in to the sales office today for a quick chat with the saleswoman there.
Apparently the several hundred who originally applied were not firm sales but merely expressions of interest (media sensationalism meets drawing out of a hat?).
I think she said they had firm contracts for something like 370 units, with a handfull still to be sold.

I would be very surprised if Devine were considering adding another 20 floors.
It must surely be more cost effective to market a larger tower on their Charlotte St site, rather than modifying the DA et al...

At Devine's annual general meeting yesterday it was stated that Festival Towers is expected to commence January 2004. No mention of any change to number of floors or units.

I chatted to devine and architects-Cox Rayner and they said definatley no more floors to be added. lol
Also the new official height is 135m top of LMR. or 127m to roof.
or RL140m.
42 storeys above ground, 5 below (47 total)
demolition commenced Jan 5th!!!


http://www.festivaltowers.com.au/content/tower_large.jpg


cheers

demolition commenced Jan 5th!!! I wonder if there will be any protests? What are the chances of the Dean Brothers getting the contract?
It's holiday time so the chances of a QUT "rent-a-crowd" showing up in protest are pretty slim.
As ugly and delapidated as Festival Hall is these days, it will be a sad day in Brisbane's history, for sure.

According to the salesman there today they have around 60 apartments available.

Courier Mail today has again reported that demolition is to commence on 5 January.

Work was underway today stripping out the interior. I think we can count this one as officially started!

Went past this morning and the Temporary fencing was being put up. Not long now before they start destroying it.....
Pane e Vino, the restaurant next door are going to have fun for 2 years or so now.........

That end of town will be crane central shortly. No doubt Festival Hall's destruction will warrant a fair chunk of media interest.

Farewell Festival Hall - RIP. I wish it wasn't Devine doing this project, might have gotten something better - but at least all the glass makes it look ok - It looks like it may age reasonably well. (Emphasis on *looks like* and *may*)

Ahh festival hall. Only been there twice, but I will remember the radiohead concert I saw there for a long time. Maybe if I had got off my backside and went to a few more concerts they would have kept the place open.

Same probably goes for IMAX lol...

Photos taken today. Work is underway removing awnings. The building is due to come down next Saturday, 17 Jan.

http://members.optusnet.com.au/johnthay3/10jan04festival1.JPG

http://members.optusnet.com.au/johnthay3/10jan04festival2.JPG

Originally posted by Ausilencer
Same probably goes for IMAX lol...

The Imax is open again an opperating as the Southbank 5 Cinemas. Some of the movies are shown on the Imax screen. (And it's at Balmoral / Hawthorne prices being owned by the same people).

Originally posted by Shado
The Imax is open again an opperating as the Southbank 5 Cinemas. Some of the movies are shown on the Imax screen. (And it's at Balmoral / Hawthorne prices being owned by the same people).

yeah but imax movies arent being shown.... its just normal movies, my brother actually did the designing of the redevelopment.

Work was continuing today with scaffolding and screening but no sign of any heavy demolition equipment.

Originally posted by TOCC
yeah but imax movies arent being shown.... its just normal movies, my brother actually did the designing of the redevelopment.

Yeah, I was about to say the same thing - I thought it was just normal movies...

Is Festival Hall being demolished this weekend (24/26 Jan)??

Demolition was underway yesterday. Will post some photos later today.

As promised.

Three lanes of Charlotte Street are closed. They have a permit which finishes at 5am tomorrow morning. The current aim is to make a big enough hole in the building so that the rest of the job can continue with only the kerbside parking lane being closed.

http://members.optusnet.com.au/johnthay2/25jan04festival1.JPG

http://members.optusnet.com.au/johnthay2/25jan04festival2.JPG

wow, another resi tower starts. should this one have an "UC" status yet? maybe ill wait till excavation commences.
cheers

Yeah! CHOMP, CHOMP, CHOMP!

Man on the spot duke :okay:

Wonder how much asbestos came pouring out of that one ;) Lots of corrugated tin and rusted trusses!

There'd be a lot of teary-eyed die-hard Bob Dylan, U2 and Beatle fans crying out there ATM.

Well it is some history lost, but I agree as a venue it has probably seen it's day. I'd have been happier with a replacement venue, rather than a mid level residential tower.

Don't forget it was originally better known as a boxing and wrestling stadium, I saw a few fights there during the 80's, one with Jeff Fenech.

Festival Hall during WW2 (note the Bulimba Beer truck)
http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/locations/festivalhall03.jpg

Jesus, I walked past the demolition at lunch and it looks like a bomb has exploded on one side (charlotte st side) of the building.
Picture this: the building in oklahoma that got bombed: that's the first thing I thought of......

Because of the demolition and the storms over the weekend, businesses around that intersection ie: The sebel, Gilhouleys, Pane e Vino have all had problems with power, some are still without power. The Sebel is actually running on this huge Generator that is parked outside it.

Ahh is that what that was- I saw lots of tourist taking pictures of the site. One half of the building is missing and yes it looks amazing, like a bomb went off or some big disaster has happened.

jt

Originally posted by NCC1701D
Because of the demolition and the storms over the weekend, businesses around that intersection ie: The sebel, Gilhouleys, Pane e Vino have all had problems with power, some are still without power. The Sebel is actually running on this huge Generator that is parked outside it.

According to the news last night the power problem relates to an Energex substation located within the Sebel which has already had a problem in the last week or two.

Thanks for the pics Duke.
I wouldn't be surprised if thousands of photos have been taken of festival hall these past few days.

I believe the loss of festival hall is as great a tragedy for brisbane as the loss of Cloudland and the Bellview Hotel.

Brisbane no longer has a medium sized venue for bands and other perfomances. And no longer is there a decent venue close to the centre of town.

all for another nondescript residential tower

The convention centre is currently being used for medium sized concerts and it’s not exactly far from the city. A custom built venue would be nice, but I can’t see it happening very soon.

Making way for progress..... Taken today 28 Jan 04
http://img16.photobucket.com/albums/v48/teeza/Demo2.jpg
http://img16.photobucket.com/albums/v48/teeza/Demo1.jpg

Taken today. Coming down quickly!

http://members.optusnet.com.au/johnthay2/31jan04festival1.JPG

http://members.optusnet.com.au/johnthay2/31jan04festival2.JPG

Photos taken today. First one from adjacent carpark.

http://members.optusnet.com.au/johnthay2/07feb04festival1.JPG

http://members.optusnet.com.au/johnthay2/07feb04festival2.JPG

From today's Australian Financial Review (also in Prime Site in the Courier Mail).

Residential developer Devine has presold 1000 square metres of retail outlets at the base of its Festival Towers unit complex in Brisbane's CBD for about $8 million.

Apparently, it will be mainly cafes and restaurants. Purchasers are two of the directors of Citimark - the developers of Felix. They also own the commercial space in Felix.

Photo taken today. Only the stage area remains.

http://members.optusnet.com.au/johnthay2/21feb04festival1.JPG

Demolition is now complete and excavation and piling equipment is on site.

Walking past the big hole left by the exorcism of Festival Hall, I can't help but feel it's openned a whole new chunk of the city up to the public.

That may sound weird, but I've always felt like Festival Hall was kind of like the Berlin Wall cutting the cities "Paris" end off from the city heart, and sidewalk culture of Northen Albert St.

It used to be home to a few shops, a 7-11 and not much else on the way to the Gardens and QUT.
Walking through there today, eateries have openned up under River City, and Festival Towers will no doubt see the cities entertainment precinct spread past the Sebel towards the Botanical Gardens.

These new towers are bringing that end of town desperately needed urban renewal at street level.

Excavation is well underway. Looks to only be going down two levels. Concrete piles have been poured around the entire site perimeter. Excavated material is very black wet sand/soil.

http://members.optusnet.com.au/johnthay2/03apr04festival1.JPG

http://members.optusnet.com.au/johnthay2/03apr04festival2.JPG

Photos taken yesterday. Base for the first crane is in place.

http://members.optusnet.com.au/johnthay2/13may04festival1.JPG

http://members.optusnet.com.au/johnthay2/13may04festival2.JPG

great, good to see this one forging ahead!

They aren't wasting time with this one. They haven't even wacker-packed the foundation and still digging let alone placing crane bases!!

Brisbane's CBD must be one big hoarding ATM!! lol

^^^^
It's a bit like that.

Walking from the station to QUT I can pass many construction sites. The big decision is which ones to pass today?

BTW, the view from the corner of Charlotte and Albert looking over Festival Towers construction site is sensational!!!

The view of Metropole and all the other towers is amazing and cramed with increadable density!!!
jt

Festival Towers is the only site with a viewing platform - the Charlotte Street Kings carpark next door!

That is going to be an awesome vantage point for watching the porgress of this tower. Good find Duke, and great pics.

Holy crap!!! When did they dig this hole? I admit that Ive only visited the forum about once a week over the past month, but this has been incredibly quick progress. How did I not keep track of this?

Crane is now up - taken today.

http://members.optusnet.com.au/johnthay2/16may04festival1.JPG

Another angle of the hole where festival hall used to be.

http://img68.photobucket.com/albums/v206/Ausilencer/Img_0279.jpg

Moving on. Substantial slab has been poured and first columns are being formed.

http://members.optusnet.com.au/johnthay2/30may04festival1.JPG

wow, not mucking around with this one!

Sorry about quality... 17th
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid122/p5f579742b1def8b0a43a8f364c01934b/f83be2b4.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid122/pd5eaf9e17348949d290952ea33bd763a/f83be2ca.jpg

I had a look at this yesterday - sorry no photo - but it appears that they have already poured the first above ground car park level on one half of the site whilst excavations are still continuing on the other half of the site.

The crane that is here will be coming down in a few weeks to be replaced by two bigger cranes. Backing onto this site on the george st side in mary st, there is another big mofo hole about to start, almost opposite the baulderstones job. Multiplex will probably be doing it as well.

^^ i saw that spot ur talking about when i walked towards metropole from this site.

Photos taken yesterday.

First two levels of carpark have now been poured on one side, core is underway while other side of site is still being excavated.

http://members.optusnet.com.au/johnthay1/26jun04festival4.JPG

http://members.optusnet.com.au/johnthay1/26jun04festival2.JPG

http://members.optusnet.com.au/johnthay1/26jun04festival3.JPG

http://members.optusnet.com.au/johnthay1/26jun04festival1.JPG

howd u get the shots from above?

howd u get the shots from above?

The Kings Festival car park next door!

Photos taken today. Excavation almost complete. Base of second crane in place. Three levels of car park complete on Albert street side of site.

http://members.optusnet.com.au/johnthay1/10jul04festival1.JPG

http://members.optusnet.com.au/johnthay1/10jul04festival2.JPG

I see the second Favco tower i'll be damned if that dosent look like starter legs for a hammerhead or an internal climber to the right of the 2nd tower

i actually have no clue what that means Favelle

i actually have no clue what that means Favelle
In Dukes 2nd last photo you can see a blue crane tower sitting on the bottom left just up and to the right abit you can see a hole filled with reo in it with a yellow square on with an x through it,to me it looks like the starter legs for a tower crane and looking at the 4 corners the bolts look like Liebherr not Favco, unless its the base for a concrete placement boom. :)

You are dead right Favelle that will be the cruciform for the Concrete Pump not another crane

Second crane and concrete pump are now up. Formwork is commencing for street level slab on Albert Street side of site.

http://members.optusnet.com.au/johnthay1/17jul04festival1.JPG

http://members.optusnet.com.au/johnthay1/17jul04festival2.JPG

today..

Site:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v280/Blend/festival.jpg

I took a shot of the crane pretty close up..
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v280/Blend/festivalcrane.jpg

OMG I never knew they were so advanced on the foundations. I walk past nearly every day but as its only a smallish construction site I never bother to look - unlike Brisbane square.

I must look at this more often.

jt

^ Pfft. What kind of scraper nerd are you? :| Never heard of such a thing.

Superb pics duke 'n blend. :)

^ Pfft. What kind of scraper nerd are you? :| Never heard of such a thing.

Superb pics duke 'n blend. :)

Yeah - there is heaps of construction around the site to look up at - just never bothered to look down as I thought it was just a big deep hole.

jt

I like the tight ass of that crane right in your face. Geeereat pic.

A couple of shots of Festival Towers taken yesterday. Most didn't really turn out all that great, so only posting these two :-(

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v206/Ausilencer/FestivalTower_20040811_1024x768_01.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v206/Ausilencer/FestivalTower_20040811_1024x768_02.jpg

Excuse my french, but that 1st shot of yours Ausilencer, looks fucking awesome! Incredible density. And to think that in 2-3 yrs time, there will be 2 more 140m towers there.

It is a good picture, I like the way the older and new government buildings connect.

Isn't the term 'Consolidation'. Filling up the toothless gaps in the city is the way I think of it. Or repairing the holes in the urban fabric.

Its now ABOVE street level:D

jt

Funny to look at that pic with all the density behind it, and then look at the marketing poster at street level. Where did all that blue sky come from???lol

Funny to look at that pic with all the density behind it, and then look at the marketing poster at street level. Where did all that blue sky come from???lol
They have a secret plan to demolish all the towers around it when its built including several that are not there yet j/k

jt

It is a good picture, I like the way the older and new government buildings connect.

And there is a certain irony that the building referred to as "the 111 George Street Twin" has all its links back to Education House behind it in Mary Street!

wow, these guys arent mucking around!

Brisbane is really booming! It will be a shock for me when i go back there next year after being overseas for 3 years. I hope austcorp and emerald are both under construction at that stage too.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v280/Blend/Fest1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v280/Blend/Fest2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v280/Blend/Fest3.jpg

Good photos Blend.

Should be able to check it out on the web soon as Festival Towers website has a link to a "Coming Soon" web cam.

Good photos Blend.

Should be able to check it out on the web soon as Festival Towers website has a link to a "Coming Soon" web cam.

Now operational. Mounted high up on River City.

Devine's announcement to the stock exchange today advised that completion of Festival Towers is forecast for January 2006. 33 units remain to be sold with 366 at unconditional contract status with 10% deposit paid.

anyone got a link to the webcam for Festival?>

There is a link to it on this page http://www.festivaltowers.com.au/introduction.html however the image never changes! I spoke to one of the guys from their sales office today to query why it wasn't live.

thanks duke.
heres latest pic. or is it old?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/culwulla/festivalsept30.jpg

I think its old, Im sure when I walked past a couple of weeks ago it was all above street level! I keep meaning to get a pic but havent had the time yet.

thats a good cam. The one for Bsquare is not a good qual one... i can actually see whats happening in this one lol!

Photo from Devine's website.

http://www.festivaltowers.com.au/constructionupdate/october2004_01_large.jpg

Webcam is now live. Refreshes every minute. Link to it is on this page http://www.festivaltowers.com.au/introduction.html

Photo taken today from Mary Street showing car park ramp.

http://members.optusnet.com.au/johnthay1/24oct04festival.JPG

http://devinewebcam.dyndns.tv/axis-cgi/jpg/image.cgi?camera=

u can see the ramp in the cam pic

Is there a thread for Charlotte Towers.

gertzy- i was told a couple of months ago the new name for Charlotte towers is 128 Charlotte.
heres link to thread>

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=68692&page=3

Thanks Cul. I've seen on the Courier Mail Real Estate guides 128 Charlotte being advertised as Charlotte Towers but it has 128 on the side. I knew that was the address but I didn't know there was a thread. Thanks :)

http://img73.exs.cx/img73/5299/v9sfestivaltowers.jpg

19/12/04
Wide-angle taken from the carpark next door. I think the core is at level 6.

http://ct4host.lunarpages.com/bne/festival00.jpg

wow. go the wide angle. nice shot again :D

^Actually it was a stitch-up. You can see a panoramic anomaly top left :crazy:

Photo taken today.

http://home.iprimus.com.au/johnthay/photos/15jan05festival1.JPG

most advertised construction site ever lol.

Can someone post the old render everyoe was complaining about at the start of this thread?

Id like to see what it looked like to cause so much disgust lol.

It seems to be taking its time...maybe it will speed up after Casino is done?

Malt, do you mean this one?

http://www.skyscrapers.com/files/transfer/6/2003/01/180480.jpg

http://www.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2003/08/211979.jpg

Found this shot of Festival hall during the early stages of demolition almost one year ago. Its taken a year to build a new building to the same height - altough they have filled in a pretty big hole they dug!

http://home.iprimus.com.au/johnthay/photos/10jan04festival2.JPG

Those pics dont work Orfeo.. prob cuz all of emporis isnt workingl.. for me at least.

Festival hall was terrible lol.


There has been a floor rise today by the way.

Festival hall was the best place ever to see a concert,i smoked some really weird shit at some gigs there,shat all over Boondall entertainment centre.

It seems to be taking its time...maybe it will speed up after Casino is done?

Malt, do you mean this one?

http://www.skyscrapers.com/files/transfer/6/2003/01/180480.jpg

http://www.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2003/08/211979.jpg

Isn't that the new render?

this is the new one
http://www.festivaltowers.com.au/content/tower_large.jpg

Isn't that the new render?

I posted both the old and new so you could compare them side-by-side (or up-by-down).

I cant see your second picture anyway orfeo.

Yeah - sorry about that - for some reason the first pic wasn't displaying (not even the little red x) - so I thought you had only posted the 1 pic - even with my reply I didn't see it...

I can't believe the amount of signage down there. It would be hard to miss 'festival towers' or 'devine' in that part of town.

Devine, devine, devine, I can see what everybody is talking about all the signage. How tall is the exact building going to be, I've heard it's going to be around 40 floors, can anybody clarify that for me.

Emporis has it at 42 floors above ground and 135m. To put it another way, it is the second tallest apartment block and the fourth tallest building underconstruction (ignoring Panorama sky, of which nothing seems to be happening), and is 4m taller than the current tallest resi.

@Ausilencer, thats fine - SS.com seems to stuff up every now and then.

So its going to be the second tallest aprt/unit High-Rise after felix is that correct.

^
Sorry I worded it badly - Felix is 131m while Festival Towers is 135m. So it is slightly bigger, and I would say that it will look that way partly because it doesn't have a 150m monster right next door. I'm more looking forward to Skyline and Aurora though.

M on Mary is 140m, Charlotte Towers is 138m..

Thats just to name a couple.

How would anybody like Q1 in Brisbane, would anybody enjoy that or marvel at it etc.

hhmm...

Id take it, sure. I did have to think about it but we have much worse designs so why be stupidly picky. It would get pushed into the backgorund when vision was finshed anyway.

why did u ask that in this thread..

I dunno, I was really asking about it due to it say being in the gold Coast and Not Brissie etc.

there was a floor rise today

and a floor rise again, the floors appear to be catching up to the core which hasnt moved in over a month

http://img48.exs.cx/img48/9161/festival1bv.jpg

Damn you Malt lol! I wanted to be the first person posting a pic from that angle - I thought I was the only one to have figured it out lol.... oh well - it's going to be a good angle when the tower gets up a bit. - nice pic.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v499/danubiis/festival1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v499/danubiis/festival2.jpg

there has been a care rise. finally. the last one was december 25..... tihs is like a month and a half later.

nice work danubis..

and lol sorry ausilencer :P

Is there anything planned to back onto the base in Danubis' 2nd pic at this stage? Looks dormant.

Festival should have had another rise by now.

i was wonderin the same thing when i took the photo

If your talking about the space behind it..

M on Mary is planned for it. 140m

If your talking about the space behind it..

M on Mary is planned for it. 140m
:) Cheers.

Hope to see FT pic updates soon. ;)

there has been a care rise. finally. the last one was december 25..... tihs is like a month and a half later.

nice work danubis..

and lol sorry ausilencer :P
is a "care" rise like a core rise but done carefully? lol
man this is a slow mover.

My Mum took this picture while she was down there on the weekend, This was taken on either Saturday or Sunday from Royal on the Park.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid161/pa5c0b942750f96f2669b7aa6617e36c7/f4d77885.jpg
Crane just poking out there.

Very cute. http://www.sayhey.co.uk/invboard/html/emoticons/laugh.gif

Devine towers always seem to take a while at the start but then shoot up amazingly fast.

Very cute.

Yeah Very Funny. I would've taken it myself if I went down there.

I havn't been past this site in a while but this is the first time I've noticed they've started on the actual tower (rather than just the podium). One level has been poured and prep for the next seemed well underway. Hopefully this means the start of the 'shoot up' stage.

you can see they started the actual tower if you look at the webcam.

yes, its coming along fine
http://img35.exs.cx/img35/1727/02mar318fs.jpg

Look! lol.
It is ewell above the car park now. So much for that vantage point :)

http://img258.echo.cx/img258/9734/festival15ei.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)
http://img248.echo.cx/img248/9661/festival29sj.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

does anyone know what core level is up too?
(just updating monthly diagrams)

I have no clue. Id guess like 12-14?

I'm not really familiar with the way Construction works down there with the Favco cranes and all but just the way how they can keep a crane so short and say if they put it atop of the actual construction and keep it going up, do they just keep replacing it or do they put in the elevator shafts etc and put the crane on top of that or so on.

I'm not really familiar with the way Construction works down there with the Favco cranes and all but just the way how they can keep a crane so short and say if they put it atop of the actual construction and keep it going up, do they just keep replacing it or do they put in the elevator shafts etc and put the crane on top of that or so on.

The crane has to be anchored somewhere, then it grows by adding sections just under the mechanical platform. The cranes on Casino Towers and Festival Towers have been there from the start and are anchored to large concrete pads at the lowest basement level. Voids (holes) are left in the carpark levels and the podium level of the building which are filled after the crane is dismantled.

Aurora originally had two cranes both anchored at the lowest basement level. After the podium was complete they were both removed, then one was reassembled anchored to a large steel frame on top of the podium.

In the case of Q1 the cranes are in the lift shafts. I've yet to figure out exactly how they will remove these cranes!

In the case of Q1 the cranes are in the lift shafts. I've yet to figure out exactly how they will remove these cranes!

i had a lecture on Q1 last year in regards to the cranes.

a smaller crane will be lifted and assembled at the top. it will lift the original cranes back down to the bottom. the smaller crane has parts small enough to fit in the lifts and it will be taken down in the goods lift.

apparently, if something doesnt go to plan and a part doesnt fit in the lift, they will use a helicopter!

^ thats right. this was done with WT.

Photo taken today of the back of the building - looking across the M on Mary site, which seems to have been totally cleared of Festival's building materials.

http://home.iprimus.com.au/johnthay/photos/14may05festival.jpg

Latest update from Devine.

May 6, 2005

4–day floor cycles expected

Builders are targeting four-day slab cycles upon the installation of climbing formwork systems above level 7 at Festival Towers.

Workers have installed vertical walls up to level 7 using traditional formwork methods.

Contractors Multiplex Constructions have now let 86% of trades' contracts for the 41-level, 401 apartments building that is due for completion March 2006.

Finishing trades are working on level one SOHO apartments along Albert Street, and the mock-up display unit will be completed soon.

http://www.festivaltowers.com.au/constructionupdate/may2005_01_large.jpg

http://www.festivaltowers.com.au/constructionupdate/may2005_02_large.jpg

http://www.festivaltowers.com.au/constructionupdate/may2005_03_large.jpg

thanks duke, so what levl is in corebox? 10?

Just noticed this from Devine's updates. Both Festival Towers and Victoria Point in Melbourne are scheduled for completion in March 2006.

Festival Towers as at early May 2005 looks like this:

http://www.festivaltowers.com.au/constructionupdate/may2005_03_large.jpg

Victoria Point as at early May 2005 looks like this:

http://www.vicpoint.com.au/update/2005_may07_large.jpg

LOL Well, something to look forward to.

At least the tower component is up 'n running. You watch it pick up speed from here on in with the 4-day slab cycle!! :okay:

Loving that aerial shot.

lol. what a crock of shit! 4 day cycles are very good. it is only a small floor plate though

^ WT? Always the happy one.

All they mention is "4 day cycles expected". Devine aren't announcing it like it's an innovative breakthrough.

thanks duke, so what levl is in corebox? 10?
anyone?lol

The need to start painting numbers like everyone else lol.

The need to start painting numbers like everyone else lol.

Aurora only started painting floor numbers at around level 20. Perhaps Festival is doing the same?

Wow thanks duke. Love the aerial. M on Mary site is pretty small (or is that building to the right going to be demolished?)

four-day slab cycles - does that mean they pour a floor plate every 4 days?

^ WT? Always the happy one.

All they mention is "4 day cycles expected". Devine aren't announcing it like it's an innovative breakthrough.


i meant a crock of shit between completion dates of Victoria Point and Festival Towers. They are both scheduled for the same time! like at the photos above and youll know what i mean!

Taken Today:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v206/Ausilencer/FestivalTower_20050521_768x1024_01.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v206/Ausilencer/FestivalTower_20050521_1024x768_02.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v206/Ausilencer/FestivalTower_20050521_1024x768_03.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v206/Ausilencer/FestivalTower_20050521_768x1024_04.jpg

< Great pics as usual Ausilencer!! :)

so if podium = 4floors, tower has 6 built + 2 in core, total= 12?
yes top pix aus

Just some pics I took today

http://img293.echo.cx/img293/3963/picture0606ol.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

http://img293.echo.cx/img293/5943/picture0623ia.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

Good shots JayT! Keep 'em coming hehe :-P

Latest update from Devine.

June 10, 2005

At level 10 ... and rising

Work is now about 25 percent complete on the 41-storey construction of Festival Towers.

In May, level 10 was poured, and the formwork climbing system for vertical elements was installed to level 12. It will remain at least two floors above the deck for the balance of construction.

By the end of the month, the lift core jump form had reached the underside of level 16.

Service rough-in works to the building's SOHO apartments are now complete and finishing trades are working on all three levels.

Glazing for these apartments is finished facing Albert Street and will be finalised on the Charlotte Street facade in June.

http://www.festivaltowers.com.au/constructionupdate/june2005_01_large.jpg

http://www.festivaltowers.com.au/constructionupdate/june2005_02_large.jpg

in 18 months theyve only reached 25%. not going to schedule im imagining. should go a lil quicker now with roughly the same floor plate. it varies a lil which will slow it down a bit though

Great pics JayT. Where did you take 'em from?

Eww, that slimey car park in the middle with the brick wall....sitting on such a big juicey site too. :)

The street shot from the web site is good too. :dizzy:

....

looking at those shots gives you a real indication how dense this area is. theres also M on Mary to squeeze in there as well. Holy Shit!

And dont forget Charlotte Towers behind the red roofs in the foreground and next to the slimey carpark!!

Great pics JayT. Where did you take 'em from?

Eww, that slimey car park in the middle with the brick wall....sitting on such a big juicey site too. :)

The street shot from the web site is good too. :dizzy:

....

I took them from the top of the Wintergarden Centre - there is a car park there near the Hilton Hotel which has good views.