Part of the future Kingston foreshore development in Canberra.

http://thegatewayapartments.com/

Telstra Tower, Black Mountain

Built by Concrete Constructions at a cost of $16 million dollars, this circular 195m concrete telecommunications tower sits high up on Black Mountain
overlooking Lake Burley Griffin. Planning for the tower was started in 1970, it was opened by Prime Minister, Malcom Frazer on May 15, 1980.
The 132m concrete shaft is topped by a 90 tonne, 63m tall steel mast.The tower consists of 3 equipment floors & 3
public levels located from 30m to 66m above ground level. In 1989 Telstra Tower became a member of the World Federation of Towers


http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/500/950tt.jpg


http://patrick.wattle.id.au/cameron/photos/canberra/blackmtn_1_l.jpeg


http://abc.net.au/canberra/stories/Telstratowerbig.jpg

sitting high above the nations capital!

http://patrick.wattle.id.au/cameron/photos/canberra/blackmtn_sunset_1_l.jpeg

the views!! over 600m above lake Burley Griffin

http://patrick.wattle.id.au/cameron/photos/canberra/blackmtn_shadow_l.jpeg

http://patrick.wattle.id.au/cameron/photos/canberra/blackmtn_view_l.jpeg


I went up this when it opened in 1980 and just last year! i love it, simple telecommunications structure perfect location!

:D

Great pics. What a shame Brisbane's didn't go ahead.
Whilst I'm used to watching the lights blink atop the towers on Mt Cootha, the Sky Tower or whatever it was called would have been better. The pictures above are the proof!

I wish there was one of those on top of Mt. Lofty (Adelaide)

I was in Canberra in January, and I've got to say that the view from up there is bloody impressive!

I went up Black Mountain Tower in September in 2001 with a school gruop, and boy was the view great from over 300m above the rest of Canberra. :D

<table cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0 width=98% class="quoteBox">
<td align=left valign=center> <smallfont> <b>Quote</B> <I>originally posted by adelaideglenelg </i></b> </smallfont> </td>
<tr><td align=left valign=top>I went up Black Mountain Tower in September in 2001 with a school gruop, and boy was the view great from over 300m above the rest of Canberra. :D</td></tr>
</table>

You went to Canberra for a school excursion???

Hey - I went to Canberra for a school camp in year 10 (2000), and we went up there. The highlight for me was the sign that said "We know it is important to keep up-to-date here at Telecom" or something along those lines.

Will, yes. :) We got to see heaps of photos of it's construction.

You 2 are really lucky!

I go to a private school, and the camps they send us are to places that are really close to the city - not to mention extremely boring!

Examples of my past camps:

*Year 7 - Aldinga

*Year 8 - Victor Harbor

*Year 9 - Kangaroo Island (this one was OK)

*Year 11 - Aldgate

think about it, Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne all have similar features to Canberra - i.e they have a mountain / mountain range "near" the city - all of them could do something like this.

I seriously wonder if any of the TV / Radio networks, if they were to upgrade their Mt. Dandenong facilities, that they all might combine to get something like this done - the extra capacity for Melbourne that a big turret (just look at the girth of Canberra's!) could open up would be snapped up quite quickly (hey, they're not adding a big arse antenna to Rialto for no reason at all - it's needed!)

Sure Brisbane and Adelaide are in the same boat as well!

I'm sure they'd need extra capacity for all the new digital stations the networks are talking about.

I live in one of the few places in Adelaide that doesn't have line-of-sight with Mt. Lofty, so I sometimes get shit reception for ABC and SBS in bad weather. Our local member (can’t remember if it was state or federal) campaigned on a plan to remove these "signal black spots" at the last elections, but never did.

<table cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0 width=98% class="quoteBox"><td align=left valign=center> <smallfont> <b>Quote</B> <I>originally posted by Will </i></b> </smallfont> </td><tr><td align=left valign=top>You 2 are really lucky!

I go to a private school, and the camps they send us are to places that are really close to the city - not to mention extremely boring!

Examples of my past camps:

*Year 7 - Aldinga

*Year 8 - Victor Harbor

*Year 9 - Kangaroo Island (this one was OK)

*Year 11 - Aldgate</td></tr></table>

This wasn't a "compulsory" camp though. Our school also had optional camps to Mt. Hotham and Bali or somewhere in Indonesia. The latter was for Indonesian students only, but who’d want to go there now anyway?

<table cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0 width=98% class="quoteBox">
<td align=left valign=center> <smallfont> <b>Quote</B> <I>originally posted by AtD </i></b> </smallfont> </td>
<tr><td align=left valign=top>Hey - I went to Canberra for a school camp in year 10 (2000), and we went up there. The highlight for me was the sign that said "We know it is important to keep up-to-date here at Telecom" or something along those lines.</td></tr>
</table>

I've been on an overnight excursion to Canberra from Sydney back in year 8 four years ago. We were supposed to black mountain that night were there but for some reason they didn't take us.

No Fabio, they just didnt take YOU

Anyhoo guys Ive got a coupla pics of Telstra Tower u/c sitting in front of me. If ya want me to scan them Ill stick them on here for yas, otherwise I cant be arsed ;)

Get scanning Tas - me wanna see!

Theyll be here tomorrow evening!

This is the sort of buildings I'd love see cover Canberra,

http://metropolis.tayser.net/misc/kingstongateway.JPG
(pic from site)

Instead of the average Bungalo / avg Suburban house, this would look awesome, much like how Ottawa and Washington have.

Not many 'scrapers, however much more urban-looking!

climb the rock!

http://www.galenfrysinger.com/asia/ayersrock04.jpg


click>

http://www.galenfrysinger.com/ayers_rock.htm

that's an old pic?

I swear when I was there in '97 those roads were sealed?

edit: lol theres something bout 1977 on the site :)

its 5 months. any pix.lol

Well if I lived there you would have some pictures of it by now but as I live in the UK.............Anyone else perhaps actually in Australia? or even better, Canberra itself?

Lets just say for the sake of argument that only 1% of a town or cities population ever bothers to visit this site, Canberra has a population of 300,000 or so people in its environs, well my maths isn't great but thats still 300 people and one of you must have a bloody camera!

I've been there too when I was a Uni student back in 1998

...this development is part of a major urban re-development are in Canberra's inner south.


It involves a major re-enlignment of Lake Burley Griffin, a habour and marina complex, new residential streets, apartment blocks, hotels, retail, office and leisure facitilities.



theres a very comprehensive website on the project. i was there (in person) about two months ago. apart from being one of australia's biggest urban developments, it's also one of australia's most tasteful and luxurious.

there are now several apartment complexes like the one picutred above (gateway). There is also an awesome 3D urban model you can view on site.


This development, called "Kingston Foreshore" will take be completely finished within by 2012.

It's basically Canberra's equivalent to Melbourne's Docklands project.


www.kingstonforeshore.com.au

New suburb near wetlands
By Scott Hannaford, Assembly Reporter
Friday, 5 March 2004

Land next to the Jerrabomberra wetlands in Fyshwick is to be set aside for development of a major residential area of up to 4000 houses stretching from Kingston to the Monaro Highway.

The development, tentatively named as the East Basin Urban Renewal Project, would incorporate the Fyshwick markets and the Canberra Institute of Technology and forms one of the key planks in the ACT Government's Spatial Plan, to be detailed today.

The area would become the focus of intense planning to increase density and the wetlands could also be expanded to form a green feature alongside the area.

Four months after the issuing of the draft Spatial Plan, the final version of the Government's vision for the future of the city is expected to adopt a development zone with a circle of 7.5km radiating from the city centre. The area will progressively be filled in with higher-density housing and businesses over the next 30 years, with the goal of limiting development to within a 15km radius of Civic.

Along with the East Basin, the plan is expected to make Northbourne Avenue and the streets surrounding it the main area of focus for increasing the density of the city, leading to a more compact, highly populated inner city.

While detailed planning of the East Basin project is yet to come, it is anticipated the zone could become a mix of residential, business and nature reserve. The area has been earmarked as one of the highest priorities for the Government, meaning the detailed planning stage would be completed within 2-3 years.

Planning Minister Simon Corbell said the development could be based on a similar model to the Sydney Olympic Park, an urban development within a wetlands area that was recognised internationally for its environmental sensitivity.

"A key issue for the investigation will be the relationship between the site and the Jerrabomberra wetlands. The wetlands, probably one of the few urban wetlands in Australia, provide an important ecological resource for the territory ... it is therefore imperative that the conservation values of the site are retained," Mr Corbell said.

Water flowing into the area would be treated in a series of ponds that would form further water areas within the wetlands.

The area is in a prime inner-south location with water frontage, but Mr Corbell denied it would become the exclusive domain of wealthy Canberrans.

"It is close to the airport, the markets, schools, shops, the area will create a lot of interest and I'm sure a lot of people will want to live there ... it is an ideal location for expanding the city. There will be areas that cater [to the high end of the market] but the Government wants this to be an area that is accessible for all. Affordable housing will definitely be part of the picture and, together with the Kingston Foreshores, it will be an important area for the entire community to enjoy," he said.

He said there would be a commitment to include public housing in the planning of the area. The proposal will be subject to the approval of the Commonwealth Government, as it will require a change to both the Territory Plan and the National Capital Plan, but Mr Corbell said he was confident the vision presented in the Spatial Plan would become reality. "Make no mistake, the [ACT] Government wants to do this, and we will be making funding available for the next level of detailed planning in the Budget," he said.

The Spatial Plan will be made public this morning. See tomorrow's Canberra Times for detailed coverage.

Canberra: the year 2030
By Scott Hannaford and Lucy Gibson
Saturday, 6 March 2004

Up to 20,000 new homes will be built in the Molonglo Valley to Canberra's west as part of a bold new vision for the future shape of the city that sees it eventually supporting half a million people.

ACT Planning Minister Simon Corbell unveiled the Government's much- anticipated Spatial Plan yesterday, setting out the broad framework for urban expansion of the city for the next 30 years.

As foreshadowed in the November draft version, the Stromlo pine forests virtually destroyed in the January 2003 bushfires will make way for a major new city sector to cater to a possible ACT population of up to 500,000 by 2032. Gungahlin is also to be completed as a priority.

Land to the east of the city at Kowen will be kept in reserve for housing, and the inner city and transport corridors leading from it to the town centres will be progressively filled-in to create a more compact city, concentrated around a 7.5km circle radiating from Civic.

Businesses will be encouraged to move back into Civic through streamlining of the planning process and the number of people living in the city centre is expected to grow steadily.

The Kingston Foreshore will be extended towards Fyshwick in a new development known as the East Basin Redevelopment Project, which would see up to 4000 houses built around the Fyshwick markets, CIT and next to the Jerrabomberra wetlands.

A noise-protection zone will be established around the airport, preventing housing under flight paths, and a low-light zone will be set up around Mount Stromlo observatory to protect it from upward light pollution.

Development will also be concentrated at transport nodes in the new areas of Molonglo and the airport and existing town centres.

The urban area will be encircled by a bushfire- abatement zone which will have strict guidelines to protect houses from the threat of fire.

Mr Corbell said the plan was the result of listening to the wishes of Canberrans and incorporating that into a vision for a future city that did not sprawl beyond its borders.

The plan contained real time-lines, and work was already under way to realise the vision. Funding for detailed planning work would be part of the next Budget.

"You can't just build a new suburb overnight, but we've already advertised for a detailed planning area of Molonglo. Time-frames are there in the plan. This is a very significant piece of work," Mr Corbell said.

The National Capital Authority gave its blessing to the East Basin project, saying it was very close to Walter Burley Griffin's original plans for the area, but it was non-committal on the issue of Molonglo. The NCA has entered into a joint study of the area with the ACT Government, and its approval would be required for much of the work in the Spatial Plan to commence.

The building industry, Canberra Airport and several welfare groups welcomed the plan yesterday.

Executive officer of ACT Shelter Annette Wade said the organisation was fully supportive of any measures that increased the supply of houses in the national capital.

"We would now like to see low-income houses in well- resourced parts of Canberra, particularly along North- bourne and the employment corridors," Ms Wade said.

Director of the ACT Council of Social Services Daniel Stubbs said he was pleased the Government had made some reference to affordable housing, but was unhappy about the lack of reference to publicly funded housing. "Affordable housing is such a loose and amorphous term," he said.

Mr Stubbs said he was concerned that no reference had been made to difficult-to-place facilities, such as drug and alcohol facilities and women's refuges, but was pleased with efforts to encourage more people to use public transport.

The Opposition and planning experts warned that the Government would need to proceed with great care and make highly detailed studies to ensure the environment at the Jerrabomberra wetlands and Molonglo Valley were not damaged by the development, and to ensure the city's character was not lost in the infill process.

The Conservation Council said although it supported development in the East Basin, it was concerned about the effect it could have on a number of rare and threatened bird species.

At long last!

Thanks for posting these articles guys! I absolutely love reading about this sort of stuff! :D

It demonstrates the fantastic advantage to a city like Canberra, of being small (but not too small) in size and growing at a moderate rate, and being able to plan to a high degree and truly determine the direction and type of growth that the city wants - a true plan for the future.

Oh yeah, and if anyone has access to this:

"The Spatial Plan will be made public this morning. See tomorrow's Canberra Times for detailed coverage."

Could they please post it? Thanks! :)

I have already read the newly released Canberra Spatial Plan.


It is a complete plan for the entire urban area of Canberra for the next 30 years.


Main points are:

Complete Gungahlin township (to the north) over the next ten years. 2015 With the possibility of a light rail extension from Gungahlin towncentre, down Northobourne Avenue to the city centre.

Totally erradicate existing pockets of Pine Plantations!! To avoid possible future threat from bushfires. Build a 1.5km wide Bushfire Clearance zone to encircle the entire metropolitan area!! (over the top)


Establish the new towns of Molonglo Valley, and Kowen from 2015 to 2030 respectively, on land currently occupied by the Molonglo and Kowen Forrest Pine Plantations.



Encourage higher density development along Northbourne Avenue, and the inner north, and higher density and waterfront development along Lake Burley Griffin's East basin, from the kington forshore to fyshwick, in the city's inner south.



There is also an ACT government proposal to develop and extend the city centre beyond it's freeways to the lakefront, by building major Public buildings, a piazza, retail and eating facilities to form a waterside promenade along Lake Burley Griffin's West basin.



Keep all future urban development within the ACT's borders (and to not overspill into nsw). All future urban developments to be no further than 15 km from the city centre!!!



In general, under the Spatial Plan, Canberra will become a more compact, higher density city, with a dominant cityheart -and way less forrest!!



..interestingly, The Spatial Plan shows a High Speed Sydney-Melbourne rail corridor connecting with the Canberra suburbs, but leaving south. ..Suggesting the alternative Gippsland overland route (as oposed to the preferred Hume Hwy route!!!)



The Canberra Spatial Plan completely replaces the old Y-Axis Plan that has been in place since the late 1970s.



You can read the plan and see maps at:


www.actpla.act.gov.au/plandev/sp-intro/



( or go to www.act.gov.au ..and do a search)



and also


www.kingstonforeshore.com.au

Thanks for the summary staminous - I think this is a really positive move for Canberra - higher density and more compact! It's always felt like a giant sprawling suburb (which essential it is at the moment).

Also, getting rid of the pine plantations is a good idea. I'm not speaking in terms of the fire risk, but more in reference to the fact that it is the national capital, and should be dominated by native plant species, indigenous to the area, rather than plantations of foreign vegetation.

Thanks for that staminous and thanks for the link to the spatial plan too :okay:

As requested...

Please excuse some of the pics, I had less than 24 hours in Canberra and a million things to do so some of the pics were taken while driving, just as well that most of these streets are fairly quiet.

Thailand
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid116/p9d84e421f984a5824bfc7cf14cbba3ea/f8b70931.jpg

Ireland - one of my all time favourites!
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid116/pa4e3327fc32d3d902376a0ee76a2eccf/f8b6f99d.jpg

Unsure??
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid116/p0a0e1dced6849800ace600da20aaac78/f8b70927.jpg

France???
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid116/p1a727e9f18ad520b5f0c2ee2910be571/f8b7091f.jpg

Unsure??
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid116/p10c403c56bcfe0c54f3abb9ecc8f4147/f8b6f9a7.jpg

Papua New Guinea
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid116/pfa0de7840946765ce38068259d1f4b60/f8b6df88.jpg

China - sorry about the trees being in the way, nearly crashed taking this one!!!
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid116/pbd93dc2aa929d566d209ff008e37c50c/f8b6d80c.jpg

Unsure??
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid116/p5e97129e1843ae87c8ad0e9fb4859014/f8b6cd80.jpg

Finland - What a sexy building, apparently its amazing inside!!
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid116/p66811cdd9481a4c9e8480be565fb32b3/f8b6e372.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid116/pd676e8d88c5b53ba0f2b409849593066/f8b6f996.jpg

There are that many embassies in Canberra and this is a select few of the more interesting ones in one corner of one suburb (Yarralumla). I had wanted to get a photo of the american embassy but there were too many trees and not enough time. If anyone can fill in the gaps, I cant remember which countries they all belong to!!

You're right about the ones you've identified. As to the others...


Unsure??
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid116/p0a0e1dced6849800ace600da20aaac78/f8b70927.jpg


Could this one be Poland?




Unsure??
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid116/p5e97129e1843ae87c8ad0e9fb4859014/f8b6cd80.jpg


This one is the South African High Commission.

The Polish flag is red and white so could be.

Great stuff GMAC :) Just love monumental architecture.

woot!

Were you as underwhelmed by the Biritsh High Commission (Commonwealth Ave) as I was?

lol great stuff, PNG's is tops out of those pics IMO :)

You have jogged my memory, yes it is definitely poland.

The Brittish High Commission building is boring as hell and much of the Brittish High Commission is in the SAP Tower in Civic, It would be nice if they built something new and interesting to house all of their offices. The New Zealand High Commission isnt much better but at least it has those funny Cow Sculptures out the back!!!

In fact a lot of the British High Commission (in particular the consular section) has moved out to Brindabella Park, the huge (and inappropriate) commercial complex at Canberra "International" (HA!) Airport. If you wonder what that says about the British High Commission, the consider this: if you want to call the High Commission in relation to any consular matters, you have the choice of dialling a 1902 number, for which calls are charged at a rate of $1.05 cents per minute to listen to recorded information and $2.15 per minute to talk to a consultant, or calling a Melbourne number, for which you'll be charged $9.90, which will be charged to your credit card.

$2.15 per minute to talk to a "real live person" might be justified if they get a whole lot of calls (but I think it's still a bit rich), but where do they get off charging $1.05 to hear recorded information. It's a total rort! And as a British citizen, it pisses me right off! :wallbash:

(Sorry, rant over now! I know that was off topic, but I had to vent! :) )

My favourite there was the SOuth AFrican High Commission.

Someone should add an Ayers Rock diagram to skyscraperpage.com's diagram section :)

how high is it above ground/ i think its 800 or so m RL

It's 348m above ground.

By the way, someone tell me what RL stands for? It's the same as ASL (above sea level) isn't it.

RL = reduced level or Sea level of sometimes referred to as AHD which is Australian Height datum!
Ayers Rock sure is a monster. in my towers cabinet i have a scale cut out of it as backdrop for the towers of the world ect. Its massive at 2.5km long!
at 348m its higher than most of the worlds tallest buildings!!

Doesn't Brazil have an Embassy in Canberra? :(

Yes, it does. It has a nice view of the lake.

Germany--Looks like an old pic
http://www.geocities.com/trudy2002au/canp.jpg

LOL Germany's looks like a high school!

Nice pictures, but all I see in the garden city approach of Canberra is green. That is how planners wanted the city to be. European classical garden city. Canberra...I don't see it getting any skyscrapers any time soon. bUT I do see it becoming a major international airport, with upgrades to its existing airport, as for skyscrapers.....

depends how you define skyscraper? Canberra is about to get a 20storey apartment tower which will be very tall for Canberra. as for anything higher, they have a 60m height limit so there goes anything higher for now.

I was talking to a friend of mine in Canberra last night and he mentioned a couple of things that seemed fantastic, but was a little strange considering I havent seen anything on here about them.

1. New 30 storey tower going up in the small carpark across from Electric Shadows Cinemas between Akuna and Allara Sts in Civic.

2. That they are intending on making some of Parkes Way underground and extending the city down to the Lakes Edge which would be Acton Park near the Boat Hire place.

If either of these possibilities are correct then we could see a significant change in not only the height of the city building but also the size of the city footprint. Can anyone down there confirm?

This really would be great news (extending the city to the lake shore). It would make the city seem less contrived and "normal". I hope this is true.

Perhaps Kingston Foreshore really is the beginning of greater things to come for Canberra's lake front.

I was in canberra last weekend. There are several developments having in the city, and this thread seems to largely ignore current Canberra developments.


Firstly the 30 story office/appartment proposal. It's only in discussion stage, but considering the incredible sales down at Woden with the 25 story Skyway Apartment building, it could be a goer!!

Secondly, yes the ACT Government does hae a plan to bury Parkes Way and extend the city to the lake front at West basin. The area is to feature mainly Public and Civic buildings and is known as City Place in the current cityplan. Not to intended to be built until around 2010.


The biggest development in Canberra under construction would have to be what is known as Section 84 !! A whole city block, (formally a car park) is being developed right now. This development included retail, and highrise apartments. But the most amazing thing is, this development is turning Bunda Street into Canberra's MAIN downtown boulevard!!!

Yes - the ACT Government has ditched a long standing preference for developing 'pedestrian walkways and malls' to strip shopping. The did their research and found, Canberran's wanted their own Main Street - complete with parallel parking !!! thank you very much!!

This development also involves extending Lonsdale Street southwards, and thus creating a new major 'high profile' traffic and pedestrian junction.

All apart of the ACT's plan to strengthen the CIVIC as Canberra's unrivalled business, retail, leisure and cultural centre. ( a recent and radical break to decades of de-centralisation policy.)

Infact, inner Canberra is very dense these days. Midrise apartment living appears to be the norm anywhere within a the inner north and inner south. Traditional 1930s Canberra
bunbalows are sadly a rare and vanishing feature.

Kingstone Forshere is also progressing along well. Several fantastic looking apartment buildings and office suites are nearing completion. They have still not re-aligned Lake Burney Griffin as yet, but all the major drainage infrastructure is in place. Won't be long now!!!

Pretty soon Canberra will have a swank n swingin Harbourside suburb!!! ..give another two years max.

Also, three 10 story apartment buildings are now underconstruction along Northbourne Avenue. That thouroughfare sure is begining to beef up.

Gungahlin town centre is developing quite tastefully as well.


Canberra - is surely the most un represented city on this thread.

Thanks for the confirmation staminous. I will be in Canberra in a few weeks so will try to get out and get some shots. I agree with you about Canberra being a little un-represented.

i live in adelaide and canberra seems to be have a bigger building boom than us! 30 and 25 storey buildings? yikes! does this mean they be the new tallest in canberra apart from that mobile tower on the hill?

canberras got a TALLEr tower than us? we need one on mount lofty then!

canberras got a TALLEr tower than us? we need one on mount lofty then!
the tallest TV tower at Mt Lofty rises to 146m (Ch2). its elevation is a whopping 720m.

Does anyone have a picture of Mt Lofty showing the tower
How bought Mt Cootha - are there any substantial towers on it.

Also Telstra Tower is not featured on the webisite of the World Federation of Great Towers - you think being listed in 1989 it would be.
http://www.great-towers.com/eng/

Heres the best pic of Mt Stuart, Townsville I could find. There are about 9 towers on the 584m summit and the biggest one (a TV Tower) is apparentely 160m tall. A couple of years ago there was a fire at the top of the tower - there was no reception on some stations for a while.

http://users.bigpond.com/sippala/australia/townsville/DSC05780.jpg

Just heard from a friend who works at The National Capital Authority, and he has informed me that the 30 storey building is being planned but nothing can be built above the RL 617m.I am not sure what the RL is of any of the buildings in the ACT so Im not sure if this will be one of the tallest or not. Anyone know the RL's of any buildings in Canberra?

I always thought Canberra was more like 700m AS? or is that Mt. Ainsley / Black Mountain / Brindabellas beyond?

I would say that this 30 story proposal will definately go ahead.

Not only will it go ahead, but it will be fastracked by the current ACT Government.



Canberran's are only too aware that their city has spent the 90s on the verge of recession. The fact that Canberra has had almost zero population growth of late is a real contention of debate in the local ACT media.

Simply, a Chief Minister that can fast track the city's tallest building is a Chief Minister desparately trying to save his assss.

You watch Gungahlin Drive and this 30 story baby grow. these developments have politics behind them.

The National Capital Authority means not much these days. Infact the ACT government has legislated to limit their power. The ACT Government now has all the say on planning issues. the NPA is fast becoming obsolete and their is a perceptin that the NCA has basically done nothing and hindered development in the ACT for the past decade.
A large part of this imo is very true.


A Chief minister that is percieved to be ''developing'' canberra with concrete is a safe chief minister.trust me. And being green is a dirty word.

Canberrans a desparate to grow their city in anyway possible. This is the best time EVER in the history of the ACT for a 30 story scraper to get the go ahead!

Lets hope! And lets hope its beautiful with a nice interesting crown too.

Waterside apartments in Belconnen.
Front aspect (http://www.raia.com.au/awards_image?image=/awards/images/20041033/3.jpg&entryno=20041033)
Rear aspect (http://www.raia.com.au/awards/images/20041033/1.jpg)

Great to see this type of waterside development in the various parts of the city.

Facelift for city's lake edge - Revival of Burley Griffin's plan
By Peter Brewer
Monday, 20 September 2004

An extensive, multi-million-dollar plan to revitalise the eastern edge of the city and northern lake shore will be revealed by the National Capital Authority - but not until after the ACT elections.

The NCA is keeping details of the plans secret for fear of breaching the caretaker provisions of government during the lead- up to the elections, but insiders have described it as "potentially the most important change to the city plan in 80 years".

The scope of the plan, which aims to put a modern interpretation to Walter Burley Griffin's design, is seen as more broad- reaching than either the National Capital Development Commission's 1965 outlook The Future Canberra or its 1970 proposal, Tomorrow's Canberra.

The Canberra Times understands that part of the Griffin Legacy project will revive the spirit of the American designer's 1912 vision for the national capital by revitalising Constitution Avenue as a broad boulevard in the Parisian style, lined by shops, outdoor cafes and apartments.

The second key element of the plan is expected to involve the creation of extensive land "bridges" over Parkes Way to provide easier pedestrian access to the northern parts of the lake shore and Commonwealth Park from Civic.

Building the bridges would demand the "sinking" of extended sections of Parkes Way, for many years regarded by NCA planners as unsympathetic to Griffin's design. This reshaping of the eastern edge of Civic would mirror a similar plan, already announced, for the western side of City Hill, called the City West project.

The Griffin Legacy project is seen as the NCA's response to stinging criticism issued by former planning commissioner Tony Powell 10 days ago, describing the "deteriorating physical fabric" of the city.

Mr Powell said that since the opening of Parliament House in 1988, the Commonwealth's building program had virtually dried up and only one new national institution, the National Museum, had been built since then.

He said only two prime ministers had shown an interest in advancing Canberra - Sir Robert Menzies and Gough Whitlam.

He also regarded Prime Minister John Howard's decision not to live in The Lodge as "a serious blow" to the prestige of the national capital, and sent a signal to other ministers, the Public Service and the community that the city was "not worthy of special treatment".

The Griffin Legacy project has been developed over several years by NCA cultural adviser David Headon, with principal urban designers Ian Wood-Bradley and Stuart Mackenzie.

The plan has the support of two of Canberra's most influential architects, who are excited at the prospect of a new vision for the capital.

Colin Stewart, a co-designer of the ACT Magistrates Court and the Kingston Foreshore development, said revitalisation of Constitution Avenue was long overdue and "a wonderful idea". "It's a piece of land that was always intended [by Griffin] to be built up [with residences]," he said.

"Griffin always intended for Constitution Avenue to be this broad, tree-lined esplanade linked with Russell, where people lived and worked and there were exciting things going on."

"I think it's fabulous that this is being looked at because we just can't keep expanding the suburbs further and further out.

"It's a real challenge to build in the city and not make it a concrete jungle. Although we're only a small city ... it's important to have people living closer in to the city because with that influx of people comes energy and vitality."

President of the ACT chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects Catherine Townsend believes there is a need to "fill in" some of the gaps in Civic - and reviving Griffin's plan for Constitution Avenue would drive that process along.

That is all fantastic news and will really open Canberra up. I would say that over the next 10 to 20 years the somewhat negative impression many people have of Canberra will change and it probably will become one of the trendiest cities in Australia to live in.

which city is this exactly?

Does this help Danubis?

http://peterblackshaw.com/pbsgfx/map.gif

sorry to say.. no, dosnt help... still confused as to which city it is... a little help?

lol

Canberra I think

Where exactly on Lake Ginenderra are these? When I drove in to Belconnen a couple of months ago it looks like there was heaps of work going on on the Florey side of the lake. Its about time that they put some decent residential around the lake, I know people use the lake and the parks surrounding it but I still think this one and Lake Tuggeranong are underutilised. There just doesnt seem to be anything to draw people to the lake, other than the odd playground. Anyway, its good to see this sought of development!!

Hi GMAC, this development is near Emu Bank, just north of the Westfield mall
and southwest of the water police.


http://www.tip.net.au/~glendar/mmassage/map2.jpg

A little further north is "The Shores" apartment complex (soon to be built)
http://203.30.79.41/img-640/2003/10/31/2be2fff36c55152e1aa64ec68f998f7b.jpg

...and its location
http://203.30.79.41/img-640/2003/10/31/9df94188e5ea4b411e92bca368b4e5f8.jpg


http://www.villagebuilding.com.au/theshores/

Aerial shots from the Canberra Times photo sales site.

The whole area (brown) is being re-developed. The white cluster is the recently completed "Gateway" apartments. "Viridian" apartments are still a complex of scaffolding next door.

View from behind.
http://www.bicaprolab.com.au/pls/piction/ump.retrieve_uma?surl=949323119ZZZRLKIRIAUPT&parm1=UMO_ID&parm2=917798&parm1=DISPLAY_TYPE&parm2=RAW&parm1=DISPLAY_WHAT&parm2=MASTER&parm1=OVERRIDE_DISPLAY&parm2=PHOTO&parm1=AID&parm2=4364&parm1=LOGIN_TYPE&parm2=CUSTOMER&parm1=VERSION&parm2=

Another view from the front.
http://www.bicaprolab.com.au/pls/piction/ump.retrieve_uma?surl=949323119ZZZRLKIRIAUPT&parm1=UMO_ID&parm2=917816&parm1=DISPLAY_TYPE&parm2=RAW&parm1=DISPLAY_WHAT&parm2=MASTER&parm1=OVERRIDE_DISPLAY&parm2=PHOTO&parm1=AID&parm2=4364&parm1=LOGIN_TYPE&parm2=CUSTOMER&parm1=VERSION&parm2=

Slightly closer view.
http://www.bicaprolab.com.au/pls/piction/ump.retrieve_uma?surl=949323119ZZZRLKIRIAUPT&parm1=UMO_ID&parm2=917827&parm1=DISPLAY_TYPE&parm2=RAW&parm1=DISPLAY_WHAT&parm2=MASTER&parm1=OVERRIDE_DISPLAY&parm2=PHOTO&parm1=AID&parm2=4364&parm1=LOGIN_TYPE&parm2=CUSTOMER&parm1=VERSION&parm2=

The old Powerhouse (brick building)
http://www.bicaprolab.com.au/pls/piction/ump.retrieve_uma?surl=949323119ZZZRLKIRIAUPT&parm1=UMO_ID&parm2=917856&parm1=DISPLAY_TYPE&parm2=RAW&parm1=DISPLAY_WHAT&parm2=MASTER&parm1=OVERRIDE_DISPLAY&parm2=PHOTO&parm1=AID&parm2=4364&parm1=LOGIN_TYPE&parm2=CUSTOMER&parm1=VERSION&parm2=

Interior of the Gateway complex.

http://allhomes.com.au/img-640/2/2004/10/08/4b2f09fe905dffbc0c5b980c070bfa31.jpg

I was back in Canberra last weekend - let me tell u, this city is moving. The new Canberra Centre, a whole bunch of new buildings in the CBD, Northbourne Av being pumped. Canberra Airport is filling up with office parks. Belconnen has at least 5 new buildings that I counted - the most impressive being ABS House, that's a pretty piece of glass. Work seems to be going ahead nicely on Gunghalin Dr - the section already complete should stand as a lesson to other cities on how to make drivable roads that account for future traffic. Gunghalin is a revelation. My Brother used to work at the Woolworths Plus Petrol there which was at the end of a dirt track fronting onto green fields - all houses, parks and shops now. Development of a second Mall in Gunghalin continues - the Underground Car Park is being constructed. I'll be posting a handful of photos soon - if I wasn't there for family reasons (my brothers live there!) I would've gone ballistic with the Camera, it's an orgy of development! Watch this space!

Anyone know what airlines fly direct to Uluru from Melbourne Sydney Brisbane?

Anyone know what airlines fly direct to Uluru from Melbourne Sydney Brisbane?

http://www.qantas.com.au/content/dyn/routemaps/au/index

Qantas - from Cairns, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Alice Springs

http://www.virginblue.com.au/flightInfo/citys/

Virgin Blue has direct flights from Adelaide to Alice Springs only, not to Yulara

http://www.qantas.com.au/content/dyn/routemaps/au/index

Qantas - from Cairns, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Alice Springs

http://www.virginblue.com.au/flightInfo/citys/

Virgin Blue has direct flights from Adelaide to Alice Springs only, not to Yulara

Qantas - not ex. Brisbane. Only to Alice Springs.

Canberra Airport to become the south eastern AVIATION HUB of Australia!? :)

heights for Canberra.
all AHD or above sea level.
#Lake Burley Griffin-555m (if a bldg is located near waters edge it would reach 61m/200ft high at limit of 617mRL).

#Airport-575m
#CBD-571m (617-571= 46m/150ft)-height limit?
#tip of Black Mountain tower-812m (base of tower-617m)

Hello there. I am in Canberra but do not (currently) have a camera. Surely there would be less than 300 Canberrans on this forum... are there really 60 million people on the worldwide forum?

Anyhow... does anyone know whether there are any long-term plans to extend The Causeway, as was proposed around 10 years ago?

^ the forum has approx 10,400 members of which 5,000 are regular uses. Out of that there is approx 200 Ozforumers which there are regulary approx 100 contributing members Of that 100, approx 2 are from canberra.
buy a cam and post some pix.

There is indeed a building being built on the carpark opposite Electric Shadows that you mentioned, but it is not 30 storeys. It's 9 or 10. I checked out the development application on the ACT Planning and Land Authority website (http://www.actpla.act.gov.au) (although it's not there anymore, because it obviously has already been approved). anyway, isn't there a 10-storey height limit in Civic?

As for the section 84 development that staminous mentioned, you can check out the section 84 master plan (http://www.actpla.act.gov.au/plandev/masterplans/city/section84.pdf). It sure is a big project.

The Building going up opposite Electric Shadows will be 14 floors.. Already leased to Fed Govt.. Tourism Department... see photo in Cranes thread.

In most of Civic there is a building height of 14 floors... but a recent change to the Territory plan allowed one building per section to have unlimited floor height...

Of course in Civic West the Lakeside and Capital Apartments are 20 storeys, and the new Metropolitian.. ( another crane shot in cranes) will be 18 and 17..

In Woden the Skyplaza will be 20 as well.

14 storeys was decided upon years ago to stop tall buildings taking away the so called vista of the surrounding mountains and hills.

heights for Canberra.
all AHD or above sea level.
#Lake Burley Griffin-555m (if a bldg is located near waters edge it would reach 61m/200ft high at limit of 617mRL).

#Airport-575m
#CBD-571m (617-571= 46m/150ft)-height limit?
#tip of Black Mountain tower-812m (base of tower-617m)
yeah so looks like basic height limit for CBD is 46m/150ft. or upto 60m at lakes edge.
make sure you guys let me know of any to add to Canberra on ss.com.
thanks

Anyone know what the go is with the Metropolitan apartment tower??
A while ago on these boards it was said to have been cancelled but now in the crane thread there is a picture of groundwork and a crane on the site of the proposed development...whats going on??
If it is going ahead as would suggest by the crane etc is there any change to the plans of the building? will london tower component be as tall etc? i can't find any website for the complex on the web and their was one when it was announced.
If anyone has any details on whats going on I would be trully appreciative.

Metro in Canberra is going ahead as planned... and watch for more building next door later this year on the vacant dirt carparks.

This looks an iteresting proposed development for Civic: http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=news&subclass=local&story_id=378131&category=General+News&m=3&y=2005

Ive never been there but the article says that City Hill was pretty much not a pleasant place to be.

Good to see them making all these plans to make Canberra a better place.

I agree that Canberra should 'beef' up the city. Our nations capital isnt the granduer and class that other world capitals are. Nearby Sutherland Shire has more skyscrapers than Canberra.

Northborne avenue should the main street of Canberra's skyscrapers. Developing an eastern bypass freeway (Majura Road alignment) may ease the traffic on Northborne Av to allow the CIVIC Proposal to go ahead. :)

In general I like it although I would have liked to have seen a tunnel under city hill which would not be that hard to do, or even better a tunnel from commonwealth ave straight under northbourne ave and popping up somewhere on the other side of the city so that traffic can bypass the city if it needs to which would also enhance the Melbourne and Sydney buildings. I like the sound of the plan though!!

I agree that Canberra should 'beef' up the city. Our nations capital isnt the granduer and class that other world capitals are. Nearby Sutherland Shire has more skyscrapers than Canberra.
While agreed about the beefing up, i would have to disagree about Canberra not having class. It's a beautiful city with great monumental architecture (and mistakes too).

I don't think scrapers alone make a city classy, although their plaza areas and lobbies could add to that.

Yeah, something needs to be done about the vehicle traffic. Has anyone ever tried to cross the busier roads? http://web.gay.hr/smilies/scared.gif

A more detailed description of the plan is at the ACTPLA site (http://www.actpla.act.gov.au/whatsnew/cityhill.pdf).

I think it has some positive aspects, but some there are also some I don't really like:
- the narrowing of Northbourne Ave towards City Hill. This is Canberra's main thoroughfare! They can't seriously be proposing to reduce it from six lanes to fewer! What point is there in removing the median, if all it going to leave is wide footpaths with six lanes in the middle?
- the landbridge from city east down to the lakeshore - this seems to be in conflict with the City West Master Plan (http://www.actpla.act.gov.au/plandev/masterplans/city/west/index.htm) which seems to indicate a landbridge from city west down to the same area (this appears to make more sense).

This is city hill from the south... from my daily walk around the lake.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v326/emerbot/IMG_0545.jpg

The thing is, there's nothing that great about city hill! Why it needs to be the new focal point of the Civic area, I just don't understand. Sure, they should get rid of the hideous surface carparks that encircle it - they're butt-ugly. But it is a boring park - there's nothing particularly attractive about it.

Did anyone realize that the magnificent Kings Bridge in Launcestonwas prefabricated in England and shipped there in 1863 and floated into place . In 1904 an identical span was built nearby and attached to accommodate a 2nd traffic lane. amazing

http://www.deh.gov.au/cgi-tmp/rt42830-17736.jpg

http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an23478088-v.jpg

http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an11892262-4-v.jpg

original width
http://images.statelibrary.tas.gov.au/tasimg/jul1998/normal/AUTAS001124869579.jpg

Can anyone explain to me the point in extending Constitution Ave and Edinburgh Ave?

Well, I think it is for two reasons:
- first, because they are getting rid of the off ramps from Commonwealth Ave to London Circuit - so extending these roads will enable access to the southern part of London Cirt to be maintained.
- secondly, because they want to slow down the traffic on Vernon circle, and extending these roads and putting in traffic lights is one way to do this.
I'm not saying I agree with those reasons, but I think that's why.

Note: access ramps to/from Commonwealth Ave to/from Parkes Way are also removed in the plan. Which should make for some interesting traffic nightmares...

i wish they look towards making Canberra truely iconic, a rightful capital city amongst the capitals of the world

wow a nice bridge.

The thing is, there's nothing that great about city hill! Why it needs to be the new focal point of the Civic area, I just don't understand. Sure, they should get rid of the hideous surface carparks that encircle it - they're butt-ugly. But it is a boring park - there's nothing particularly attractive about it.

Well I'm assuming because of its commanding location directly opposite Capital Hill. In addition, when you look at the structure of the "city" itself, you see it gathers around City Hill. The fact that it gathers around pretty much nothing is somewhat of a disappointment, because the way the roads are aligned imply that it was supposed to be a focal point.

All must remember that Canberra, along with Adelaide city, and unique in that they are examples of garden cities. Modelled at the time of federation...> Must not remove the city hill focal point, but to enhance its character is vital.

Well I still like my idea of a tunnel under the hill, at least that way you could use city hill because it wouldnt be blocked by the main road. You could then put something of worth up there like a monument and people would be able to safely visit it. It would also make it easier to have straight pedestrian access from the geographical centre of the CBD to the lakes edge.

Is any of this being put up for public comment because while most of it looks quite good there are a few points that residents will not agree with and rightfully so!

The ACT Government recently signed an agreement with the ANU under which the ANU will acquire and develop a large tract of land in City West. The first building to be proposed under this agreement is new student accomodation.

"The ANU has recently appointed UniLodge to design, construct and manage a purpose built student accommodation facility to house up to 450 students. This facility will be located on the ANU campus. It is due to open in late 2006 or early 2007."

http://www.unilodge.com.au/images/au_2.jpg

This new student accomodation will be built on the corner of Childers St and Hutton St in Civic. It should be good to get some people living in this area - thre 'town and gown' concept for City West might just work!

City Hill is a joke, car parks surround it! They should correct that immediately

why to me Canberra is too far sprawled, the city centre needs to be (built for a start!) :D consolidated and then the outward development can start.

excellent!

Terry Snow, the owner of the Canberra Airport which has undergone a huge transformation in recent years with the construction of about 10 five story office buildings has weighed into the Civic debate.

The Canberra Times published about 6 pages of his ideas yesterday.. too much to scan, but here's his vision for city hill.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v326/emerbot/hp_scanDS_54292164356.jpg

Well that looks pretty good but where does Northbourne Ave and Commomwealth Ave go? They cant just finish on London Cct, that would throw the city into Gridlock in peak hour.

London circuit would become One Way.. Canberra's biggest 5-lane round about, and you know we love those here.

thanks for scan. looks like 2x12storey towers at far right will be built.
but very much lowrise.

The thing that I dont get in this plan is that while every other city in Australia is trying to cut down on the amount of traffic in the city, especially when there is lots of through traffic, Canberra is looking at making it all worse. London circuit being one way makes no sense at all, apart from the huge amount of traffic that will be on it in peak hour, it will increase travelling times for commuters and local freight, and god help the tourists that already complain about the place going round in circles!!!

this is listed as a hotel on ss.com but on realestate.com there selling units.
Pacific Hotel at 2 Marcus Clarke Street. can anyone confirm?
http://www.realestate.com.au/objects/props/2609/1942609ml1059426858.jpg

about time Canberra starts building mid high rises.

Just browsing with google they seem to be serviced apartments rather than a hotel. Most refer to it as Pacific International Apartments at Capital Tower or something like that. Maybe the apartments are strata titled and owner can chose to live in it themselves or put it in the holiday rental pool which is managed by Pacific International.

I remember when they built this one it was absolutely huge and I thought it was a normal apartment building but as far as I know it is now as Oriolus stated.

Just browsing with google they seem to be serviced apartments rather than a hotel. Most refer to it as Pacific International Apartments at Capital Tower or something like that. Maybe the apartments are strata titled and owner can chose to live in it themselves or put it in the holiday rental pool which is managed by Pacific International.
Yep, thats right.
about time Canberra starts building mid high rises.
This one has been there for years.

thanks guys, so apartments & serviced apartments use.
cheers

The top four apartments are two story ones.. sell for about $900.000 when they come up..

The building is getting on a bit now.. I think about 35% are full time residents.

This was interesting one when it went up.. there was no work for quite a while when it was half way up after a dispute with the crane crew.. One day they lifted a shipping containing and parked it behind the site managers car blocking his car in for days..

I can't remember the crane company, but it was black and yellow.

Hey everyone, i'm a newbie member of the forums, but i've been reading up on here for about 3 months now. I've got quite a few photos of canberra city and the parliamentary area that i'd like to share, but i'm not sure how to post images, so for the time being, i thought i'd just write a quick hello to everyone.

I'm happy to get involved in the Canberra forums, taking photos of construction and keeping an eye out for any new developments. I'm only 20, and lived in Canberra all my life, but there seems to be quite a bit of construction finally happening, mostly in the 8 - 14 storey range, but it would be really nice to see the city fill out a bit, and cover some of the carpark eyesores. On that note, quite a few construction sites around town haven't been mentioned on here, so i'll try and get some photos and details of these. I'm also keen on updating canberra's list of 'talls' on ss.com.

I've just got one question thats been annoying me for a while, what is being constructed at 100 Northbourne Avenue? Thats where the Kythera Motel used to be. There are no billboards or any signage on the construction site. I'm assuming it will probably be some kind of commercial building, but does anyone know any details?

to post pics:

go to www.imageshack.us

click browse, browse to the image you want to host, click the open button,

click 'host it!'

after it's finished uploading the image, it'll redirect you to a page which has a lot of code on it.

double click the text in the box next to the label "Thumbnails for forums (2)", right click the highlighted text, select copy, then paste it into a forum edit box and click post reply.

that will hotlink a thumbnail with a link to the main image, you can just directly link the larger file using any of those other textboxes with code in them.

Welcome to the board, we need more Canberrans! :D

Thanks Tayser.

Here are some photos:

Civic from Red Hill:

http://img204.echo.cx/img204/9715/civic7pz.th.jpg (http://img204.echo.cx/my.php?image=civic7pz.jpg)

Parliament House from Red Hill:

http://img97.echo.cx/img97/5854/parliamenthouse27hm.th.jpg (http://img97.echo.cx/my.php?image=parliamenthouse27hm.jpg)

Parliament House from Mt Ainslie:

http://img145.echo.cx/img145/2415/parliamenthouse4ai.th.jpg (http://img145.echo.cx/my.php?image=parliamenthouse4ai.jpg)

I've got higher resolution versions of these, email me if you want one, they make great desktops :okay:

Wow! Nice pics. :) Canberra is very photogenic. A massive pano from Black Mountain Tower would be awesome. ;) Nudge nudge. j/k

100 Northbourne will be flats, sorry apartments... things are moving very quickly here... There hasn't been a building boom like there is now in Canberra for 20 years...

Skyplaza in Woden has topped out... There is the DEPT of Tourism in Civic.

The Metropolitan also in Civic, and across the road the National Tech Centre and a 12 level building start this month..

Section 84 is powering along with the yellow hammerhead.. ground work on the second part has started with crane base in place... It'll have another crane as well I believe... That part is being built by Multiplex, so the m380D from Skyplaza could be making it's way across town... It's a 6 and 11 level job with three underground.

There's the other 8-level on Northbourne Ave, and the VALONIA on Wakefield Ave, also 8 levels.... but it's way behind because they hit rock, alot of rock, and they've been hammering away for weeks now..

Canberra is not called the Limestone Plains for nothing.

To the north in Gungahlin, the shopping centre will be huge.. There is already a Woolies... but across the road they're working on the biggest Big-W in the country.. a Coles and an ALDI, or as we like to say, a Mouldi.

So 6 cranes in town , soon to be as many as 9 possibly...

If your a tradesman, and you need work, come here because they are desperate.

Welcome aboard Ex0dus 1985

Section 84 is powering along with the yellow hammerhead.. ground work on the second part has started with crane base in place... It'll have another crane as well I believe... That part is being built by Multiplex, so the m380D from Skyplaza could be making it's way across town... It's a 6 and 11 level job with three underground.


They really seem to be powering ahead with the Section 84 development. Everytime I am in Civic it amazes me how much development is going on there. I don't really understand where all the need for this new development is coming from - already Canberra has too many shops (or at least, a vast number per head of population). What more shops do we need in Civic?

Also, the youth centre that is being built on Coranderrk St is approaching its completion - check out how close to the street the new skate park is. Don't fall off kids, or you'll get run over!

There's the other 8-level on Northbourne Ave, and the VALONIA on Wakefield Ave, also 8 levels.... but it's way behind because they hit rock, alot of rock, and they've been hammering away for weeks now..


I've noticed this - their excavations have really slowed. Good that this building has been started though, I thought it might become a victim of the imminent apartment market bust.

To the north in Gungahlin, the shopping centre will be huge.. There is already a Woolies... but across the road they're working on the biggest Big-W in the country.. a Coles and an ALDI, or as we like to say, a Mouldi.

Can I ask how you know it will be the biggest Big W? And do you know any more details about these developments? (Eg - timing? When will they be starting (or if already, started, when will they be finished?))

It'll be the biggest Big W for 2 reasons... just have a look at it's size, and secondly, at the launch or sod turning, they said this will be out biggest store.

And it's not just the BIG DUB.. there is the usual shops and apartments as well..

Apparently Big W at Gungahlin is planned to be open by October this year, with Coles following in time for Christmas and Aldi sometime in 2006.

I live in Nicholls, and the Gungahlin town centre is very exciting! Each of the 4 'malls' will have about 30 - 40 shops each, so in total, it should have something like 130 - 160 shops.

I'm a bit worried that Belconnen will feel the pinch. Gungahlin is close enough to north Belconnen to draw shoppers away, in my mind.

With the 100 Northbourne Ave apartments, its unusual that there hasn't been any advertising at all in newspapers, or any signage on the construction site? Usually with these kind of developments, they like to have as many of the apartments sold off the plan? Thats mainly why i assumed it would be commercial.

^^That's what I was asking, how do you know the size of the Big W? I haven't seen any info about the proposed development. I don't know if there was a press article or something - since you talk about the sod-turning there must have been. If there's anything you can post, I'd be keen to see it. (I don't get out that way very often.)

PS: Welcome ex0dus1985! The more Canberra forumers the better - especially if they take pics!

It wouldnt surprise me if it will be the biggest BIG W, it wont be the first time that Canberra has had the largest one, since Woden was the biggest Big W back in the 80s.

You guys are making it all sound so exciting down there that I cant wait to get down there in September!!

I went for a long drive around town today, taking photos of everything i could :P

Scarborough house's structure is complete, internal fittings are being completed.

Here's some photos of Scarborough House and the Woden skyline. SkyPlaza is to the left of one of the photos:

Beautiful shot of Scarborough House with Lovett tower in the background. Taken from the end of Adelaide Avenue - Could almost be used as a BMW ad? ;)

http://img72.echo.cx/img72/9659/scarboroughandlovett1xx.th.jpg (http://img72.echo.cx/my.php?image=scarboroughandlovett1xx.jpg)

This one was taken from the carparks behind the Hellenic Club:

http://img144.echo.cx/img144/2794/scarboroughhouse3jq.th.jpg (http://img144.echo.cx/my.php?image=scarboroughhouse3jq.jpg)

And to finish it all off, a couple of skyline shots. SkyPlaza is to the left in the second photo:

http://img159.echo.cx/img159/3503/skyline16ws.th.jpg (http://img159.echo.cx/my.php?image=skyline16ws.jpg)

http://img159.echo.cx/img159/4613/skyline23am.th.jpg (http://img159.echo.cx/my.php?image=skyline23am.jpg)

I took a whole heap more photo's of other construction sites today, so keep an eye out for updates of other threads.

I've posted some photo's of the progress on the Gungahlin Towncentre in another Thread. Check them out :D

Nice shots... I remember when they built Scarborough House way back when.. This recent upgrade involved about 5 metres added to each floor at the front from the red signage.. The Fed Health Dept is moving in soon

100 Northbourne... if you look closely you'll see a bloke standing on top of the crane cab.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v326/emerbot/a4417cdd.jpg

And this is the Monarch also on Northbourne... this crane is on Crane thread with a story about operator, a while ago though.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v326/emerbot/5975c901.jpg

Wow, scarborough house looks a million times better, certainly makes lovett tower look crap now!!

*Double post* sorry :clown:

Thanks for those photo's abc. I was just thinking, there seems to be quite a few buildings missing from our list on ss.com. Here's a list of a few buildings i think might be missing from the list. (correct me if i'm wrong)

Customs House: 12 Storey's - approx 45 m

ACTEWAGL house: Not sure of number of floors, but probably approx 45m

The Waldorf (On London Circuit) - probably around 35 m

The building housing the Civic ACT shopfront - probably around 40m

Customs Credit House - The two buildings just north of the new Department of Industry, Tourism & Resources building

There are a few more that i can't think of, i'm at work atm. On my drive home, i might take a quick look around for any others that seem to be missing.

One other question, how do you determine the height of a building? Just by guesstimating or by somehow accessing the plans?

u can guesstimate, its usually 3m for residential and 4 for office. then u just guess roof/plant heights and dont forget a ground floor either. Do the maths and is usually only a few m's off.

Was there a Crane used to rebuild Scarbourough House or was it just a normal Reconstruct.

Great stuff, I too love reading about this sort of stuff! Thanks for the link to the spatial plan, makes for some very interesting reading. Although it struck me first as a bit strange to see no "town centre" for the new Molonglo area, it is actually good to see that it will link more in with Belconnen and Woden and give these areas a boost, Canberra does not need any more decentralisation.

Has the Gungahlin Hwy/Freeway sort thing started construction yet?

A new building for the Woden precinct.

http://www.centroplaza.com.au/

Nice. I hope the cladding will have that silver finish to it like the render, anything but more concrete for woden. Woden is really taking off lately, it is really developing into its own little cosmopolitan village with a life that it never had before. Not surprising really, it has the best services and facilities of all the town centres, and is the most central.

great. looks quite large. woden is booming

Pity It wasn't another Highrise convientently placed between Lovett and Scarbourough, Filling the large High-Rise "Void" between Lovett and Skyplaza. I know that Void is there because of Woden Plaza but theres still space beside Yamba Drive.

There's also heaps of carpark to build over too.

Not a bad design but a bit too suburban and setback.

Is Scarborough house still standing?

I just came back from a trip to Canberra with my girlfriend. It was our second trip in under a year to Canberra. We both have fallen in love with the city. There were quite a few parts like the Manuka area that made me feel like I was back in inner East Melbourne (Chadstone, Toorak, Caulfield,etc). I bought the book The Griffin Legacy from the National Museum. Its got pictures and the whole vision for the city. Beautiful book. Canberra has so much potential. It can be such a unique city compared to other Australian cities. So many ideas were popping into my head everytime we were driving around for the potential development of this place. The government would be crazy not to see this. I would love to move here, except my girlfriend and I are involved in the Music and Arts industries, which I found to be pretty limited here at this point of time, career wise. Melbourne is the home for both of these industries in Australia.

great news

Has the Gungahlin Hwy/Freeway sort thing started construction yet?

To answer your question (albeit long after you asked it), they cut down all the trees along the route and were preparing to start construction, and then the Save the Ridge group that is opposing it won yet another day in court to try and get the building of this road stopped. Don't know when the result will be known.

To answer your question (albeit long after you asked it), they cut down all the trees along the route and were preparing to start construction, and then the Save the Ridge group that is opposing it won yet another day in court to try and get the building of this road stopped. Don't know when the result will be known.

Cool, thanks for answering!! It seems they have been arguing about this for a number of years, if I recall correctly, when I was in Canberra 4 or 5 years ago they were discussing it, wonder if it will ever really happen?

Didn't mention it before, but is great to see such ambitious plans for our capital.

Article from the Canberra Times (Homepage) http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/home.asp

Plan for Civic monorail - New proposal calls for key roads to go underground
By Markus Mannheim
Friday, 22 July 2005

A radical third plan to rejuvenate Canberra's city centre has emerged that would divert traffic under Civic's City Hill and build high-speed monorail links between Canberra's town centres.
A consortium of local architects, planners and engineers, backed by a large Singapore-based financier willing to invest up to $1.2 billion, lodged the Moving our Future design concept with planning authorities late last week.

The proposal will now be considered alongside earlier concepts backed by Planning Minister Simon Corbell and Canberra developer and airport owner Terry Snow.

If adopted, the plan would divert traffic under Civic by sinking key roads, over which wide land bridges would be constructed converging on City Hill.

The proposal also incorporates high-tech monorail links between Civic, Belconnen, Gungahlin, Tuggeranong and Woden that would reduce inter-town trips to five minutes.

Project manager Chris Young- Wright told The Canberra Times yesterday that Moving our Future solved the traffic flow problems in other proposals for the rejuvenation of the city centre and was an opportunity to build on a "grand vision" for the capital.

"This is a transport-generated solution to Civic's planning crisis," he said.

"It holds true to Griffin's original design and maintains City Hill as an important land mark that is open to pedestrians.

"And, importantly, we have the money to back it."

The Canberra Central task force, which is advising the Government on how to revitalise Civic, confirmed yesterday that the plan would be assessed alongside Mr Corbell's City Hill vision and the Living City concept launched by Mr Snow.

The task force's program director Magdy Youssef said the concept "would be considered" among other submissions.

Mr Snow launched his plan for Civic in late April, seven weeks after Mr Corbell unveiled a separate plan and called for public debate on the city's future.

The Government has set an August deadline for the Canberra Central task force to make its recommendations.

Moving our Future seeks to drop Northbourne Avenue and Vernon Circle below the current street-level and build generous bridges over them, allowing through-traffic to bypass the city.

The excavation of these "roofless road tunnels" would begin just north of Barry Drive.

The use of tunnels addresses the key criticisms of the earlier proposals, which were seen to either obstruct traffic or divert cars too far around the city centre. The concept plan's key features include: High-speed monorail links from Civic to town centres. A modest Legislative Assembly on City Hill, facing Federal Parliament. 75 per cent of City Hill retained as parkland, accessed by pedestrian bridges over Vernon Circle. A "city plaza" between the Melbourne and Sydney buildings, built over a sunken Northbourne Avenue. New public sector buildings along the Constitution Avenue axis. A five-star hotel and other commercial and residential developments in the city's south.

The plan is backed by Wan Sin Import & Export Agencies, one of the companies that financed the world's first magnetic levitation, or "Maglev", rail line, a $1.5 billion project in Shanghai.

Maglev networks, until recently a theoretical technology, carry the world's fastest trains.

Powerful magnets lift the carriages about a centimetre above the tracks, removing friction and allowing speeds of up to 450km/h.

Wan Sin's representative in Australia, Peter Tan, said the Moving our Future concept was based on monorail, rather than Maglev, technology.

Sounds good, although I cant understand why you would sink Vernon Circle rather than just tunnel straight under City hill, and forget about bridges, but I prefer this idea to the others.

High speed monorail links?

What is this, 1967?

didnt burley griffins original plan include heavy rail lines?

Roofless Road Bridges, wtf. I guess you could still access The City from Anzac Drive, Edinburgh Dr and so on there, but I'd rather keep Civic as it is but a Monorail Network sound alright, but a Tunnel under Vernon and London Circuits sound better than stopping and having a one way road at Vernon, maybe with some offramps that go onto Vernon.

Nah get rid of Vernon Circle all together and replace it with a tunnel. The tunnel should go from between Barry Drive and Bunda St on Northborne Ave to just before the London Circuit overpass on Commonwealth Ave. The rest of Northborne (Bunda to London) should be narrowed to 2 lanes and footpaths extended. This would remove most of the through traffic from the CBD and encourage better connection between city west and city east.

High speed monorail links?

What is this, 1967?

Exactly. How to make sure no-one takes your proposal for urban renewal seriously: include a monorail.

Man I though all the streets were that wide to allow Trams - but monorails. Don't get me wrong I love misguided space age technology as much as the next Jetson but I'm yet to see a monorail that runs fast enough to cover 4 town centres in 30 minutes with the kind of capacity that the 333 regularly handles! Make it trams - the only difficulty there will be putting a tram accross C'Wealth Ave Bridge but they could always run the line along the parkway which naturally links all 4 town centres in a straight line anyway!

BTW the Terry Snow plan looks great - and who wouldn't love a one-way London Cct?! I mean sure it would confuse the tourists - but that's the point!

Actually it would probably work better if they just tunnelled in a straight line from Northbourne (say from Barry Dr) to C'Wealth Av.

I love that someone is trying to beef up this area though - it's way too sparse at the moment.

thanks exodus.
here is current list i have on ss.com
the bldgs you mentioned above arent any of these? different name?

CANBERRAS TALLEST BUILDINGS
BLDG/HEIGHT/STOREYS/YEAR
# Building Images Height Flrs Year
1. Lovett Tower 93 m 25 1973
2. Scarborough House 1 61 m 15 1975
3. SkyPlaza 60 m 20 2005
4. Pacific International Apar.. 60 m 20 1996
5. Belconnen Centre 60 m 18
6. Rydges Canberra 55 m 18 1972
7. The Metropolitan (Tower 1) 55 m 17 2005 UC
8. SAP House 55 m 15
9. 18 Marcus Clarke Street 52 m 12
10. Canberra Hospital 50 m 11 1973
11. Department of Industry, To.. 1 50 m 14 2006 UC
12. CFM Building 50 m 14 1996
13. Canberra House 50 m 13 1974
14. National Capital Centre 48 m 13 1992
15. The Metropolitan (Tower 2) 1 46 m 15 2005 UC
16. St. George Centre 45 m 13 1988
17. Julianna Building 45 m 12 1973
18. Section 84 45 m 11 2006 UC
19. 15 London Circuit 45 14 1971
20. High Court of Australia 40 m 1980
21. MLC Building 40 m 9 1963
22. Hobart Place Office Tower 35 m 9 1962
23. Canberra Capital Tower

no worries Cul,

i'll try and add in the new ones that i've thought of to your list:

1. Lovett Tower 93 m 25 1973
2. Scarborough House 1 61 m 15 1975
3. SkyPlaza 60 m 20 2005
4. Pacific International Apartments/Capital Tower. 60 m 20 1996 <--same as No. 23 in your list
5. Belconnen Centre 60 m 18
6. Rydges Canberra 55 m 18 1972
7. The Metropolitan (Tower 1) 55 m 17 2005 UC
8. SAP House 55 m 15
9. 18 Marcus Clarke Street 52 m 12
10. Canberra Hospital 50 m 11 1973
11. Department of Industry, To.. 1 50 m 14 2006 UC
12. CFM Building 50 m 14 1996
13. Canberra House 50 m 13 1974
14. Customs House 48 m 12 1989 <--- Approx
15. National Capital Centre 48 m 13 1992
16. The Metropolitan (Tower 2) 1 46 m 15 2005 UC
17. St. George Centre 45 m 13 1988
18. Julianna Building 45 m 12 1973
19. 20 Allara Street 45 m 12 197x?
20. Section 84 45 m 11 2006 UC
21. ActewAGL House 45 m 11 197x?
22. 15 London Circuit 45 m 14 1971
23. Eclipse House - 197 London Circuit 45m 11 197x?
24. Custom Credit House 40 m 10 197x?
25. High Court of Australia 40 m 1980
26. MLC Building 40 m 9 1963
27. Hobart Place Office Tower 35 m 9 1962
28. Pheonix Apartments 35 m 11 2003

I'm gonna try and get the names of the buildings, rather than go on addresses. Also, some of those number of floors might be inaccurate. One day, if i've got nothing much else to do i might go for a drive around getting the floor count of buildings. It'd be good to get an accurate list of canberra's buildings, also if anyone has any others, feel free to add them in :cheers:

It'll be the biggest Big W for 2 reasons... just have a look at it's size, and secondly, at the launch or sod turning, they said this will be out biggest store.

And it's not just the BIG DUB.. there is the usual shops and apartments as well..

I remember when they refurbished BIG W in Woden they were at the time (99-2000) calling it the biggest in the country!!

I went for a drive around town today, and got the list updated:

1. Lovett Tower 93 m 25 1973
2. Scarborough House 61 m 15 1975
3. Skyplaza 60 m 20 2005
4. Capital Tower 60 m 20 1991
5. Belconnen Apartments 60 m 18
6. Rydges Lakeside Hotel 55 m 18 1972
7. The Metropolitan (Tower 1) 55 m 17 2005 UC
8. SAP House 55 m 15
9. 18 Marcus Clarke Street 52 m 12
10. Canberra Hospital 50 m 11 1973
11. Department of Industry, To.. 50 m 14 2006 UC
12. CFM Building 50 m 14 1996
13. Canberra House 50 m 13 1974
14. Customs House Canberra 50 m 13 1992
15. National Capital Centre 48 m 13 1992
16. 20 Allara Street 48 m 12
17. The Metropolitan (Tower 2) 46 m 15 2005 UC
18. St. George Centre 45 m 13 1988
19. Julianna Building 45 m 12 1973
20. Section 84 45 m 11 2006 UC
21. 15 London Circuit 45 m 14 1971
22. ActewAGL House 43 m 11
23. Eclipse House 43 m 11
24. High Court of Australia 40 m 1980
25. Customs Credit House 40 m 10
26. CPA Australia Building 40 m 9 1963 <--- Name changed from MLC Building
27. Northbourne House 40 m 9
28. Hobart Place Office Tower 35 m 9 1962
29. Fenner Hall 35 m 11
30. Macarthur House 35 m 8
31. TransACT Building 35 m 8
32. Electroboard Building 35 m 9
33. 100 Northbourne Ave Apartments 30 m 9 2005 UC
34. The Phoenix Apartments 30 m 9 2003
35. Holiday Inn 30 m 9 2000
36. James Court Apartments 30 m 9
37. The Avenue 30 m 9 UC 2005
38. Space The Residence 30 m 8 2004
39. Telstra Building 30 m 8
40. The Monarch 30 m 8 UC 2005

I've guesstimated most of the heights, but they all seem about accurate. If anyone has any more information to add, post it here. I think there is still a few office buildings in west Civic that need to be added.

Here's some photos of some of the buildings added to the list:

The Phoenix:
http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/5041/thephoenix2jb.th.jpg (http://img65.imageshack.us/my.php?image=thephoenix2jb.jpg)

Holiday Inn:
http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/810/holidayinn6bf.th.jpg (http://img65.imageshack.us/my.php?image=holidayinn6bf.jpg)

James Court:
http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/8723/jamescourt0qc.th.jpg (http://img65.imageshack.us/my.php?image=jamescourt0qc.jpg)

Custom Credit House:
http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/2782/customscredithouse3ce.th.jpg (http://img65.imageshack.us/my.php?image=customscredithouse3ce.jpg)

And photos of construction at 100 Northbourne:
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/8907/100northbourne6xa.th.jpg (http://img99.imageshack.us/my.php?image=100northbourne6xa.jpg)

Good snaps ex0dus.... for your info... the Holiday Inn is now Saville Apartments while Custom Credit House started life out as the CAGA centre..

I think alot of Canberrans still call it that....

I still call it the MLC tower, not Lovett Tower, and good luck Westfield trying to call the Plaza Westfield Woden..

The last mob that owned it tried a name change, and local folk still called it the Plaza..

Here's an age identifier for me... I use to swim in a waterhole where the "Plaza" is built.

I agree, Woden Plaza will always be Woden Plaza. There isn't much Westfield can do to change it. Also, do you think we should include the multitude of 30 m apartments into our listing on emporis? Seems like most of the apartments are all around the 8-10 storey/30m range along Northbourne.

I still call it the MLC tower, not Lovett Tower, and good luck Westfield trying to call the Plaza Westfield Woden..

The last mob that owned it tried a name change, and local folk still called it the Plaza..


I agree, it will always be "MLC Tower" (what does Lovett refer to, anyway?) I used to live in Woden and still remember the blue neon MLC sign that used to be on top of the tower many years ago.

As for Westfield Woden - I think that the name "Westfield" has probably only in the last couple of years started to have some currency, as far as Canberrans are concerned, to mean Westfield Belconnen, so I can't see people adopting it to refer to Woden Plaza any time soon.


Here's an age identifier for me... I use to swim in a waterhole where the "Plaza" is built.

Ah, but how old were you when you swam in that waterhole?! The Plaza was built around 75, I think, so it would make you around 35 + x years old!

any bldg under 35m can be listed as lowrise on emporis. i havent bothered adding lowrise to mosts lists because you would there for years trying to add them all.
Custom credit house would make highrise list.
cheers

Thanks CUL, so does that mean that everything up until the Electroboard building will be listed?

Ah, but how old were you when you swam in that waterhole?! The Plaza was built around 75, I think, so it would make you around 35 + x years old!


The Plaza opened in 1972.. we went to the official opening dinner as one of the nearby residents.. I was a young boy when we moved to Curtin in 1965 from Red Hill..

Oh, and I Still call it the Belconnen Mall, not Westfield Belconnen.

I agree, it will always be "MLC Tower" (what does Lovett refer to, anyway?) I used to live in Woden and still remember the blue neon MLC sign that used to be on top of the tower many years ago.

As for Westfield Woden - I think that the name "Westfield" has probably only in the last couple of years started to have some currency, as far as Canberrans are concerned, to mean Westfield Belconnen, so I can't see people adopting it to refer to Woden Plaza any time soon.

Ah, but how old were you when you swam in that waterhole?! The Plaza was built around 75, I think, so it would make you around 35 + x years old!

Hah! Westfield moved into Miranda (in Southern Syd) at LEAST two decades ago, and the locals STILL call it Miranda Fair! (even me, despite the fact it's been Westfield for pretty much my entire life...

Further to the earlier post

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v326/emerbot/scan_510182822_1.jpg

These new waterside apartments and possible shops at Kingston looks like a really great development. I love the fact that Canberra is moving down to its waterfront.

from Domain.com (http://img.domain.com.au/)

http://img.domain.com.au/img/7867/2005179798_1_FS.JPG?mod=050923-160157

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v326/emerbot/IMG_0986.jpg

No crane... just very big mobile one's.

It's finished and the Health Dept. is in.

From the rear of development:

http://allhomes.com.au/img-640/2005/10/05/9197f4567956424cb62eb3f78ee652ce.jpg

Thats a nice looking development on a lovely setting. Good for Canberra! :)

Looks great, Canberra really is getting its fair share of quality projects lately, and it just goes to show that height doesnt really matter for our capital!!

I like it...hopefully one day Canberra will have the density of Paris, as was origianlly intended...

So why was it derelict all those years?

Side Note: Back when I worked for Dept of Health we were in Penrhyn House - just in front of Scarborough on Bowes St

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v326/emerbot/scan_51117122010_1.jpg

Great to see some environmental responsibility with regards to water for this building!

From the rear of development:

http://allhomes.com.au/img-640/2005/10/05/9197f4567956424cb62eb3f78ee652ce.jpg

I really don't like the different coloured "fins" on each of the "pods" of apartments. It just looks naff. Especially the colours they have chosen - bland pastels. Yuck!

I really don't like the different coloured "fins" on each of the "pods" of apartments. It just looks naff. Especially the colours they have chosen - bland pastels. Yuck!

Yes, I agree. They do look a bit naff but they just might be less obvious (at least the colour anyway) in reality. We shall have to wait and see.

Thats a good project, how tall is it. I think i saw this one when I was down there in March.

It looks really good though, with the reconstruction and Skyplaza in Woden, It doesn't make it look like a Reasonably Old skyline.

Here is a picture of the completed project. Not stunning but nice to see more of this higher density stuff appearing.

http://allhomes.com.au/img-640/2005/11/10/61ea9552670e63858e24b1640a57a7b0.jpg

This thread hasn't even had a post in more than a year, wow.

This thread hasn't even had a post in more than a year, wow.

Just thought I would look up the progress of an old thread and found this and other pictures (not posted) about its completion.

Visited Canberra in 1997 and I have made it a pet interest of mine partly because of its urban sparsity and secondly because I knew this would have to change over time if it was ever going to survive!

Crane down yesterday.... by the good folk from gillespies..

One of my work collegues visited sunny Canberra on weekend.
heres some skyline piccies
from parliament house roof
the Metropolitan tower is uc far left

http://img358.imageshack.us/img358/5504/skylinededd1do.jpg

http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/4457/skylinedec8te.jpg


Australia;s tallest fountain-130m+
http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/5152/foauntain9kt.jpg

http://img465.imageshack.us/img465/906/tower5ku.jpg

Thanks for those pics CULWULLA. Hasn't changed significantly since I was there! Well, maybe a little.

i love canberra, its so relaxing

You know when you're in the CBD some of those buildings look really tall but somehow from a distance they don't come off too well.

We need someone to get us some shots of Woden - that would've had demonstrable change in the past few years!

BTW I like the shot of the fountain - If you walk along the pedestrian path on commonwealth bridge you usually get hit with the spray!

Someone flew over this area.....

http://www.netsplit.com/travel/2005/australia/balloon-flight/balloon-flight-039.jpg

...inadvertently capturing the background so er......thanks!

Ok, I'm an idiot....the above picture looks like the Landmark Development in Barton.....
http://www.realestate.com.au/objects/props/0900/102760900ml1130224132.jpg
....and that Norway Maple to the left of the pic is dead!

Viridion, now this is definately in kingston! Looks nice.

http://www.realestate.com.au/objects/props/7571/102797571ml1131392212.jpg

Yep, Steve, I Can confirm that as well, Those two Pics are of Landmark on Bowen Dr, How do I know, Well, My Parents own a Holiday Unit there, for when we visit Canberra.

That one with the Hot Air Balloon kinda looks like that someone flew over the Area and took a Pic, but later placed the Hot Air Balloon in the Pic.

http://www.netsplit.com/travel/2005/australia/balloon-flight/balloon-flight-039.jpg

This is their position in relation to the rest of the Kingston Foreshore development. Quite an area of redevelopment as you can see!
http://image38.webshots.com/38/1/49/35/2065149350014551708kUDnQb_fs.jpg

http://www.realestate.com.au/objects/props/4949/102944949ml1137786219.jpg

You know when you're in the CBD some of those buildings look really tall but somehow from a distance they don't come off too well.

We need someone to get us some shots of Woden - that would've had demonstrable change in the past few years!

BTW I like the shot of the fountain - If you walk along the pedestrian path on commonwealth bridge you usually get hit with the spray!
Yeah Woden is becoming fairly impressive. Skyplaza is pretty imposing by Canberra standards. It looks so much better in real life than in pictures as well.

From Saturday's CBR TIMES... 4/3/06..

$2b construction boom Activity rivals Sydney, Melbourne
Tamara Glumac
Saturday, 4 March 2006

Canberra is entering a golden era of development, with the level of construction - set to top $2 billion by the end of 2008 - rivalling that in Sydney and Melbourne.
Some 80 residential projects, each comprising 20 or more units, will be completed in the nation's capital over the next three years.

Another 18 office projects are scheduled across Canberra while a further six, totalling 110,000sqm of floor space, are proposed.

Developers and industry watchers say the building boom is likely to match or even surpass the period when Parliament House was built in the late-1980s.

But while some say the boom will create a renewed vibrancy about the city and act as a stimulus for population growth, others have concerns about skills shortages and the long-term viability of such large-scale development.

Figures from global property group Colliers International show developments under way in Canberra and to be constructed during the next 24-30 months will top $2 billion.

Of that, commercial projects will account for $1 billion of development, including 300,000sqm of new office space. This includes new Commonwealth buildings, among them the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet at Barton, Centrelink headquarters at Tuggeranong and the Australian Taxation Office in Civic.

Residential projects will amount to between $800 million and $1 billion.

They include The Metropolitan - an $80million, 343-unit apartment complex under construction in Civic, the $60 million Fern Hill Park subdivision in north Canberra and The Waterfront - the first residential development on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin.

ACT Planning Minister Simon Corbell described the development boom as a "massive vote of confidence" in Canberra.

"It will be up there as one of the largest levels of development activity the city has ever seen," he said.

"Canberra went through a boom time through the '50s and '70s but the difference with this is that it is private-sector development.

"This would be the single largest level of private-sector development Canberra has seen.

"It will change the face of Canberra by creating an urban as well as suburban lifestyle."

Mr Corbell said he expected the nation's capital to be more vibrant and competitive in the next five years.

"We will have hundreds and hundreds more people living in the city centre, lots of new buildings and have created a city centre that is the commercial heart of Canberra," he told The Canberra Times.

ACT general manager of construction company Bovis Lend Lease Michael Seay said the development boom was likely the biggest in Canberra's history.

"I would suggest our turnover as an industry will top that at the time Parliament House was built.

"On top of all the construction under way, there are projects like the Defence headquarters at Bungendore, the ACT jail and the new National Portrait Gallery - between those jobs that's more than $500 million," Mr Seay said.

The managing director of multinational construction and property firm Hindmarsh, John Hindmarsh, said the peak of Canberra's construction had been around the time of the completion of the new Parliament House in 1988.

"Now it is approaching that and there is every possibility it will exceed that level," he said.

But the boom was not necessarily all good news, according to Mr Hindmarsh who recruits 20 per cent of his workers from Sydney.

"It is a very busy time in the construction industry for the next three years in Canberra and we are constantly faced with an undersupply of resources to do that work," he said.

"Unless we can attract more labor from Sydney and country areas there is the potential for prices to be driven up."

Mr Hindmarsh said such significant development presented challenges.

"If it resulted in a permanent lift in economic activity and a higher growth rate in population, you would say it created a good outcome," he said. "By and large we would rather operate in a less frantic market.

"While a development boom sounds good, it creates distortions in the economy ... and the great problem for Canberra is it has such a low population growth - the lowest in Australia.

"It is something the private sector and government need to work at together, rather than let it slip into a negative growth phase."

Property Council of Australia ACT executive director Catherine Carter said the supply coming into Canberra's market in the next few years was comparable with Melbourne and Sydney central business districts.

"We are going to see some really innovative, quality buildings," she said. "It is going to change the city skyline in a very interesting way."

She said the property council was discussing with the ACT Government what to do with old buildings.

"It is going to be interesting to see what we will do with some of the old grade, redundant buildings ... While there is not a huge number of those buildings, they are dotted around Civic and the town centres.

"The thing we don't want is empty shells around town."

While in Canberra City recently I was fortunate to see a small building with much horizontal detailing - I believe it was an ANZ bank office. Could anyone confirm and maybe photograph it for me if they are in the area? That's if they knoe the building I refer too. There was also some grafitti nearby I was interested in getting a shot of. Unfortunately my digi camera was out of charge and my takes rather ordinary photos.

Thanks!

I know the one. Will try and get a photo of it for you.

It used to house the ANZ Bank, but that moved out a while ago, and there was some mention that it was going to be home to a large new bar - with four levels, I remember hearing - but there was a long delay in getting a liquor licence.

Thanks for your help - don't go to any special trouble though, only if you're nearby.

Yeah I can see it would probably make for an excellent club.

From today's Fin Rev, massive groundscraper suitable for Canberra.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v190/Muse11/379cbrarticleFinRev09Mar061.jpg

those poor suckers, having to work in tuggeranong.

Better than working in the 'Cosmopolitan Building' next to the bus interchange at Woden.

Just with those two tall buildings Woden had the best skyline for years - I would love to see what it looks like now!

Hi Guys

long time lurker, first time poster

Haven't noticed anything here about a development in Barton on National Cirxuit (not PM&C's new building). It's up on the block that used to be occupied by the Macquarie Hotel, next to the Press Club and opposite the empty block that sits between the RG Casey Building, ANAO and Minter Ellison.

Does anyone know what the development is?

The site was purchased by a local Canberra developer, Doma. They operate a number of hotels - the Bentley Suites on Canberra Ave, the Hotel Heritage in Narrabundah, Pinnacle Apartments in Kingston and Bays Water at Batemans Bay (the old Country Comfort). The whole site is being redeveloped in several stages - it will incorporate serviced apartments, residential, some retail and a hotel. My understanding from reading an article in a local paper (can't remember which one) is that the thing that is currently being built is the hotel.

Check out these links:
News release about the development (http://www.domahotels.com.au/pages/page78.asp)
News release about the turning of the first sod (http://www.domahotels.com.au/pages/page82.asp)

Unfortunately no renders.

Hi Simmo, I'm a newbie too! (this is my first post on this fantastic forum).
I think there is a thread by 'ABC' covering this development, called "New Canberra Hotel", if you search back another page on the threads. I think it's a 160 bed hotel, residential buildings and retail mixed development...looks exciting!

So great to see so much development happening in Canberra at the moment!

With our 100th birthday coming up in 7 years, it could provide almost a decade of good development in this city! (fingers crossed!)

Thanks for the info guys.

It's an interesting idea for the block and will bring a little life to Barton. Though I'm guessing the flats and serviced apartments will be snapped up by MPs and their staffers.

Thanks for the info guys.

It's an interesting idea for the block and will bring a little life to Barton. Though I'm guessing the flats and serviced apartments will be snapped up by MPs and their staffers.

Pity it is so close to Telopea (an extremely rough public school / wannabe private school). That should scare all the apartment buyers and guests away.

Media Release Thursday 30 March 2006
Variation progresses Barton redevelopment

Planning Minister Simon Corbell has tabled Variation No 238 to the Territory Plan to facilitate the completion of the redevelopment of the former Macquarie Hotel site in Barton.

Part of the site is already being developed with a $51 million, five star hotel, the variation will allow redevelopment of the remaining portion.

“The Variation replaces the Entertainment, Accommodation and Leisure land use for Block 1 Section 27 Barton with a Residential land use policy,” Mr Corbell said.

“It includes an area specific policy permitting club, commercial accommodation, community use, drink establishment, indoor recreation facility, business agency, financial establishment, office, public agency, shop and restaurant uses as part of efforts to link the development with the surrounding area.”

Mr Corbell said the Variation:

· Sets out conditions for residential development,

· Restricts the total shop floor area to 1,000 sq m, limiting any supermarket development to 400 sq m,

· Allows 1,000 sq m for arts, crafts and associated services,

· Restricted the total area for business agency, financial establishment, office and public agency, and

· Sets height limits on the development, restricting it to being no higher than the nearby R.G. Casey building.

“The draft Variation was released for public comment in July 2004 and attracted 28 written submissions,” Mr Corbell said.

“It has been reviewed by the Planning and Environment Committee and the Committee’s recommendations included matters relating to water sensitive urban design, landscaping, noise abatement measures and traffic control measures, most of which will be dealt with through the Development Application processes.”

Mr Corbell said that the lessees would be required to prepare a section master plan detailing building setbacks and other design criteria and submit a landscape master plan with their Development Application.

“In September 2005, I turned the first sod on a $51m five star hotel on the site, this will complement that development and bring new life to this central area,” Mr Corbell said.

Statement Ends/30th March 2006

Holy Crap - when did they tear down the Maquarie Hotel?

2 or 3 years ago

From the Canberra Times online (Yourguide):

Corbell moves to end development delays
John Thistleton
Wednesday, 19 April 2006

The ACT Government has moved to stamp out abuses which have held up new building in Canberra for months at a time and cost developers hundreds of thousands of dollars in delays.
A new regulation will prevent rival businesses from exploiting the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to hinder new property developments in Civic and town centres.

Planning Minister Simon Corbell, who introduced the new legislation yesterday, said developments would now have a smoother passage through the ACT planning system, giving investors more certainty.

The ACT division of the Property Council of Australia and the ACT Master Builders Association welcomed the move, saying it would help the territory overcome its reputation as one of the worst jurisdictions in Australia for development application delays.

Mr Corbell said rival businesses had been abusing the planning system by using the third-party appeal process to delay or stop a new development.

Some appeals had dragged on for more than nine months, costing developers hundreds of thousands of dollars on the holding costs of the land.

The worst-hit area had been Civic. Of the 15 developments approved by Mr Corbell using his call-in powers since 2001, six had been in Civic, and four of those had attracted objections by commercial rivals.

One of the developments was the $350million Queensland Investment Corporation's office, retail and residential precinct, which includes the new premises for the Australian Taxation Office. The office's relocation to the Bunda Street site is the biggest tenancy deal in the territory's history.

"Section 84 attracted six objections, all from rival building owners in the city centre who did not want the project to go ahead, and a number [of rivals] were also bidding for the ATO tenancy which QIC was successful in gaining," Mr Corbell said. "It was a classic example of commercial rivals using the appeal system to try and stifle their competitors' aims and my very strong view is the planning system should not be abused in that way by the commercial property sector."

Another development under threat of delays from rival developers was the Department of Industry,Tourism and Resources building in Akuna Street, Civic, and others were in the City West precinct.

Master Builders Association executive director David Dawes said yesterday the 19-storey Metropolitan development in Civic was subjected to an appeal by another developer who had not been quick enough to take up the site. The new regulation would prevent frivolous appeals from self-interest groups.

Mr Corbell said commercial property owners battling for tenants had tried to stifle rivals by raising objections.

"It is clear what is going on - commercial rivals lodge objections because they know it will slow down their competitors.

"That's just not on, in my mind."

Exemptions from third-party appeals will apply to all development in Civic, Gungahlin, Belconnen, Woden and Tuggeranong town centres, regardless of the land-use policy. The new regulation also applies to the industrial areas of Fyshwick, Hume and Mitchell, as defined in the Territory Plan.

The regulation does not stop people challenging new developments under common law through the Supreme Court.

Hi, new subscriber and Canberran in exile here. Can someone please explain something to me: With all the new development in Civic I've become a bit confused. Is this development different from the one currently being erected near the Lakeside:
http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=news&subclass=local&story_id=472040&category=general%20news&m=4&y=2006

If so, the design appears to be completely different. I was in Canberra the other day and the building going up there has no trace of the " ship's bow" structure. Has this design been modified (if so, it's ugly)? If not, is this is a separate development?

I found an earlier reference to the "ship" building on an earlier forum. It;s supposed to be called The Acton, but now I've lost the reference.

As a point of interest, it's considered a very significant Australian modernist building. I think it was one of the first to employ extensive sun shading. It's kinda retro-cool now and would be a great bar... if Canberra could ever cut the red tape and let people have some fun once in a while.

Yeah, this development is different. This is a redevelopment of the old Hotel Acton site, which is bound by Edinburgh Ave, Marcus Clarke St and Parkes Way. So it's diagonally opposite from the Metropolitan development. (And I agree with you, the Metropolitan has turned out to be pretty ugly. It's squat and bland.)

An yes, I managed to work it out after I posted the question. It frustrates me that Canberra doesn't have uniformly better design. The population is clued up on these things and the city still gets buildings like The Phoenix and whatever that thing with the silver sphere on the roof is. Out of curiosity....who's the architect of section 84? Daryl Jackson did the Canberra Centre extension but there's no mention of the rest of the project on hsi site. The youth centre looks like his work. Anybody know?

OK, I know I've started too many threads but I'm getting excited. Can anyone fill me in on what's happening with the Cameron Offices in Belconnen? Have they been re-developed? At one point I thought they were going to get knocked down, which would be terrible because they are considered among the best work of John Andrews, one of Australia's greatest architects. They're in all the architectural text books.

If you don't believe me, the offices are listed by the RAIA as one of the most "significant buildings of the 20th Century" in Australia. Alongside the Opera House and Australia Square!

http://www.architecture.com.au/i-cms?page=228

Belco is probably one of the ugliest places in the world - blow up the interchange and the mall but it would be a tragedy if we lost these buildings. They are very beautiful in their 70s brutalist way.

By the way: does anyone know the story on the John Andrews building in Woden which is now the TAFE? You can't miss it - it's the giant space ship opposite the interchange. Truly amazing/hideous. I once saw a plan for Woden that had hundreds of these things going into the horizon forever. I don;t know how serious that plan ever was but at least it would have been more exciting than what's there now. Can anyone provide an image/a history?

Just some vague info ...

I walked past that site recently and it appears some of the
previous building has been demolished with groundwork going on.

But they've actually put fencing around the whole site in recent
weeks, so something is happening, maybe they're going to demolish
all of what remains.

It's actually a pretty big site area from what I can tell.

Judging purely from working over the road from them - nothing's changed. ABS and Comcare are still tenants in parts of the offices and the rest are sitting disused and looking a little forlorn.

The other major brutalist set of buildings in Belco - the Benjamin Offices - are being refurbished and given a lick of paint.

Woden Has been getting a lot of new development with two brand new buildings being made and one about to be made which will be part of the IP Australia.
Amagine if Woden becomes bigger than than the city, that will just be crazy. But I heard from someone that woden can support taller/bigger buildings because the ground is stronger or something.

Woden could be to Canberra Civic what Docklands is to The City of London or La Defense is to Paris........in another 50 years or so.

Actually, thats not a bad idea especially if Civic imposes height restrictions and Woden doesn't!

They've changed the name to Centraplaza - presumably Centro complained about the name Centroplaza.

There is a new website (http://www.centraplaza.com.au/) to go with the new name. Could this be the worst property development website ever? And what is with the see-through people and the see-through trees in this render on the front page? Ghosts, maybe?!
http://www.centraplaza.com.au/images/bldg03.jpg

Wow thats only the worst Advertising pitch ever, The Building doesn't look that great,the colours, design of the building and area around it look so bland and boring. Oh and a girl on a bike makes it look even better! Well I hope the real thing looks good.

Have they started Constructing it and if not when?

Woden could over shadow the city a be the new buisiness hub of canberra, while the so called city becomes as good as another towncentre like tuggeranong and belconnen, I highly doubt it but woden will have taller buildings. I wonder what new residential projects will be in woden. There is a sign for an East woden development, I wonder what kinds of developments they would put there like apartments, townhouses, shops?

As with most of the towncentres in Canberra, Woden has plenty of ground level carparking that could be built on, the biggest advantage that woden has is its location, it is probably the most central towncentre geographically, houses the largest hospital in Canberra, has great road connections in every direction and very good public transport.

Woden is already the tallest suburb in Canberra with Lovett Tower having been the tallest since the 70s (I think). I think it will be a very long time before Woden takes over Civic as the main Business Hub, I think we will see alot more residential like Skyplaza in Woden before we see lots more Commercial.

Woden is really taking off lately, it is really developing into its own little cosmopolitan village with a life that it never had before. Not surprising really, it has the best services and facilities of all the town centres, and is the most central.
Sorry? Which part of Woden is "cosmopolitan"? the Pot Belly? The youth centre? The Hellenci Club? The ancient, dangerous bus interchange? The Krispy Kreme? Face it, Woden's a shit hole. demolish it and start again. The idea that anyone wants to lvie in a highrise there is beyond my comprehension.

Woden has a Krispy Kreme? When did that open?

The new Krispy Kreme is in construction at the moment. It is located outside the new part of woden, It's were La Porcheta used to be (Corrina Street)

you can tick this off as done.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v326/emerbot/number2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v326/emerbot/number1.jpg

Great looking building and it looks big too.

Lets split the Belconnen talk off from the s84 thread.. Yes I agree the bridge from the Mall to the interchange is a dangerous place. Not only is it dirty and badly lit, it only takes you to the edge of Westfield's giant car park, so to get into the mall you have to cross through the carpark past all the lunatic drivers (trolley collectors) and try to use the Myer doors.

Noticed yesterday that work is underway to demolish a couple of the Benjamin Offices blocks closest to the corner of Benjamin Way and that little street between the Benjamin Offices and the new DIMIA complex. What is being built there?

Dunno what's being built. I'll find out eventually, I work next door in DIMA.
But so far I've only hear that it's the "Red" building in the Benjamin complex that's coming down. It used to be attached to the Aqua one (which itself is being renovated) but has been cut off for what appears to be a one-off demolition.

Can anyone name all the government developing/building agencies in canberra for me please?

ACT Planning and Land Authority

Latest a New surburb is planned for Canberra, It is called Forde and it is in the Gungahlin reigon. They say there will be 1000 residential properties. It is being Developed by Canberra Investment Corporation
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/9032/fordeibmapmjc6zu.png (http://imageshack.us)
There is An article on it: http://www.canberra.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=news&subclass=general&story_id=484781&category=general&m=6&y=2006

When going on to the CIC group I found out about many projects for canberra.
Go to: http://www.ciclimited.com.au/
Among that other planned suburbs in canberra are: Bonner, Franklin and others
On the CIC It also shows some projects in NSW, Darwin, SA etc

Hopefully they won't repeat the diaster that are the houses in Gungahlin. Why on earth would they build them a metre apart? Why not just join them?

If you read the Article/ saw it o the news, they said that the land will be 3 to 4 times bigger, making it more livable and better than of those suburbs where developers went crazy in.

What a horrible name. Why can't Canberra rename these suburbs? Forde, Bonner, Franklin, Woden, Downer. Such bland, Anglo-Celtic names.
Why can't they use some imagination - maybe something Australian. Aboriginal.
We aren't living in Lancashire. We're Australian.

Because we're the national capital, many Suburbs have been named after prominant Australians. Because many of these people come from an Anglo background, we have many suburbs with names of this background. Ngunnawal in Gungahlin is named after the local Aboriginal Tribe. I know this is a bit off topic, but the Canberra wiki has a reasonably comprehensive list of suburbs and includes where their names are derived from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suburbs_of_Canberra

What a horrible name. Why can't Canberra rename these suburbs? Forde, Bonner, Franklin, Woden, Downer. Such bland, Anglo-Celtic names.
Why can't they use some imagination - maybe something Australian. Aboriginal.
We aren't living in Lancashire. We're Australian.

Bonner is named after an Aboriginal person, Neville Bonner, who also was the first Indigenous Senator.

I just found out there are 12 new suburbs on the way for canberra in the Gungahlin area, including Forde

I quite like the way the Canberra and it's suburbs are being developed. It's good that each suburb will already have it's own identity with each suburb name reflecting a famous person.

Best planned city and suburbs in Australia! :)

Whats wrong with having Anglo-celtic names for our suburbs? We are, overwhelmingly an Anglo-celtic society.

I think the Canberra names are rather distinguished and most people seem to know who their suburb was named after as well, which is nice. The suburbs, of course, are also "themed" with all the streets being named after people prominent in one area. Campbell is military, North Lyneham is artists etc. Still, I think Canberra could afford to have some better design in its new suburbs. Gunghalin was basically a disaster. And that place where the old drive-in used to be looks kinda OK now but its got "slum of the future" written all over it.

I quite like the way the Canberra and it's suburbs are being developed. It's good that each suburb will already have it's own identity with each suburb name reflecting a famous person.

Best planned city and suburbs in Australia! :)

You think? when I drive through a place I'd like to actually see something - so I know there are actually people that live there. Driving through Canberra made me wonder if indeed people actually did inhabit the place, I don't think a place need be so well planned that its necessary to hide all the suburbs. Of the ones I did see - I found them to be rather ordinary and lack-lustre. I do like their theming but some of the houses down there are damn chat.

What a horrible name. Why can't Canberra rename these suburbs? Forde, Bonner, Franklin, Woden, Downer. Such bland, Anglo-Celtic names.
Why can't they use some imagination - maybe something Australian. Aboriginal.
We aren't living in Lancashire. We're Australian.

Lancashire is a nice one ;) I like all those prissy English names - i think we should have more of them.

I'm not looking forward to the day Canberra gains a suburb called Howard. I'd say the same for Beazley, but I doubt anyone would remember it when it came time to create new suburb names.