Bourke Place
Melbourne, Australia

HEIGHT: 224m/735 feet
FLOORS: 49 floors
COMPLETION: 1991
ARCHITECT: Godfrey & Spowers Aust.

Bourke Place is Melbournes second tallest building, and rises above Bourke Street only a short distance from the tallest - Rialto Tower. The building is often overlook due to its lack of landmark qualities for such a large tower, and has aged much more quickly than others from the same boom.
The building serves as the global headquarters for BHP, and their logo, which sits near the top of the tower, is the highest sign in Australia. Constructed during the office boom of the late eighties, the tower has a distinctive sloped roof, which distinguishes it on the skyline.
When the Melbourne architectural firm of Godfrey & Spowers set out to design the structure, they wanted to achieve a "crisp, clean and pure building envelope", according to Peter Langford, a partner with the firm.
Currently the second tallest building in Australia, Bourke Place incorporates about 170,000m2 of reflective laminated glass. The architects selection of laminated glass for the curtain wall was determined mainly for aesthetic reasons. The project architects varied the depth of the inner lite to avoid a potential variable shading effect. External lite thickness remained constant, maintaining a visually uniform facade.

http://www.walkingmelbourne.com/images/bourkeplace.jpg

http://skyscraperphotos.com/cit/dme02/d/izme281.jpg

http://skyscraperphotos.com/cit/dme02/d/izme283.jpg

http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/565/950bhp.jpg

http://www.walkingmelbourne.com/building_profile.php?ID=321

I like this one - the colouring, the curved corners and the sloped top. The crown and antennae are a bit too cluttered though. 7.5/10

gotta get williampitt to fix the mistake:

Currently the second tallest building in Australia, Bourke Place incorporates about 170,000m2 of reflective laminated glass

Currently the second tallest building in Melbourne

anyhow,

"crisp, clean and pure building envelope"


is a 100% accurate description, magnificent lobby / podium (only went in there for the first time when I went to the ROOF of it :D :D)

8.5

Oh..let me know if there needs to be any changes tays :D

i'm giving this 7/10

I only like the soaring quality of the spire.

hah - Raffles re: spire, best is standing on the roof (@200 metres) right at the base of the spire and looking up - this tower will have the best views in terms of watching construction progress in Docklands for the next 10 years!

Can't wait to go back up there (if we ever do!) :D

tays

7/10 - It's slim enough to have good height; the facade can really dance with the light, and there's good contrast between the different sections of the curtain wall, and between straight lines and curves. At the same time, these contrasts seem to flow together well; the tower has variety without chaos.

That said, the roof is awkward and doesn't fit well with the rest of the structure, and the "holes" in the facade don't work at all - instead of providing contrast, they simply look like...well, holes....as if the building weren't completely finisihed.

I think it's a nice building. But not too tall.

6.5/10

Some shots I took:

http://members.optusnet.com.au/~naharrison/bourke place shining.jpg

http://members.optusnet.com.au/~naharrison/bp5.jpg

http://members.optusnet.com.au/~naharrison/bp1.jpg

http://members.optusnet.com.au/~naharrison/bp6.jpg

http://members.optusnet.com.au/~naharrison/bp7.jpg

That is one of the ugliest signs I have ever seen on the side of a builidng. It just doesn't look right and doesn't fit in. The building also isnt one of my favs. 5/10

The sign will soon be gone, it is the logo of BHP which is now BHP-BIlliton and they are moving to a brand new global HQ building across the city.

That sign is actually the heighest sign in the world according to the Guinness book of recors.

I think you mean highest sign in Australia. . . . Aon Tower in Los Angeles (262 m) and First Canadian Place in Toronto (298 m) have higher signs.

9 Fantastic building... soars to the sky... nice and slender... beautiful glass... and an interesting off-center spire...

B.P. will be naked without the old BHP logo!

It's okay, nothing special. I don't like how the top looks like on the north corner. 5/10

8 Good but a bit simple :)

Awesome building. Its design is classic I think. Its got a bit of everything in it, curves, boxy, and a spire. My favorite skyscraper in Australia.

7/10 it's ok, but however the top doesn't suit the rest of the building

7.5/10

6/10

An absolute eye-sore!


I don't like the windows colour and that horrible outline.

This building is cool! :D I just like the curved sides and blue glass... Really nice.. :) Its spire is too complicated looking though.. Should look as simple as the shape of the building to fit better :cool:

8.5/10

What are those mid-level holes? It spooked me for a moment...6.5/10

7

7.5/10 When looking up, it reminds me of the Conde Nast Building in NYC.

its ok i guess
6.5/10

I like the ''holes'',but the top is a big messy.
7.5/10

facade: not my style
form: cool just the holes there i don't like
points: 7

Nice building, I like this one
8/10

I like this one , very vanguardist design for me 8/10

Its an ok skyscraper, one of the best spire-topped buildings in Melbourne,

7/10

5.5/10 :)

I like it....
8/10

Awfull, there's just too much going on.

4/10

7.5/10



It looks nice

pretty nice, but they should replace that antenna with a real spire.

8

My 2nd favourite Melbourne scraper on it's completion at the time in 1991,

It's 51 levels above ground @ 224m/735ft of roof and 254m/833ft to spire. Architects: Godfrey & Spowers Australia Pty Ltd.

A few more pics of this architectural beauty:

http://www.skyscraperphotos.com/cit/dme02/c/izme273.jpg_http://www.skyscraperphotos.com/cit/dme02/d/izme275.jpg

...and in the evening:

_________________http://www.skyscraperphotos.com/cit/dme02/d/izme283.jpg__http://www.skyscraperphotos.com/cit/dme02/d/izme285.jpg

Putting Melbourne's Bourke Place into a early 90s' context a solid 9/10 from me.

(and not for the the late 90s either or The New Millennium since more skyscrapers since are either completed or still u/c a good example is Eureka Tower on Melbourne's Southbank which @ this stage will be completed in mid-to-late 2005 @ a height of 297.3m/975ft - if interestested, see the OZSraper's section on this site in the Melb./Vic subforum for current construction updates on Eureka if interested)

nice scraper. the only down side is the cris cross base of the spire
8/10

6/10

The corner ruins it, why use other colours? The building doesn't need that. 6

I like it but I really hate how it doesn't look finished and it's top looks a little ugly to me from afar. 7/10

7.5/10

7/10

The building's overall form is nice but I don't like the holes in the side - looks like it's been damaged in some way.

The "spire", if you can call it that, is a bit pathetic.

I'm not overly impressed, but it's not all that bad. Just average I suppose.

I like this tower. 9.0

5/10

One of my least favourite really tall ones in Melbourne. Looks dated already, and seems a little cheap or something too. Melbourne would look better with mostly dark towers.

good one actually 7

Too many different facades! 5/10

7.5/10

I love the spire and facade, but the holes take a lot away from the building. I give it an 8/10.

Holes are a bit strange but generally a nice building 8/10

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Melbourne/Rialtoview43.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Melbourne/Rialtoview8.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Melbourne/BourkePlace1.jpg

7/10

The holes are ugly and the top could be much better.The curved corner is the best feature of this building IMO.

very good tower, 8/10

8/10

Awful. 3.5.

Good design. 8.5/10

8/10

6.5/10.

8/10.

8/10

7/10

Not good not bad but great at night :)

8/10

The top is ok, 7.5/10

7.5/10

It's OK but I don't like the holes in the facade. And the spire could be better ;) 7,5/10

6/10

6.5/10

7/10

The top doesn't match the whole building 6

i like the top
9/10

Interesting design, but I don`t like facade very much.
7.5/10

8/10

tall, glassy and modern. 8.5/10

I wonder why they chose to use two different cladding decos for the corners and the rest. The one at the corner looks good, the other doesn't. The holes don't really bring much to the design and the spire is ugly.
4.

7.5/10

7.5/10

7/10

ewww. very little works for me here. 4.5/10

6.

Don't like it.
6.5/10

8/10

5,5/10

8/10

7/10 ;)

8/10

6/10

8.5/10

3.5/10

8.5/10

7/10

7/10

8/10

6.5/10

not bad. 8/10

8/10.

6/10

7/10

interesting. i like the hollow parts. 7.5/10

9. nice.

8.5/10 exquisite

1 / 10

0 / 10

6.5/10

6/10

Looks okay. A 7 out of 10.

7.5/10

7/10

6.5/10

7.5/10

8/10

It's pretty 'meh' to me - 6.5/10:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/253/524689942_a7259e53f7_b.jpg

It does poke it's head up in the strangest places sometimes.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/204/501551982_e8bc6a7d05_b.jpg

In case you can't tell it's the one on the left.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/241/551198602_a7ea3667c9_b.jpg

Maybe someone else has better pics, as I'm completely uninspired.

one on the left
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g228/AdeMelbourne/Melbourne%20Bay/bay.jpg

8/10

7/10

decent 8/10

8/10

5/10

9/10

7/10

8/10

7.5/10

8.5/10

Average. 7/10

7/10

7.5

8.5 hot

8/10

6/10

6/10

9/10

8/10

5.5/10

8/10

7/10

7/10

6.5/10

6.5

6.5

8/10

6/10

8.5 pretty good

Aargh
6/10

7/10

7/10

Impressive !

7.5/10

7.5/10

Only good for its hight, not up there with the best.....:nuts:

7.5/10

7/10

7/10

6.5/10

8. Good building. Regards.

7/10

8/10

A spiritual twin of the awful Conde Nast Tower in New York. Messy and disorganized. 5.5

9.5

7/10

7.5/10

7/10

Too many gadgets on the roof, and I don't like these holes in the facade. 3.5/10

9/10

7/10

7/10

8/10

7/10

7/10 :)

7.5/10

decent 8/10

8/10

It's alright. Not great.

7/10

8/10

10/10

7/10

7/10

7/10

7/10

6,5/10