One of the great residential complexes in Australia is nearing completion.
Located on probably finest location in Sydney- cnr George & Bathurst streets.
All started when the dear old Regent theatre (1928) was torn down in 1989 to make way for a 40story office tower. It didnt eventuate for years.Shops were built on the site in 2000 and the site finally bought bu Stanley Quok from Greencliff dev in 2002.
A design comp was finally held and in March/03 it was won by Norman Foster architects.
The DA was lodged on Aug 22/03.

------------------------------------

stats:
REGENT PLACE
Architect-Norman Foster

Lumiere (cnr George & Bathurst Streets)
height-151m
storeys-47 (8 below-total-55)
units-447

Frasier Suites (near cnr Bathurst & Kent Streets)
height-114m
storeys-33 (8 below total-41)
units-140 (serviced)

original drawings
http://img204.exs.cx/img204/2746/101bathurststnewrender3nb.jpg


floor plate
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid53/pc96bbec069ea1d0149464cb8e5900c4d/fc8e2912.jpg

---------------------------------------------

The hole which stood for many years.

http://img479.imageshack.us/img479/2604/mvc001f7le.jpg


we all got excited on April3/04. first sign of action
http://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2004/03/256253.jpg

nov/04
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/photopost/data/500/126sydneysouthnov1.JPG

dec/04
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/culwulla/regentplnov23.jpg

feb/05
http://img220.exs.cx/img220/7951/mvc649f7fr.jpg

march/05
http://img190.exs.cx/img190/3585/souythskylinemarch75oo.jpg

http://img198.exs.cx/img198/2311/lumieremarch212bk.jpg

oct/05
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/5516/regentplacoct192ef.jpg


Feb/06
http://img485.imageshack.us/img485/4411/0000012fe8.jpg

march/06
http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/2598/lumlev336wr.jpg

April24/06
http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/7185/00002467cz.jpg

may1/06
http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/4288/imgp6278uq9.jpg

the 35storey Fraser Suites externally completed may1/06
http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/4399/00002730gh.jpg

always a momentous occasion /first glass
http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/5351/00003298gm.jpg


Nov/06
http://img459.imageshack.us/img459/4007/0000775sb1.jpg

June21/07

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1399/585306158_ca0e44bd27_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1395/782095707_831f4f85fc.jpg?v=0

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1297/944456035_4fc5f4382a_b.jpg

wash time
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1351/947071542_e51032eee8_b.jpg


August/07

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1107/947071618_d6ca8f2793_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1185/993119458_6a8f1c7ec8_b.jpg

the podium still has scaffolding and should be completed in month of August i feel.
then we should get some nice completed shots.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/images/smilies/beer.gif

last thread>

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=328665&page=30

^ i've never heard of it, where's that?

Nice run through of the whole construction Cul. Oh, those days when all we had was a big hole in the ground. The last decade has truly been a wonderful one in Sydney in respect to our black holes in the CBD.

Thanks for wading through the numerous pics CULWULLA.

From seeing the Regent Theatre unfortunately knocked down in the dead of night, the discount bookstores that eventually replaced it, then looking down into the pit seeing a puddle of water & moss....now just memories.

On the old OZScrapers site, forumers betting on either Meriton Tower or lumiere would to start construction first, also now seems so far away.

Anyway, now that the glass has been cleaned on lumiere, the 2 towers look pure class on the skyline, side-by-side from the inner-west.

The next step of course is the opening of the retail component. The Meriton Tower arcade has very subdued lighting for its signage in the evenings so hopefully we'll get some kewl signage adhered along George on Regent Place.

One of the best.

Thanks Cul for collecting the info and photos. :)

I'm glad to see the story come to an end, twenty years after it began. I remember asking myself what they were ever going to do to the site.

One's Sydney's most famous holes has produced one of the city's best.

Was it worth the wait. It was :) In the end we got two world class skyscrapers.

lots of cleaning goin on

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1277/1024842414_130c346bf2_b.jpg

Woah!

Can't believe the difference cleaning the windows has made (esp. when compared to uncleaned segments!).

Think I'm actually going to like or at least properly tolerate this one...

I check out the skyline from my apartment every night awaiting for the tubes on the crown to alight. I'm sure gazmo (if he's in town) may be doing the same. Possibly a couple of weeks away.

...and how squat does HSBC seem now as a result of lumiere just a stone's throw!?

It's a'scrubbin' up real good! :crazy2:

Came across this pic by Fabian, taken from World Square in late 2004 when about 10 of us were whirled up to the 68th floor courtesy of CUL & Meriton. Thought it was worth posting, seeing that it's a rare(r) perspective.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid148/pa69c8fc6fbe7c78dff560f21194cd48e/f615a934.jpg

That photo was on level 60 from the pool. I took it at Sydney Open 04.

So it wasn't the day a huge bogong moth flew into your big hairdo in the elevator?

Well, there you go.

...

scaffold coming down. podium looks great.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1116/1057770018_7d568460d3_b.jpg

^^ Majestic. Almost the scale of the gronky cineplex.

Thanks for that.

lots of cleaning goin on

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1277/1024842414_130c346bf2_b.jpg

The crown was lit last night well a part was at the very least. A single white Vertical bar on the left most portion of the top was lit on the north side fascade. Looked ok but prob just testing it.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1434/1057607201_c615695334.jpg?v=0
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1265/1057517641_17a81637e9.jpg?v=0

^^ Well, the testing of one tube.

Walked past the site today, and the "pods" overlooking George Street are juuuuust great. There is one also near the entrance to lumiere on Bathurst Street.

Between the pods on George, they are constructing the small metallic awnings, which all of it matches the podium levels to Fraser Suites on Kent.

Also @ the entrance on Bathurst, the piping is in place for the water feature as per this render below. I imagine the water for the feature will be "recyclable" ie the same water will be used over & over again, with just a few top-ups now & then due to spillage and evaporation. The glass bottom of the indoor pool above will also be visible as such:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v190/Muse11/lumiereentrancewaterfeaturerender.jpg


The pod-like structures over Fraser Suites' entrance & the blades:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v190/Muse11/FraserSuitesArchitecturalFeatures.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v190/Muse11/FraserSuitesBladeFeatures.jpg

...

there was yet another article in todays tele about Lumiere. I still cant believe it has a 50m swimming ? not 20m or 30m but 50m!!!
Fraser suites has a 20m pool on lev3 with glass roof but Lumieres 50m pool is on roof of lev4.open air with columns and part covered by tower.
the pool measures 50m x9m. it has a walkbridge over from lounge/rest area.
When i go up St Martins again ill zoom in on the pool. should be able to see all of it.

podium roof plan.

http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/5894/lumierepoolpj8.jpg

as promised, a pic of the pool
this is norther end which is exposed to sky.then it flows under tower becomes indoor pool.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1379/1122672490_a1d974bdb3_b.jpg

looking glorious under dark skies

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1033/1121824103_590bfb372d_b.jpg

I will be hiring out the 2 level, 3 bedroom penthouse on the 28th of sept in Frasier Suites...has anyone stayed there before and know anything about the quality? How high will the view be from there?
I will take pictures and post if you would like.
Cheers

so 2nd lev pthouse is highest floor of Fraser Sts?lev30? if so you will be up 111m above kent st. the bldgs in front are aprox 85m high, so you should be able to look over them into d harbour.
website>
http://sydney.frasershospitality.com/accommodation.php
the interiors are supposed to be top notch

the view
http://www.frasershospitality.com/photogallery/sydney/images/dining.jpg

living
http://www.frasershospitality.com/photogallery/sydney/images/livingroom.jpg

thanks culwulla your the master of sydneys skies haha
it shuld be a great view from the looks of it...wish lumiere did serviced apartments too!! that'd be beaut!

I have had the good fortune to spend a night or two there. The photos are of either of the western part of a 'two bedroom deluxe' or of a 'one bedroom executive'. "My" one bedroom stay accommodation was as in the photos above and was very comfortable and I would think much more preferable room to the depiction in the floor plan which appears on Fraser's web site (see above).(See the difference in bedroom and kitchen layout)

I commented some months ago that it was very well fitted out and comfortable - curtains, carpets, amenities, (eg kitchen,laundry,TV's) bedding first, well, almost,99%, rate but the furniture was not quite up to the rest of the room and wasn't 5star stuff. The airconditioning was first class - quiet and super efficient. There were one or two rough edges in trades work and if I was to be an owner would have them fixed before signing my cheque. But if you can get that glassed western wall, in a high Fraser suite, the views are good and the light brilliant. And the floor to ceiling glass at the loggia and in the bedroom is very classy and does all those things which I think the the architects sought to achieve; maximum light and no glare, shaded enough, soundproof and ease of operation.

Yes you guessed it - it was a very enjoyable experience.

Has anyone been invited to view the model rooms at Lumiere? Can't wait to see them !

make sure you checkout the north face of Lumiere. its sparking! the penthouse glass is pristine and overall tower looks awesome. sorry no pic.
also noticed KFC is now in scaffold while pdoium is uncovered. maybe a qick heritage facade clean?

really catches the light in morniing

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1021/1197636396_d710d8af72_b.jpg

these guy have been going at it for days now.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1189/1196765955_bc5421753f_b.jpg

27deg, gorgeous sydney day

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1124/1246178986_1b8d54be8a_b.jpg

Woah! It's actually gorgeous.

Next time i might wait until they've cleaned the facade of a new building.

I'm glad its turned out this well. Congrats to Foster.

theres now roof shutters for penthouse balcs. i reckon it could get quite sunny

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1286/1308166081_d557a74091_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1340/1309047918_047e055f84_b.jpg

Interior finishing is out on their website. Had some designers deck the place up.
http://www.lumieresydney.com.au/lumiere/html3/news/news/index.html

Thanks. Someone likes Bridget Riley (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridget_Riley)

There was a report on the Fraser Apartments on yesterdays 'Sydney Weekender' on Ch 7. They are even giving a nights accomodation in the tower as a prize :)

The report was full of praise for the accomodation and it's facilities.

Thanks Cul for the pix too. I need to get some closeups of this one. One of the best apartment towers that Sydney ahs to offer.

^i saw that episode. looked great. $289 sat nite for 2 with breaky.great views

doesnt look 500feet does it?

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1325/1405667086_a7989f87fd_b.jpg

looking clean and shiny!!

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1187/1404786623_4cbeae7ae1_b.jpg

loving the stream lined podium structure with trees.
excellent
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1333/1445280689_f47ca45bde_b.jpg

Hopefully the mall will be opening before Christmas.

the facade looked amazing today
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2264/1594589951_67689a786e_b.jpg

Indeed. Looks even brighter than on a sunny day.

glad that isnt the last beautiful piece of glass on its way up in the near future... midcity, 1 richard johnson, space, !!

yes, i think sydney is falling in back in love with glass. lots of it! we had the 90;s where we built 50 highrise unit towers, mostly balconied structures with minimal glazing.
the new clear stuff should be interesting.Sydneys office supply has basically run out. come 2008 there will be all these big office towers uc.ready to enter next phase.

personally, it seems to me we're barely out of that last phase of developments! seems like only yesterday that 126 phillip st, lumiere, westpac, went up! in retrospect sydney moves forward at a good pace, sure it might stand still for a handful of weeks at a time, but we'll look back and appreciate all these excellent designs we are being given piecemeal

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2268/1752667149_40ea778561_b.jpg

loving all that blue glass, hopefully something as nice ends up on the greater union site one day

I was in the city today and it was the first time since Lumiere was completed. I was actually really impressed. The facade looks just fantastic from up close, all clean and modern as well as connecting the different colours of facades in the area, ie. the green of WT and E&Y and the blue of HSBC. Both Lumiere and Fraser Suites are beautiful as well as add much needed density.Both are fantastic buildings, I'm really happy we've got them.

Drove past it today and was thankfully stuck at a red light for a minute. I took these photos about an hour ago, here's what I managed to capture:

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/7861/lumierewithneighbours2yn1.jpg

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/4363/lumierewithneighbours1am2.jpg

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/4111/facadeoflumierewx6.jpg


I apologise for the bad quality seen in the photographs. It's the best I could do with my current 3.2 megapixel camera, don't worry I'll hopefully be getting a new camera soon. ;)

closeup of Australia's largest private pool (50m x9m)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2021/1796137131_2152b4a80c_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2213/1796976984_e6bfb1e6b7_b.jpg

Awesome pictures!! Does anyone have any photos at street level along George Street at the base of the tower?? I haven't been in the CBD for ages.

ill take some tommorrow. its all pretty fell opened up and facade completed. looks f.a.b

must be close to opening. love the simple 2 tone podium
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2306/1896206859_36f87de569_b.jpg

FINALLY, the pedestrians get that part of george st back. i hated those damn blue hoardings

not too fond of all that brown though

Thanks Cul for the pic.

C'mon Gargarensis, this is awesome!! I'm fan of the colour, if only because there aren't that many other towers with podiums that use this palette in the area. Haha, I'm a big fan of this tower as most of us are, but for me it's the pedestrian level where this tower does its best work. Same with Fraser to a lesser extent.

No, the podium looks awesome. It puts Meriton a few doors down to shame. Now all we need is a nice tower next door once height limits are changed, and that area will be wonderful.

The crown of lumiere was aglow last night due to the flouro tubing they've placed on each blade.

did you get a pic. i was gonna ask has anyone seen it yet at night.

I was going to get a pic last night, but I missed my train back into the city :(

Well, for anyone with a good steady hand and/or a tripod, the in between of the blades of lumiere on both the north & south facing sides are aglow with an electric blue, scaling the height of the tower up until the lit crown. The only thing is you have to be looking str8 on, because even if you are off on even 30 degrees of a diagonal, it cannot be seen due to the lighting system being embedded right in. I gather so there is no "leakage" into apartment. Very affective though.

Also the (supposed $1 mill) water feature is up 'n running. Very "running waters" unlike the still waters of the renders. It has a change-of-colour lighting system that brings it into kitsch heaven for me. Kinda purdy @ night eh.

Lumiere's lobby has used the less is more approach. Quite classy with huge laquer-like finishes done in vast areas of red.

sounds nice! has the retail section opened yet? it was due at the end of last year.

I have to say that I do not like the water feature at the entrance. It seems little "hard" and not really in-fitting. Some soft landscaping might help but I think that is also a little predicatable. Not a fan.

^^ It's "dramatic" if anything. The time I saw it, someone had chucked chicken bones from KFC into it. :lol: (I informed the desk concierge of course).

sounds nice! has the retail section opened yet? it was due at the end of last year.Yeah, I believe it was supposed to open for XMas, but they are still tinkerin' away.

I went to have a look yesterday and it was still closed. I'm excited about who might open up in there, altough looking at the floor plans the units aren't too big. I suspect another World Square like set up.

I hope its not a pissy attempt at a mall like its meriton neighbour next door!

Still closed ! Long wait

Took this at the Bathurst St Entrance yesterday

http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/4158/dscf2825ot8.jpg

Amazing water feature

http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/7241/dscf2824fc7.jpg

http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/6784/dscf2826zs2.jpg

Better think twice about taking a skinny dip in the pool lol

http://img131.imageshack.us/img131/9699/dscf2827gz2.jpg

Here are a few display apartments for those of us who want to see inside. Hopefully this helps support my argument (must've been in some other thread) that the interiors of World Tower are crap.

http://www.domain.com.au/Public/PropertyDetails.aspx?adid=2006891551#
http://www.domain.com.au/Public/PropertyDetails.aspx?adid=2006891552#
http://www.domain.com.au/Public/PropertyDetails.aspx?adid=2006891574#
http://www.domain.com.au/Public/PropertyDetails.aspx?adid=2006891529#
http://www.domain.com.au/Public/PropertyDetails.aspx?adid=2006891589#
http://www.domain.com.au/Public/PropertyDetails.aspx?adid=2006891584#
http://www.domain.com.au/Public/PropertyDetails.aspx?adid=2006891590#

i just thought it was amAzing entrance to an apartment tower. really impressive.
as fab said, the pool is amzing,some 15m up. sems to be just a shallow section at end of the 50m pool. wow

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2135/2245849248_392d60e28e_b.jpg

the birds love there bath
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2397/2245054227_94ba17cefe_b.jpg

Love the blue lighting. Adds some colour.

the podium is open now. only 2 shops open so far
some shots from today
looking up at fraser suites
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3090/2376291316_3324e2d754_b.jpg

looking down to kent st
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2280/2376290254_0002ea35cb_b.jpg

looking from atrium towards george st entry
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2355/2376288562_e041b80c57_b.jpg

looking north towards bathurst st entry
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2200/2376287074_e7a71fc84d_b.jpg

I was walking past last night at about 7.30pm and popped in for a look. There are a couple more shops open now. It seems very similar to the meriton podium in that it is quite small in there and the shops seem to cater to the asian crowd.

today
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2076/2383661369_e2d7667f13_b.jpg

A few more recent shots by me

http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/8788/dscf3878tq7.jpg

http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/5447/dscf3877ix4.jpg

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/6656/dscf3879gp0.jpg

this was hilarious
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2407/2533194850_ea410377cc_b.jpg

^ good shot! photo of the day maybe?

really spacious interiors
http://www.realestate.com.au/objects/props/3841/104943841al1212287491.jpg

nice deck/ 50m pool at left
http://www.realestate.com.au/objects/props/3841/104943841bl1212287491.jpg

http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/1296/dscf4161ow4.jpg

todays fin review mentions
LUMIERE WINS AWARD
Frasers propertys $600mil Lumiere residences has won the Urban Development Institute of Australias award for Best High Density housing in NSW.:cheers:

It's worthy of the honour. One of the best designed highrise residential towers in Australia.

I went for a walk inside the retail complex recently. The supermarket has now opened and it's much better than I thought, selling a good mix of Asian food (though mostly western) and lots of the stuff we Aussies enjoy. Even has its own chemist.

The rest of the shops are disappointing and sadly not many people making use of it :(

The rest of the shops are disappointing and sadly not many people making use of it :(

I walked through on Saturday - it was like being in a wind tunnel. Maybe some doors would help...

I have to agree with these comments if you enter the mall from the lower level it really is a wind tunnel. The supermarket is great though although pretty pricie, on a par with David Jones for prices.

I also find it to be uninviting. No shops in the narrow walkway from Kent St - would have suited Melbourne style cafes and bars. It's not well lit too and it does detract from the other features that make the complex great.