three days later still dont know what to think
http://home.iprimus.com.au/revlis81/tivolimcc.JPG

anyway i'll try to get the plans this friday
what becomes of the current mcc offices if they're not using that site for the offices?

awwwwwww! that car park it's getting built on is the source for many RMIT Business Students entertainment in between classes - cat fights over car spots can be -seriously- entertaining, especially when the two chicks are good lookers ;)

re: Council House: TEAR IT DOWN...and build another car park! :D joking, actually speaking of which, MCC would probably keep that building as the underneath is a Wilson Multi-level car park, I bet their swindling some doosh from it!

_______________________

I never thought MCC would have given the go-ahead to a 7 or so level building there, it's very tight in there - plus I wonder if RMIT would object ?

I'll take some pics of the site tomorrow (can get bird's eye views from the RMIT Bus building's plaza (4 levels above)

tays

That is excellent news. I thought they were going to redevelop their existing building. At least that fugly car park will go now :D

ugly yeah, still though, great source of entertainment as I said above ;)

http://members.iinet.net.au/~tayser/mcccarpark1.jpg

http://members.iinet.net.au/~tayser/mcccarpark2.jpg

RMIT Bus - left, MCC Council House - infront, Victoria Hotel / Little Collins Street / Town Hall right:
http://members.iinet.net.au/~tayser/mcccarpark3.jpg

Northern extent of the MCC Council house + skybridge into the old CBA building.......... from level 8 in RMIT Bus (excuse the FILTHY windows - btw I've never seen the window cleaners on RMIT Bus and I've been there for 18 months now lol :D)

http://members.iinet.net.au/~tayser/mccarpark4.jpg

http://members.iinet.net.au/~tayser/mccarpark5.jpg

As long as they don't touch the Gin Palace around the corner I will be happy....

EDDIE

That has to be the most hideous concrete wall I have ever seen... :puke:

The walls must keep the student's minds on their studies, 'coz there ain't anythin' else ta look at!!

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<td align=left valign=center> <smallfont> <b>Quote</B> <I>originally posted by museumb </i></b> </smallfont> </td>
<tr><td align=left valign=top>The walls must keep the student's minds on their studies, 'coz there ain't anythin' else ta look at!!</td></tr>
</table>

yeah I'm one of those students, although from that particular room you can move your head to the other side (right side) of the window and angle your view towards the north and see BHP - I've been watching BHP from there since about September last year ;)

tays

Your neck must be getting really flexible tayser!! I just noticed that strange Hero Apartment building peeping through the gap as well.

As far as Melbourne City Council Offices go, bit hard to tell from the render of the newspaper clipping, but could be a nice little piece of architecture happening there.

http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/upload/CouncilFastTracksLittleCollinsStRedevelopment.pdf

It's gonna definitely be 10 levels high (thought that was pretty high considering Town Hall 5 - 10 metres away)

There's two NOTICE OF PLANNING PERMITS outside RMIT Bus (Tivoli Arcade)

never seen those boards / notices before!

and they're doing something to the car park - it's all closed off, although, it just looked like maintenance to the car park, bet MCC wants to milk as much money out of it before they build.

tays

here it is, CH2, in all its environnmentally sensitive glory.

height limit 40m, and its 41.5m to highest inhabitable floor, 50m to top of roof, 56m to top of air circulation stacks. antenna??

really hard to figure out, but it has a blue glass/grey stone facade. all the green areas are trees and gold areas, sunshades. If anything i think the sunshades detract badly from a super design. Possibly if they were blue shades it wouldn't look so mish-mash.

http://home.iprimus.com.au/revlis81/ch2_2.JPG

Collins Lane elevation with the existing council house dwarfed to the right
http://home.iprimus.com.au/revlis81/ch2_7.JPG

http://home.iprimus.com.au/revlis81/ch2_8.JPG

shades open to show reflective glass, and shades closed
http://home.iprimus.com.au/revlis81/ch2_3.JPG

i like the design after all, but falls short of the council's 15000 sqm needs - wonder whats happening there and also the fate of existing council house. Was funny reading the folder remarks, the MCC people who submitted it are also the group processing the application, mind you they did have to submit a whole new folder after correcting their own design - go figure?

also, if the Scots church proposal gets up one day, the same block of Collins Lane will have Australia's two most environmentally advanced towers, not to mention two of the more radical buildings i've seen.

I hate the sunshades. The rest looks bloody amazing though!

Wow,

The models and renders of CH2 (Does tha obviously stand for Council House 2?) are so innovative. Let's all hope it goes ahead.

:okay:

That is a great design. Does the cafe on the corner of Swanston & Little Collins Street get demolished? Does the new building above take over that site, or does it stop at the lane behind the cafe in question?

That's an excellent design, it will improve that area no end. You can just see through the fuzzy rendering that the Cafe will be retained in front of the tower. I think the sunshades will look much better in real life, and as sunshades go they look awesome (You want bad sunshades: Shell House :-)

<table cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0 width=98% class="quoteBox">
<td align=left valign=center> <smallfont> <b>Quote</B> <I>originally posted by Grollo </i></b> </smallfont> </td>
<tr><td align=left valign=top>That's an excellent design, it will improve that area no end. You can just see through the fuzzy rendering that the Cafe will be retained in front of the tower. I think the sunshades will look much better in real life, and as sunshades go they look awesome (You want bad sunshades: Shell House :-)</td></tr>
</table>
I agree, it's a great design. What's happening with Scot's church? One of the Sydney forumers said that to say that sunshades look dated is to say that windows look dated, in response to my comments re Seidler. Well, then, if you like sunshades on your SKYSCRAPER, then good for you, but I for one don't. FIXED AWNING-STYLE SUNSHADES do NOT belong on skyscrapers!!! Shell House is AWFUL!!!

its set well back from Swanston, contained on the Tivoli site. Dont know the lane between the cafe and Tivoli site but it will become a retail arcade when they build this thing.

http://home.iprimus.com.au/revlis81/ch2_5.JPG

sweet:)

mmmmore lane density, sadly I wont be in the next building after November, hope they start soon, I've got a class which looks right on that site from level 10 of Building 108 [RMIT Bus]

tays

I was walking through the city today and stumbled across a three storey deep excavation on a very small site in a laneway between Bourke Street and Lonsdale Streets near the Rydges Hotel.

It's not often that an U/C tower can go unnoticed for so long on this forum :-) The project is called Liverpool 16, it's a 12 level apartment tower designed by DCM. The proposal has been around for about three years and I had completely forgotten about it. I used to have a render but can't find it anymore :-(

it's interesting you were walking around near the Rydges! lol - I like to think I stay clear of it by walking down Bourke Street everyday, nevertheless though ;)

this one sounds like "The Lane", similar area too, I love it how the top North east end is really diversifying its uses! More residential!

tays

big hole for little scraper, and thats the hard way to dig a hole

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/photopost/data/510/483l16_20030820.jpg

Are those diggers passing up the dirt from one to the other??!!! WTF??!!! LOL!!!

I've always been aware of this as that little lane has some great bars/restaurants. But I didn't know that it went UC and the hole was so big. And what I didn't know was...it's designed by DCM...ooh yeah!!!

More style for our laneways! And it's even a Toronto-height scraper! (ie it makes it into Cul's official 12-storey list) yay!

yes ive never understood why they do that. beyond a certain depth i thought it'd be a whole lot more efficient to get a mobile crane to lower in big kartaway bins and then lift them out straight onto the truck. the way they do it is so slow, and half the soil is dropped in the transfer......like pissing in the wind

OMG! How freakin' bizarre is that method of excavation?!?! Does time mean nothing to these people?!?!

I seriously haven't seen anything like this before...it kind of makes the excavators look like cute little animals, building their nest the laboriously S.......................L......................O..............................W way! ;)

It has mostly to do with access in and out of the site. The ramp has to less than a certain angle for trucks to safely enter and leave, so since its such a small site, this was the only option.

I would have used a 'long reach' 30 tonner though.

Cheers

Dean - Melbourne

They probably would only be able to park a moblie crane in the lane for a short period of time, not long enough to do the excavations. They have even constructed quiate a substantial steel platform just so that top digger can sit there and receive the dirt :-)

It is a height limit area so they make full use of the above ground levels for apartments and have the parking underground. Most of the time in Melbourne height limits aren't much of a problem, so they just put the car parking it in the tower above ground and you don't have to do shit like this hehe.

Podium car parks should be prohibited. They are ugly, and do nothing for the streetscape. All car parks (unless its Southbank near the river) should be below ground NOT above!

I think architects in Melbourne have become very skilled at intergrating above gound car parking itno residential towers, just look at Eureka Claredon Towers, Liberty Tower, Yarras Edge...

I agree with AussieSteve on this one, but obviously it keeps the profit margins for developers as it's so much cheaper to have podiumparks! And Katsalidis is selling out by not doing their bit!

Been a while since anything's been mentioned here, so here's some information I don't think has been posted before:

CH2 official page (http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/index.cfm?CategoryID=5&TopicID=2&InfoPageID=1117&ContentFile=infopage.cfm)
Some planned features (taken from above link):

Elements proposed for inclusion in the design of CH2 include:

A light-coloured southern facade where cool fresh air will be drawn in and down through the building;

A dark-coloured northern facade to absorb hot, stale air from the building and allow it to rise up and out of the wind-driven turbines on the roof; The northern facade would also comprise open-air balconies with electronically controlled blinds to reduce glare and heat gain;


Northern facade showing root top wind turbines and tapering windows

A western facade clad in wooden louvres made from recycled timber that will move with the sun to reduce glare and heat gain;

Vertical gardens growing along the full height of the building to create a green microclimate. Gardens will also be established on each floor and on the roof;

The ratio of walls to windows will be 50/50 to minimise heat loss/gain through the glass. Windows will be larger at lower levels where there is less light and will taper to smaller sizes on the upper level where light is stronger;

Unique wavy cement ceilings will be fitted with radiator-like panels filled with running cold water to cool the hot air created by computers, lights, human activity and other factors. Slots in the ceilings will direct warm stale air to ducts in the walls of the building where it will be drawn to the roof by wind turbines and expelled;


Over night fresh air will cool the thermal mass of the unique wavy cement ceilings

Special windows on every floor will automatically open late at night to flush the building with cool fresh air. The air will flow over and chill the cement ceilings, which will radiate back cool air the following day in much the same way that cement walls often feel warm long after the sun has set;

Five shower towers more than three storeys high will cascade water down through eye-catching glass panels. The showers will also help cool the air, particularly for ground-floor shops;

Pipes filled with "phase-change material", which works in a similar fashion to an esky or wine cooler, will be installed in the basement. At night, water cooled by the shower towers will freeze the phase-change material; during the day the phase-change material will cool the water flowing to the ceiling "radiators" that cool the building;

Fresh air will be piped through the hollow floors, which have individual vents that workers can open and shut as required;

Solar power and rainwater will be collected on the roof. Water will also be collected from the underground sewer, thoroughly filtered and used to water plants and flush toilets;

Sensors will constantly monitor natural light and adjust interior lights accordingly. The building will be dimmer than most, with individual lights at work stations that can be turned on and off as required;

All materials used to build and fit out the building will be subject to an audit examining the environmental impact of their manufacture, supply and use. This includes a "cradle-to-cradle" analysis. For example, carpets can be designed to be pulled apart when they age and the fibres recycled for new carpets. Materials with a low volatile organic compound content will be given preference to reduce the toxic gasses given off by glue and other synthetic substances; and

A large area will be set aside for bicycle parking, lockers and change rooms.



And some more articles:

Council on Track for New Standard in Green Design (http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/upload/OnTrackCH2.pdf)
Council to Boost Little Collins Street, Revitalise Retail (http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/upload/CouncilToBoostLittleCollinsStreet.pdf)

Related - The Source: Star status (http://thesource.melbournewater.com.au/default.asp?style=OTHER&url=/content/Issue/August2003/star.htm)


Has anyone been past the site recently? I have no idea whether it's begun or not... might check it out next week.

yeah Igo past it everyday I'm at RMIT! ;)

it's still being used as a car park, I'll be the first to let you know something does happen though! ;)

Originally posted by tayser
yeah Igo past it everyday I'm at RMIT! ;)

it's still being used as a car park, I'll be the first to let you know something does happen though! ;)
Tays (looking through binoculars): "Car, blue Ford Falcon, rego FYI6969, has just pulled into Bay 13, pigeon drops load on windscreen of the red Mini in Bay 69". :D

This will be a great new builting. Very different and inovative! Good on ya MCC!

http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/aeimage///CH2.jpg
View from Swanston and Little Collins Streets showing wooden louvres on western facade

http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/aeimage///CH2-NorthSide.jpg
Northern facade showing root top wind turbines and tapering windows

http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/aeimage///CH2-Ceiling.jpg
Over night fresh air will cool the thermal mass of the unique wavy cement ceilings

http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/aeimage///CH2-SouthSide.jpg
Southern facade showing three-storey-high shower towers facing Little Collins Street

this is a Daryl Jackson design, or so the hoardings say

last month
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/photopost/data/510/483l16_20031030.jpg

cant get anywhere near it the last few times ive gone past, this is as close as it gets. Every laneway around the site is sealed off.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/photopost/data/510/483l16.jpg

gotta love spring, even the most irrelevant pics look good with a bit of sun and green

UPDATE:

Car park has been cordoned off with barriers and a sign has been erected by the council saying what's happening with the site. I didn't really get time to read it though.

I reckon work should commence soon then :) It's just down from my office so I can keep checking the progress.


James.

compared to the above pics, the site's been built so far as though it's back up to the level of Liverpool Street.

Should we merge this project with the other "little stuff" ? or?

Originally posted by tayser
compared to the above pics, the site's been built so far as though it's back up to the level of Liverpool Street.

Should we merge this project with the other "little stuff" ? or?

I think we should merge this thread with the Landmark thread, call it North-East Precinct and include any other small and mid-rise scrapers in this area like our Market Precinct thread.
What does everyone think?

_______________________________
I collect therefore I am:cool:

Cripes I remember going to check out this building to buy a unit like easily 2 years ago. I remember not going for it because the apts looked straight at that old redbrick warehouse..

Amazing to see it finally U/C after such a long sales period..

Originally posted by Blabbyboy
Are those diggers passing up the dirt from one to the other??!!! WTF??!!! LOL!!!

I've always been aware of this as that little lane has some great bars/restaurants. But I didn't know that it went UC and the hole was so big. And what I didn't know was...it's designed by DCM...ooh yeah!!!

More style for our laneways! And it's even a Toronto-height scraper! (ie it makes it into Cul's official 12-storey list) yay!

I had to look twice too Blabbyboy :laugh: And even then I thought I was seeing things until I saw the rest of the posts below the pic. Very bloody weird! Anyone got a render of this one?

From The Sunday Age.

Melbourne's new City Council building has set an international benchmark in environmentally sustainable design. Known as CH2, it was designed by a team headed by Zimbabwean architect Mick Pearce. The 10,000-square-metre building boasts a vertical garden to building height, solar power and rainwater collection, light sensors, recyclable carpets, external wooden louvres that move with the sun to reduce heat, cascading water down the windows and piped fresh air. All the materials will be subject to an environmental audit. The CH2 has been given a six-star rating by the Green Building Council of Australia - world leader status. At a cost of $51 million, construction starts early this year, with stage one due for completion in 2005.

We know its official name, CH2 and now have an idea as to when it will start.
Bring it on!!

___________________________________________________
I collect therefore I am.

If the famous Catalonian surrealist Antonio Gaudi were alive today, CH2 looks like something he would design.

In the first 2 renders above, it looks cathedral-like. V. nice.

hmm whos gonna pay for this !!!! we are haahahahahahhaahha
this is where ur rates go i just wish i owned a construction company : )

silvermb get the plans????

CH2 is GO!!
Site is now boarded up and is being dug up as well!!

____________________________________________________
'It is not the bulk of a fabric, the richness and quantity of the materials, the multiplicity of lines, nor the gaudiness of the finishing that gives grace or beauty or grandeur to a building, but the proportion to the whole, wether entirely plain or enriched with a few ornaments properly disposed'
James Gibbs 1728

new picture

http://www.hansenyuncken.com.au/files/open03-12-03%20low%2072.jpg

recent times

http://home.iprimus.com.au/revlis81/ts.JPG

anyone know what happens to the existing council house? total redevelopment and refurb for the old box?

Is that a tree on the roof? LOL.

re: old offices: well they also have most of the floors in the CBA building which fronts Bourke Street (nextdoor to RMIT Bus / Rivoli), unless they feel the need to expand their bureaucracy (probably :D) - then you'd expect they'd downsize in some of those areas.

MCC's own skybridge

http://metropolis.tayser.net/misc/100_1894.JPG

silvermb: can you see much from the upper plaza on the RMIT building? (level 4)

that's a farken shocker of a building IMHO. It better not look like that farken "heritage listed" my arse sanderson hotel in london...because that facade is about as good/bad as those 60s office buildings!!!

http://www.realestate.com.au/objects/props/8017/101548017ml1084435237.jpg

:)

Now that is what i call a very very poor design. I think the area bounded by Russell, Exhibition, Little Lonsdale & La Trobe Streets is full of poor residential buildings. The 2 buidlings in the area that are of note are the Australia Post Head Office & the building on the southeast corner of La Trobe & Russell Sts, all the others can be demolished!

relax, it doesn't look like that, a good pic can be seen at the display - much better than the above image

How far up are they? Any updates? Or should I get off my chair and go for a walk?

There was a better render in yesterday's (2/6/04) Domain (I'll check for page number when I get home)

yes ive never understood why they do that. beyond a certain depth i thought it'd be a whole lot more efficient to get a mobile crane to lower in big kartaway bins and then lift them out straight onto the truck. the way they do it is so slow, and half the soil is dropped in the transfer......like pissing in the wind
mobile crane hire rates, plus traffic control, all on construction EBA rates, plus bin, plus dumping fees vs excavator rates, cheaper, truck drivers sitting waiting, cheap, possibly dumping soil for financial gain. Its all about the $$$$$

fair enough

using that theory, wouldn't it have been cheaper to put up a tower crane onsite and get this tower out of the way fairly quickly as opposed to having only sub-levels and three above ground levels complete after a year?

my last pic from april, site access from the rear is even tighter. the big Elite mobile cranes will struggle to get the any sort of angle over the safety cages from say level 8 up, maybe we will see the Conmor mobile tower crane later?
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/photopost/uploads/483/leo20040416.jpg

Looks tight for any decent size mobile crane. The angle of the crane where you speak of hitting the screens can be got around. Some of the bigger mobile cranes have an option of being fitted with a luffing fly, which is a method of obtaining both extra height but more importantly extra reach. Conmor/Boom have a couple, Sergis have one at least that was at freshwater res on the weekend, Elite's may already be here. It looks like a lattice section joined onto the tip of the crane boom that the angle of can be altered.
The mobile tower crane of Conmor/Boom's would be a pretty tight fit too. Any crane may be able to put its outriggers through the fence, depending on what is on the other side.
The reason why a tower crane hasn't gone up may be they can't get one. At the mo, there isn't any lying around, they are all up and working and there is a waiting list to get one. Unless the builder comes up with a couple mill, and goes and buys one and there is a waiting list there too.

not so shabby

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/photopost/uploads/483/liverpool16.jpg

Nup, not too shabby at all,

just a taller version of these modern additions on the other side of Bourke Street in Windsor Place

http://www.street-directory.com.au/aus_new/genmap.cgi?sizex=600&sizey=600&x=144.972013492174&y=-37.8116171328101&level=7&star=&circle=&xyfile=

http://www.realestate.com.au/objects/props/1315/101631315dl1086956983.jpg

^^ I'd kill to live in a lane like that.

Firstly, no pic or height on skyscrapers.com as yet. Only states 12 levels above ground.

Secondly, which newspaper was the render that silvermb posted from? silvermb? Anyone else know?

It looks quite nice as a low-riser. Nice features and could look really classy if clad in some superb materials.

I think it's from The Age Muse, and there's no point trying to get exact height as that would involve a trip to MCC (waste of time ;))

________________________________

renamed the thread, A. Steve used College House in Archives to do an update on small East End projects, I guess he was looking for the right spot ;)

Current Projects:

Liverpool 16 (former title of thread)
Landmark Tower (adjacent to College House, opposite UW)
Melbourne City Apartments (Lonsdale Street)

Do we want to merge MCC CH2 into this thread?

Thanks Mr T.

Could you move my last post from the Archive thread to here?

can't sorry! just repost it here, and I'll delete it over in that other thread

A quick update on Lonsdale Street

Landmark Tower (next to College House) is back in action. A machine is in the deep pit excavating again. Let's hope construction of this tower gets a move on quick smart.

Melbourne City Apartments is now at level 10 with no core visable, but hey, at least its another highrise to fill Lonsdale Street.

PS Katz Apartments has been completed some time now. Pitty it wasn't a little taller and more interesting.

Landmark is back in business, about time...
anyway no-one posts in the CH2 thread so i might as well put it in here

http://home.iprimus.com.au/revlis81/ch2 200406.JPG

lemme know when silvermb, and we'll go to one of the labs on the southern end of the Tivoli building to get some pics - uewepuep (or any other RMIT student for that matter), you'll have to come with us! :)

merged CH2 and East End smalls threads.

Hey silver, the photo above with the base tower in it??? Where is That??? Is is next to the little mini mart across from UW, (50 Lonsdale st) Looked in there sun afternoon and never saw the tower?????

Council House 2 Favco, just setback from Swanston Street, nextdoor to Town Hall.

cheers

yeah, gotcha now, little collins st, saw the hole on sunday arvo, but never noticed the tower. Do you think the colour of the starter tower is an indication of who has the job, or at least the cranes?? Methinks crane tower looks a bit grolloish??

Grollo dont bother with stuff this small, its a Hansen Yuncken project. Educated guess is that HY own one white/black luffing crane that was last used on Santorini apartments last year. they leased the Kroll for swanston st and keep their own for this high-profile job

Landmark opposite Urban Workshop doesn't have one, they're currently excavating a core pit

Melbourne Shitty Apartments
http://home.iprimus.com.au/revlis81/mca 20040628.JPG

Educated guess on hansen yunken owning a crane would be false. My guess would be the crane they had on the apartments on St Kilda Rd was owned by Boom Logistics.
There is a common misconception about that because the crane is painted in a certain companies logos etc, that they own it. My experience in these matters is that the builder/developer pays to paint the crane or place stickers on it for the duration of the hire period. Examples getting about now would be the very slick and very black looking crane at Toorak painted up in Probuilds colours, owned by boom. The 380D at Hallmark painted up as a Hamilton Marino crane, owned by Mackie & staff. One of the grollo big cranes at the G, owned by The Men from Marrs etc etc etc. Your wonderful photos of the 2 cranes at Conder, only Bovis stickers on a white crane, the photos above pf Crema Camillo, owned by boom.
The above crane is very different to most getting about. It is what is called a recovery crane, all the components break down to smaller pieces than most cranes, making them lighter and hence easier to strip down and remove. A scenario that often takes place is a smaller crane is hoisted up in the lift, set up on the roof, hoists this one up, which then can strip a larger crane, then this is removed by the above, which is then stripped by the smaller crane, which is then taken down in the lift again??? Did that make sense????
If you have a look at the above crane, it has a really short tail, which allows it to be used almost next door to another building without infringing on the other buildings airspace, which is the scenario here.

Landmark opposite Urban Workshop doesn't have one, they're currently excavating a core pit


They excavated the pit, poured in some concrete, and today they are filling it up with dirt again?!?!?

WHAT!!!!!!!

I have to check it out tomorrow!

Council House 2 Favco, just setback from Swanston Street, nextdoor to Town Hall.

cheers
Crane going up sat/sun, this weekend.

edit) Sat arvo, over 1/2 way, only A frame and boom to go. :cheers:

The hairy canary on Little collins st would be a great place to have breaky sunday and watch some of the action. :cheers:

Katz is most definitely finished, it's now showing rentals available:

http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=o&ag=&s=vic&c=26445821&tm=1088921280&id=4989932&f=30&p=30&t=ren&ty=&snf=rbs&cu=&fmt=&header=

http://www.realestate.com.au/objects/props/9932/4989932ml1081391094.jpg

Landmark looks to be definately UC as they are assembling what seems to be the base of a core today - lots of steel meshing and the excavation/earth works are complete. They seem to have removed alot of dirt over the weekend. Does anyone have any details/pic's of this tower?

it's a very decent height - at least 5 or 6 levels higher than the College House nextdoor (finished a year ago), quite thin with a blue-ish facade from memory. I think silvermb might have a render?

Landmark update: They are poring the base of the core today...about 4 cement trucks lined up in Lonsdale St as I type...

it's a very decent height - at least 5 or 6 levels higher than the College House nextdoor (finished a year ago), quite thin with a blue-ish facade from memory. I think silvermb might have a render?

Landmark Tower will be 25 storeys and 77 metres high, 4 storeys higher than College House.

Just repeating my post from the Nauru House thread: what's the news on the Nauru House forecourt redevelopment and also the extension of Le Louvre which was before the VCAT - was it approved?

It has probably already been noted but there is now a tower crane operating on the Council offices site.

^^ :banana: note the crane in the distance - crane porn on a frikkin' lane! :D

http://www.thehoddlegrid.net/projects/updates/cbd/small/ch20807041.jpg

http://www.thehoddlegrid.net/projects/updates/cbd/small/ch20807042.jpg

Honestly...how good has Little Collins Street become in the last few years??? It's a mix of Collins St class, Chapel St chic and Toorak quality & prices.

Tays: nice pics and for those that dont know: crane in the distance is the arse end of SX.

Cheers

Dean - Melbourne

And if you head up the lane towards spencer st and then turn around, you would also get the 1000E at RACV on the same lane, in the same shot. 1000E, 1500, 1000E all in one tiny little lane.

The base of the core for Landmark Tower is underconstruction so we should have another crane up that end of the CBD in no time at all! Yipeeee!! More walls along Lonsdale Street.

Nice shot 1500 with twin winch not often you see both winches reeved only other time ive seen it done was on Tarong power station with 3 of International Riggings 1500s and they all had 4 fall blocks on the main

there is at least two other 1500's with the 7t aux in 'em at the mo, both of the cranes at river st richmond abigroup have two ropes.

landmark earlier this month and today. guessing they will pour on saturday; they'll need two pumps working day-long for this slab
http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/lma200407.jpg

tivoli square, can someone name the dark building centre of second picture?
http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/ts20040722.jpg

it has some fancy-shmancy name, Swanston apartments is what it was called when I stayed in there a few New Year's eve's ago ;)

sah-weet as pics silvermb!

cant thank u enough silvermb! great shots!

The Duke of Wellington proposal has been amended, the latest proposal retains all of the old hotel and the hieght has been increased from 9 levels to 11 (so now it's a real skyscraper with a height of 37.8m :-).

Despite retaining all of the existing hotel buildings and a planning report recommending approval council still refused the appication for some unknown reason. Most likely it will be approved at VCAT.

Here are a couple of elevation plans:

http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/~naharrison/duke 1.gif

http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/~naharrison/duke 2.gif

This is a great proposal. The CBD is now stepping down from Collins Street to Flinders Street.

Landmark Tower (Lonsdale Street)
http://img68.exs.cx/img68/7152/Lonsdale2a.jpg

http://img68.exs.cx/img68/986/Lonsdale2b.jpg

Looks like it's not long until we see yet another crane on the skyline! (maybe the crane from Melbourne Tower will end up here?)

You got a cam now A. Steve?

thanks for the pics.

anyone still got the render for Landmark?

Borrowed a cam from work.

Will keep walking around the CBD tomorrow.

Melbourne City Tower (Lonsdale Street)
http://img55.exs.cx/img55/7131/Lonsdale1a.jpg

http://img55.exs.cx/img55/2664/Lonsdale1b.jpg

The hordings along the Bourke Street Mall have come down and you can see the new doors and a little bit of what the NEW GPO will look like.

http://img64.exs.cx/img64/3589/GPO3.jpg

http://img64.exs.cx/img64/1424/GPO4.jpg

http://img64.exs.cx/img64/8621/GPO5.jpg

http://members.optusnet.com.au/~wadad/mypic161.jpg

big day out at landmark

http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/lma2004071.jpg

that first pic, ladies and gents, is what you call a classic silvermb pic.

awesome as always.

love yer work big man-who-likes-his-big-man's-tonka-trucks! :cool:

anyone still got the render for Landmark?Yeah, nothing left in this thread nor is there a pic @ skyscrapers.com..

Yeah as a newspaper reported once upon a time - I love a good concrete pour !! ;)

So if I'm not mistaken landmark is filling the hole next to those Global Student apartments and probably cover up the big orange stripe on that building in the process?

yes, it's taller than College [crap+] House. the only über-shite side of College we're going to have to put up with is its western facade.

Corner Little Collins. Anyone know the details?

The crane for the GPO is now gone. Another project almost fininished.

ch2
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~wadad/mypic173.jpg

what were you doing at MCC's offices plot? Or were you slacking off from work at the Hairy Canary? ;)

great shot!

carparks are underated ;)

Liverpool street = great spot

http://www.thehoddlegrid.net/projects/updates/cbd/small/eastend1708041.jpg

ch2 more emboided energy than a marketing campain!

http://members.optusnet.com.au/~wadad/mypic200.jpg

Has anyone been to the GPO today to see it? I won't be in the CBD 'till Thursday :(

CBD site sells at 50% discount (http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/09/07/1094530606577.html)
By Helen Westerman
The Age (www.theage.com.au)
8 September 2004

http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2004/09/07/latrobe_wideweb__430x277.jpg
Drapac Property paid less than half the $23.3 million achieved when this 6000 square metre parcel last sold in 1989.
Picture:Gary Medlicott

A $15 million office tower sale in regional Victoria and the purchase of a rare city development site this week has lifted some of the gloom over a sales-starved market.

In a counter-cyclical move, Melbourne developer Drapac Property bought a 6000 square metre parcel of land in the eastern part of Melbourne's CBD for $11.5 million - less than half the $23.3 million paid in 1989 by previous owner, Hualon Development, a company controlled by Taiwanese investor Andrew Oung and Melbourne investor, Rowan Kennedy.

The site includes three lower grade office buildings at 52-64 Latrobe Street, with two car parks facing Carlton on Mackenize Street.

The site has been problematic for Hualon, with several redevelopment plans failing to go ahead. It bought the site with existing approval for a 20-storey office tower with 115 car spaces. New plans in 1999 for a 17-level tower on part of the site were shelved a year later after objections to the proposal, according to property database Cityscope.

Drapac Property director Ashley Wain said the site ensured the group was well positioned in the eastern part of the CBD.

He said the three older style offices would be refurbished to take advantage of what the group believed was a strong owner occupier market in the area.

The remainder of the site, including the car parks, would operate until "more favourable conditions" prevailed, Mr Wain said.

The Mackenzie Street purchase has taken the developer's CBD and fringe acquisitions to $42.9 million in the past 12 months.

In March, Drapac bought the Hoyts Cinema Centre at 140 Bourke Street for $14.4 million, which will undergo a $1 million refurbishment following Hoyt's departure to Melbourne Central at the end of this year.

The restaurant attached to the Hoyts Centre, Shark Fin House, failed to sell at auction with an asking price of $5.5 million in July.

Drapac also bought the City Ford site, at 734-750 Elizabeth Street, for $17 million in October last year.

In another major purchase, Australian Public Trustees paid $14,450,000 for a 4500 sq m Bendigo office tower anchored by a 15-year lease to the Department of Human Services.

DTZ International's Russell Hannan, who negotiated the sale, described it as one of the largest deals in regional Victoria for a decade.

The project was originally developed by GSD Bendigo and built by H Troon.

Its new owner, Australian Public Trustees, is a trustee company which holds public infrastructure and community service assets.

APT also owns the VicRoads building in Sunshine, an Australia Post distribution centre in Sydney and a Northern Territory Government office building in Alice Springs.

Earlier this year, the group was reported to be interested in acquiring the St Kilda Luna Park site.

_______________________________________________________

Its a pitty they are refurbishing the existing, crappy, low rise office buildings. The whole site needs to be cleared and a new development proposed with even a hotel fronting La Trobe St and an office tower and apartment tower fronting Mackenzie St. Does anyone know what the earlier proposals were?

Melbourne City Tower (Lonsdale Street) has now topped out. It looks ok. We just need another tower to the west of it and it will look even better! ;)

one of the worse looking areas of town is about to get a boot up the arse

http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/msa.jpg

stage one is Mutual Store on the right, two levels added for seven all up. stage two is the Empire (left), or whats left of it. has been demolished bar facade and will incorporate a 14L tower which covers up the shocker Ramada wall

other side of Ramada is this office block, a little colour never hurts.

http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/exo.jpg

they dont need to be 50L's to have an impact. the walk out of Flinders st station will be less shocking for it

he never misses a thing our silvermb, never.

fingers crossed something gets done in Degraves Street re: Mutual Store.

Ahh .. music to my ears.. The beautiful 'Mutual Store' from 1891(first built in 1872) is a classic Mannerist building from victorian times and the 'Empire' Building from 1904-5 is a lovely Edwardian Baroque built in the same style and time as Flinders St Station accros the road.

The Ground levels of the Mutual will have retail/cafe's etc.. which will add to the already funky Degraves st ambiance.

Good stuff.

Cheers

Dean - Melbourne

I have been watching that office block on the corner of Elizabeth & Flinders transform over the last few months. Its looking better and better every week adn its about time they started on the redevelopemnt of the 2 buidlinsg down the road. They have been sitting there for months on end!

Nice pics Silver. I walked passed here the other day. How are they building it because they have totally ripped the inside of the building. All that is left is the facade? Are they doing a similar thing to 8 exhibition?

Ahh .. music to my ears.. The beautiful 'Mutual Store' from 1891(first built in 1872) is a classic Mannerist building from victorian times and the 'Empire' Building from 1904-5 is a lovely Edwardian Baroque built in the same style and time as Flinders St Station accros the road.

The Ground levels of the Mutual will have retail/cafe's etc.. which will add to the already funky Degraves st ambiance.

Good stuff.

Cheers

Dean - Melbourne
Agree with you on that - and the facade refurb of the building next to Ramada is...what's the word...AWESOME!!!

Stage two is the Empire, or whats left of it. has been demolished bar facade and will incorporate a 14L tower which covers up the shocker Ramada wall.

:cucumber: :cucumber: :cucumber:

Melbourne City Tower
http://img62.exs.cx/img62/4433/Mvc-006f.jpg

Awwww, what a cute little baby skyscraper :-)

not really, it's a fugly piece of crap IMO :)

I for once fully agree with someone other than myself. Ha Ha Ha

This is a very ordinary building, in all respects. The appartments/rooms are tiny, each floor would be the size of a half netball court. I have been in here a few times and there is nothing impressive about it at all.

Typical international student boxes :-)

i like to call them dog boxs!

Plotty, it's only a baby crane. It won't pick up these dog boxes in a fit of blue sundays!!!!

AbiGroup are building the 70 apartment Mutual Store and New Empire which is now a 306 room student accomodation building. Considering Empire was supposed to contain 90 apartments over 14 levels, wonder how many more levels for 306 student apartments?

http://www.abigroup.com.au/images/web.jpg

AbiGroup are building the 70 apartment Mutual Store and New Empire which is now a 306 room student accomodation building. Considering Empire was supposed to contain 90 apartments over 14 levels, wonder how many more levels for 306 student apartments?

Interesting... I reckon 10-12 student dwelings per floor so yr looking at up to about 30 levels. not bad. So see ya later red Ramada shite wall, and hello 2 two restored Victorian & Edwardian period classics.

Cheers

Dean - Melbourne

New Empire is called Home@flinders (268 Flinders Street.)

http://www.homeatflinders.com.au/homepage/home.htm

It is still 14 levels.

ehh, fair enough

seems a cool design for student accomodation, better than nothing

http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/home.jpg

New Empire is called Home@flinders (268 Flinders Street.)

It is still 14 levels.

Damn!

DAMN, DAMN, DAMN!!! :bash:
5 more storeys would have done it!
That shit red-brick Ramada wall will still be seen. :rant:

http://members.optusnet.com.au/~wadad/mypic223.jpg

What's that one?

Council House 2

Melbourne City should be almost finished by now, doesn't look too bad at all from this rendering, it even has a mini spire:

http://www.realestate.com.au/objects/props/0885/101990885bl1099094878.jpg

Nice View:
http://www.realestate.com.au/objects/props/0885/101990885al1099094878.jpg

Its toped out, but the facade is being worked on. It looks much better then I had expected, and it looks much better then the pic on the previous page Mr G.

It's still a nuff nuff tower though :)

Grolly which building is the glass one in the forground of your photo. Its been boggling my mind, I can't work out if its Telstra HQ or something else and i can't work it out from other photos

this tower goes okay train traveller; setbacks, colour and glass for what is a cheap to build tower = a good result

question for Favco or anyone else. the crane came up through the floorplate, do they lift each tower section from the bottom levels up and out the top of the tower? anyway bit of a prick to infill the hole in every floor with concrete

last month
http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/mca200410.jpg

idle i think your asking about 222 Exhibition, quality glass tower. think ANZ have most of the space

http://members.optusnet.com.au/~wadad/mypic230.jpg

Concept blue has radio ads now, heard one yesterday on Triple M.
Nice picture, where was that taken from? i like the old building in the foreground to left of screen, with the vines.

nice clarity in that pic plotty

all Crema's people were on Silverpoint and Melbourne City, now they're both done Landmark is ready to go...finally.
getting crowded up that end of town

http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/lmr200411.jpg

and its a crap pic, but better than nothing. nice tower
http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/landmark.jpg

About bloody time they got a crane on that site!

And that tall bluestone wall is the Old Melbourne Goal, or part there of.

Ahh Silver, there you are. I knew you would be up to speed.

In regards to the shitbox shoebox, the towers would have to come out via the hole at the top, fairly easy once the crane comes down, they get pulled out in groups of 2 or 3 or 4, whatever the recovery crane can handle. The penatrations can be filled with concrete brought up in the alimak by barrow, yes it is slow; or by pump which is faster and a bit more easier, but $$$.

The crane going up is a Favelle M230D, the same one that was down at Albert Park Lake, the crane putting it up is a LTM 1200, Liebherr 200t mobile crane and the truck is probably the ugliest looking truck in the world. The towers (Blue with green stripe) look to be the same ones from the shoeboxes down the street, colour and all. Note that is on at least 12 towers, which is very close to the max it can go before needing to be tied. But it needs a building to tie too, which is yet to appear.

So is it up???? Is there a rope with a hook hanging from the end of the boom???? Weather has been most unpleasant all weekend. Kind of makes you want to be in Qld for the week, poor old Paris Hilton wannabees at the races have been getting drenched all week.

ehh dont know, that's all they had up by midday. the powerpack was on the ground but nothing else had been delivered at the time. im sure Meldon can fill us in, he knows whats going on that end of town

how old is the truck out of interest? good to see their maintaining an impeccable service fleet (tongue in cheek). check out this old timer getting a helping hand out of urban much to the laughter of the workers, you weren't at the wheel favco?
i remenber it chugging 2/3 the way up and rolling back down over and over
http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/boom.jpg

Weather has been most unpleasant all weekend. Kind of makes you want to be in Qld for the week, poor old Paris Hilton wannabees at the races have been getting drenched all week.

Well from the news it seems SEQ has had about 300mm of rain in the last few days as well. So i guess if you want to leave our rain for their's then that's fine. im sure you'll able to figure out how to get a tan regardless.

Cheers

Dean - Melbourne

lol @ the truck getting pushed up out of the excavation :lol:

Stu

Ahh Silver, there you are. I knew you would be up to speed.

In
So is it up???? Is there a rope with a hook hanging from the end of the boom???? .

Yep it is all up. Walked passed today and everything was up. So they got it done sometime! There was a nice big puddle at the bottom of the hole though! So there was no work happening!

SMB, Nah, twasn't I. I don't drive trucks. The Foden is ??? old, don't know as I have never seen it up close, all I know is that it looks bloody ugly at the front. I think I might have seen it trying to get out of Yve early days and it made it ok, not bad cause it was a bit of a lump of a hill. So I suppose even though it is as ugly as a hat full of ....., it seems to be very serviceable.
Poor truck going up the hill, probably lacking diff lockers and/or HP. Would have been good to see the crane come up and out, I don't think the operator would have had any problems.
It has 5 axles and this can be a disadvantage on uneven ground, the drive axles can come out of contact with the ground.

ps ...... Thanks Kasperluke

Address: S4/58 Franklin Street, Melbourne

Permit for 155 student accommodation apartments [on top of an existing multi-level car park, on the west side of the Qantas building]
Building envelope (site): 2,000sqm (approx)
Revitalised city location
Also suit Hotel/Residential/Backpacker/other (STCA)

The crane for Concept Blue is coming down :(

Concept blue:

http://www.realestate.com.au/objects/props/7535/102047535ml1101102384.jpg

another crane bites the dust! i really like this one.

It really looks much bigger than i thought. Especially from A'beckett st near rmit.

But the concrete, urgh...

Stu

About time I posted something :)
Enjoy!

http://homepage.mac.com/jbadcock/Melbourne/misc/eastend_231104.jpg

Not sure what that thing is they're building on um whatchamacallit opposite E&Y.

And while I'm at it. I'll post this pano (including the above image)
http://homepage.mac.com/jbadcock/Melbourne/misc/cbd2_231104.jpg

really is a big building.its gonna block out alot of Collins place behind.
top piccies

Not sure what that thing is they're building on um whatchamacallit opposite E&Y.
A giant TV screen apparently.

What's the likelihood of 80 Collins St (Nauru) getting a signage change?

http://www.qic.com.au/qicnet/content/images/3hex_red.gif (www.qic.com.au)

Do people still Nauru building Birdshit House? I looks so much better since its been done up. It was starting to look pretty rough in the early 90's when pieces of concrete were falling off.

"Do people still Nauru building Birdshit House?" eh?

Nauru was sold to the Queensland Investment Corporation (that logo above) after the receivership debacle that the Nauruan government has been in. And yes, it's got a lot of tenants, but the major one is moving out: State Government to the other side of Little collins Street (Southern Cross site) and Lonsdale street in between tele$cum HQ & Casselden Place (Urban Workshop site)

Yes tayser, "Birdshit House" was the nickname given to the artist previously known as Nauru House due to:

1) The fact that Nauru is pretty well covered in a layer of phosphate due to all the bird droppings of migatory birds that would stop off there and...

2) There used to be some sculptures that looked like poo in the plaza area (I remember asking when I first joined on the older OZScraper site were the sucptures still there but nobody replied :no: ).

Therefore Nauru = posphate + bird poo-like sculptures = Birdshit House.

tayser - Opps, sorry for lack of the word "call" - lol See what happens when you post late at night. Ok thats my excuse anyway. The fact I'm blonde is besides the point. So Nauru finally unloaded it - WOW, well they needed the money. Last I heard they were after Australia for a new island location up in Queensland. Like that will happen? And Muse, I remember some sculpture down in the plaza but always wondered what the hell it was??? Nauru's Plaza was looking a bit rough when I last saw it but that was prior to the refurb. Its a thousand times better now. Hope they still call the building Naura House at least. Even though the new owners can change it to QIC or the three dots if they want. Be hard enough for Melburians to get into the habit of saying Oh, I'm off to Southern Cross Station.

is this thread for Q apartments? cant seem to find it.

It's on the western side of Elizabeth Street - West End thread and no-one's taken a picture of it for a while.

Very little action on Q, but my partner and I have just purchased a digi cam so I will go for a walk 2morrow.

die ramada, eh well maybe not

crane going at mutual store/home@flinders and the other re-fit office tower looks cool so far...

http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/ee200412.jpg

oh thanks. ill lookout for the western thread.
ta

tivoli square
http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/ts200412.jpg

is about to get a new friend. APN should have today been given approval to demolish 97-113 Russell and 167-191 Lt Collins for this. had a few troubles early days but they've applied for a building permit so all is O.K

http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/scots.jpg

http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/scots1.jpg

http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/scots2.jpg

so Australia's two 'greenest' office blocks opposite one another, and both cutting-edge designs to boot

eh isn't that proposal a few years old now??

what a swish little tacker (well both of them!).

Mr T this is a new design. The earlier design was refused as being too tall. But, has this been approved? If so, I guess Australia's first multi-deck carpark (c.1930s) is about to bite the dust!

Six stars for green, clean office beauty (http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Six-stars-for-green-clean-office-beauty/2004/12/20/1103391700450.html)
The Age (www.theage.com.au)
By Helen Westerman
21 December 2004

Tucked away in Little Collins Street, an office block is being built that will be as close to being alive as anything yet built.

It will literally breathe, cool itself down, recycle water - and grow.

It sounds like sci-fi, but Melbourne City Council's $51 million project, called CH2, is a reality, putting the council among the world's innovators.

The 10-storey building at 218 Little Collins Street will house 540 council staff and should be finished by the end of next year.

It aims to achieve the top "green" rating of six stars from the Australian Green Building Council.

But the building will also aim for another first - measuring the dollar savings of improving the health and wellbeing of the staff who work inside.

The building will cool itself at night by electronically opening north- and south-facing windows to catch the cool breeze, closing them when sensors detect wind or rain.

During the day, it will cool its occupants by drawing in fresh air over chilled panels attached to ceilings and beams in front of windows. It will create a gentle radiant temperature, instead of the chilly recycled air of the traditional air conditioner.

Vines grown vertically will run the full height of its north facade to shade occupants from the sunshine and glare. Water from the nearby sewerage line will be collected and cleaned to near-drinking quality for use in the toilets.

The design aims to reduce energy consumption by 87 per cent, gas consumption by 87 per cent and water use by 72 per cent. About 60 per cent of the building's hot water will be supplied by solar panels.

The idea of environmentally sustainable design has become popular in the construction and development world.

Since it launched two years ago, the industry-based Green Building Council of Australia has attracted members from Australia's biggest office property owners.

Last June, it launched its certified Green Star ratings system specifically for commercial buildings to set a common standard to measure the green performance of buildings, from water and energy usage to waste emissions.

A rating of three stars is quite respectable, while a four-star rating is seen as the ideal by many major building owners.

At present, the most environmentally advanced building in Australia is the headquarters of property giant Lend Lease, an office building at 30 The Bond, at Miller's Point in Sydney, which received a five-star rating this year.

But, with its grand design, the eyes of the industry are on CH2. Which is what the council wants.

"We want people to come along to a building and see what that means," said Lord Mayor John So.

The Green Building Council of Australia's executive director, Maria Atkinson, is pleased the council has taken such a leadership role. "CH2 is going to establish international benchmarks," she said.

CH2 can save $1.12 million a year by making staff happier and healthier, delivering a 4.9 per cent increase in "staff effectiveness".

How did they get approval to demolish the Heritage listed Victoria Car Park (the first multi level car park in Australia, built in 1938)?

http://www.doi.vic.gov.au/doi/hvolr.nsf/LUDL/H2001/$file/1_former_victoria_carpark_little_collins.jpg

Why bother putting a building on the heritage register if you are going to issue a permit to demolish it two years later?

Brisbanes first multistorey carpark was iin 1958
http://skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=161145
still trying to find Sydney's oldest.

Do we know for certain a permit has been issued for its demolition?

FORMER VICTORIA CAR PARK (www.heritage.vic.gov.au)
103-107 Russell St and 181-191 Little Collins St Melbourne

The Victoria Car Park was the first multi-storey car park constructed in Melbourne, and in Australia.

Statement of Significance

What is significant?
The Former Victoria Car Park was constructed in 1938 in reinforced concrete to a design by noted Melbourne architect Marcus Barlow for the Victoria Car Park Investments Ltd. Built in two distinct sections of four storeys, one facing Russell Street, the other facing Little Collins Street, the facades are in a restrained streamlined style, designed to look like an office or warehouse. The Russell Street fa?e has 'strip' windows, contrasted with a vertical element, capped by a small square tower, and the car entry/exit at the ground level. The rear section, facing Little Collins Street, has horizontal windows, with a vertical curved corner element, includes long ramps with quarter-circle ends to access each floor. The painted off-form concrete interior includes space for 400 cars. On the ground floor there are two shops facing Russell Street and five facing Little Collins Street.

It was used as a car park until 1944. During World War II, the building was used by the Department of Labour and National Service and the Australian Women's Land Army and by a number of other government departments and agencies. Its conversion into office space for government presumably resulted from wartime demand for office accommodation and a reduced need for car parking in Melbourne because of petrol rationing.The building was later known as the State Government Annex, and included the architectural office for the Public Works Department, the Housing Commission and the Council of Adult Education. A car servicing and washing space remained on the ground floor, with car parking space in the basement used as the Public Works Department garage.The conversion of the building, which became known as the State Government Annex, for office space with a caretaker's flat, was designed by Percy Everett, Chief Architect of the Public Works Department in 1949.

When built, the car park was located in a small precinct very much given over to the motor car. The south-west corner of of Russell and Little Collins Street was occupied by Standard Motors, motor car agents. The south east corner was taken up by Preston Motors, and there were ground level parking allotments in Little Collins Street. The car sales industry was still predominantly a luxury trade and these businesses and the new car park were strategically located in the central business district close to the top end of Collins Street. The place was therefore in one of the heartlands of wealthier Victorians who were more likely to be car owners and who frequented the quarter with its private clubs, theatres and cinemas, consulting rooms for leading medical specialists, exclusive shops and department stores, Town Hall and prominent churches. It was within easy reach of Bourke Street and Parliament House.

Its early demise as a car park may be attributed to several factors, including the possibility of design shortcomings and poor commercial judgement, but more particularly to the great reduction in car usage from early in the war, which failed to make the building profitable to its owners. The building was leased to the government and most of it was coverted into office accommodation (the ground floor and basement of the Little Collins Street remaining as a garage and car servicing areas).

The Former Victoria Car Park is the earliest multi-storey car park constructed in Melbourne. In other States, multi-storey car parks came later. In Sydney, the first multi-storey car park in the central city was under construction in 1955. All the other capital cities had yet to construct multi-level car parks in the 1950s, relying on off- street ground-level parking lots and street parking.

How is it significant?
The Former Victoria Car Park is historically and architecturally significant to the State of Victoria.

Why is it significant?
The Former Victoria Car Park is historically significant in the history of motoring in Victoria as the first building purpose-designed as a multi-storey commercial car park in Melbourne, different in kind to previous garages and pre-dating the next multi-storey example by fifteen years. Its construction was a direct commecial or speculative response to an emerging need and opportunity for large scale parking facilities in the city area prior to World War II. Its construction marks a point that had been reached where motor car traffic had outgrown the capacity of the city to deal with it efficiently.It was for Melbourne a precursor of the post-war period when commerical provision of large volumes of off-street parking became essential to economic well being and growth of the Central Business District and the wider city area. At the same time, in its original conception and design, it demonstrated some clear differences between motoring before and after the war.

The architecture and fabric of the building, while undistinguished in the broader context, are of sufficient quality and intactness to demonstrate the historical significance. They were appropriate in scale and design to complement the quality of neighbouring buildings while the structure on Little Collins Street was able unambiguously to proclaim its purpose. The original design, which had some cubersome and impratical elements and was soon outmoded by developments in car park architecture, nevertheless seemed appropriate to the needs of the time and contained some ingenious solutions to a confined and irregular space.

found Sydney's first multi level carpark.! would you believe 1909! The 5storey timber bldg stood at top of Hunter st and was demolished in 1986 for Chifley tower. it had a hoist and was a great looking bldg. ill post plans i got from archives. Its probably Australia's first multi storey garage. it used to house cadillacs.

Silvermb's Statement of Significance

its a fucking carpark - get rid of it!

**the hearing was supposed to be last night so who knows. APN were told about a year ago this wouldn't go ahead when they lodged their initial plans. so clearly for them to ask for permits to construct, they would confident it will be going ahead otherwise they wouldn't be wasting their money.

its a fucking carpark - get rid of it!



Agreed.

I'll even supply the dynamite.

Sometimes heritage just goes a little too far

Cheers

Dean - Melbourne

hows Q Apartments & Liverpool 16 going?

Q seems to be stuck!

I am not too certain what has happened there. Maybe they have encounted a few construction problems.

nah no great delays apart from the fact that Rixtam are a new builder at this size. they've pulled out the old core and are sticking a new larger one in up against the southern facade which is tedious in an existing building. anyway its up to the new floorplate looking at the secong pic so it should be routine from now on

http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/qa200412.jpg

http://img104.exs.cx/img104/9065/124mz.jpg

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....

the hell?

That's one crazy skybridge (assuming that's what it is) :?

What the?

um strange resembilance to the design hey?????

also someone should check out the new best apartments book, theres some ok ones in there ;)

Funky! That shot is really awesome too, you'd swear it was taken somewhere in Europe.

Stu

Wilkinson Eyre Architects - it's in London, beside the London Opera

Same deisgn idea as Calatrava's turning torso

maybe i'm behind the times, but has anyone noticed that concept blue is done and it looks utter crap?!

Blabby, Shut up. Is *anything* good? Do you like any building ANYWHERE?!

I think this is the right thread! And I have forgotton the name of this development as well! Near the corner of Flinders and Elizabeth.

http://members.optusnet.com.au/lukekasper/flinders1.jpg

http://members.optusnet.com.au/lukekasper/flinders2.jpg

I was also going to take a picture of Q apartment block...but it is pretty boring! Hasn't changed in a few years just brown dirt that needs escavating now!

yep right thread, Elizabeth Street is the divide (East / West ends :D).

Concept Blue:
http://www.realestate.com.au/objects/props/5696/102155696ml1106348135.jpg

I like Concept Blue from that angle, but from the 'back' it's a shocker.

Stu

Blabby, Shut up. Is *anything* good? Do you like any building ANYWHERE?!
do i like any scraper currently being built in melbourne? not really, apart from eureka (borderline). prima, if it were going ahead. but NOT the rest. i can't help it if raise (not lower) my standards for my home city, unlike others... :D

i like a lot of the recently built or under construction institutional structures like Southern Cross Station and galleries, museums, etc - but not the scrapers.

This is one PRIME development site! What is happening on this one? In Little Lonsdale.

http://members.optusnet.com.au/lukekasper/developsight.jpg

Concept blue

http://members.optusnet.com.au/lukekasper/CB1.jpg


What building is this on Lonsdale? Whatever it is it is now off the ground!

http://members.optusnet.com.au/lukekasper/what.jpg

must be either Melbourne city apartments 50m/16st or Landmark tower 77m/25st ?
both are uc on Lonsdale st.

That's Landmark.

'PRIME' site = had the 8 Exploration Place proposal (approved) 28L/94m. No doubt the developer has gone A over T.

Concept Blue could've been so much more.

No pix, but CH2 (Council House 2) is up to level 4 and looking good with six to go and the Q apartments on Elizabeth Street look like they have gained a floor as well. :)

^Ch2 as of yesterday

http://members.optusnet.com.au/lukekasper/Cityoffices1.jpg

http://members.optusnet.com.au/lukekasper/Cityoffices2.jpg

Wow, I need to walk down swanston street one time soon.

The City of Me!bourne website has an some aerial views of CH2 here: http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/info.cfm?top=171&pa=2032&pg=2033. (Timeline from June '04 to beginning of Feb '05.)

^ great images of SX too!

w00t.

^^^^^^

very nice find :)

no-one else seemed to have noticed, Scots office tower was approved in December and The Age (wednesday) said it will be going ahead?? im assuming it just needs a pre-commitment

what a ripper
http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/scots.jpg

That is cool, where is scots exactly?

The church is on the northwest corner of Collins and Russell. The site is the carpark, shops, and the church hall to the north of the church. Say goodbye to the College of Hair Design and Beauty!

I know the pastor there - will ask him next time I see him!

beautiful drawing of Scots church. one of myfav churches in OZ. The 64m spire was once tallest structure in Australia!on comp in 1874.
the new tower project loooks cool

Pitty the earlier (taller) design was not approved! Oh well, this is better then what is there now and at least it will give the church some money $$$

sure "concept blue" isn't amazing but it's not totally shabby. Yes it could have been "so much more" but at least SOMETHING has been done there. With some luck it will just blend into other developments in the future. That so called "blade" is very lame I must say.

Landmark tower is coming along nicely now:

http://web.aanet.com.au/nmharrison/landmark web.jpg

Lonsdale Street has been full of action this year. 2 more to go this cycle.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/drunkill/P1040318.jpg
today

Melbourne's Council House 2 rated world's greenest office building (http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/info.cfm?top=228&pg=715&st=329) (from the City of Melbourne (http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/), April 1st):

The World’s Most Liveable City now has the world’s greenest multi-storey office building.

The City of Melbourne’s Council House 2 (CH2) has been awarded a 6 Star Design Rating by the Green Building Council of Australia making it one of the cleanest, greenest buildings on earth.

Green Building Council of Australia executive director Maria Atkinson said the formal rating confirmed CH2 as one of the world’s greenest buildings.

“Certainly the confirmation of a six star rating makes CH2 a world leader and a building that Melbourne should be extremely proud of,” Ms Atkinson said.


Lord Mayor John So said the City of Melbourne was thrilled with the six star rating.

“The six star rating is a remarkable achievement and a great honour that puts Melbourne ahead of the rest of the world in clean, green building design and innovation,” the Lord Mayor said.

This is a great little building. Any news on construction status?

Edit: (100th post! :))

awesome little building

http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/ts200503.jpg

What's with the groovy wavy ceilings. Is this for air flow and enviro stuff?

lookes like a fancy car park

so does darling harbour 3, until the facade is applied

http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/rsrc/PDFs/CH2/airflow.jpg

http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/rsrc/PDFs/CH2/cooling.jpg

Cool Grollo!

wow, technical... very cool building

cool, literally!

Concept Blue:
http://web.aanet.com.au/nmharrison/concept%20blue%20web.jpg

Landmark (opposite UWS) now has level 8 of the core exposed...and floorplates at about 6...it's really rocketing along

has anyone noticed that 11Exhibition's holographic "square" crown doesn't look as if it's going ahead? It looks like it's going to be replaced with...open air!

Historic building to be hotel (http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Historic-building-to-be-hotel/2005/05/03/1115092496837.html)
The Age (www.theage.com.au)
By Peter Ker
4 May 2005

http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2005/05/03/pt_04LONDON_ent-lead__200x284.jpg
London Stores building, Bourke Street.
Photo: Gary Medlicott

A historic city building in Melbourne's Bourke Street Mall will be converted to a budget hotel in time for next year's Commonwealth Games.

Hotel group Accor - operators of Sofitel, Mercure, Novotel, Ibis, All Seasons and Formule 1 hotels - is today expected to announce that the London Stores building at 349 Bourke Street will become a 146-room hotel, opening in time for the Games in March.

The building, built in 1925, stands at the corner of Bourke and Elizabeth streets, opposite the GPO. It is classified by the National Trust. Heritage Victoria said the site was being assessed for heritage listing.

An Accor spokesman would not comment on whether the company had bought the building from Melbourne's Alter family, but confirmed it would today announce a new city hotel at the budget end of the market.

The hotel is expected to be part of the Formule 1 chain.

The building's heritage facade will remain.

"Budget".... :( Deserves to be a 5 star hotel.

great outcome for all! yay! :D
now let's do the same for Flinders St Station!

Yes, a hotel would suit FFS great. Seeming there so much unused rotting space in there. And if the station had the same building down swanston street side, it would have more =D

that'd be a great place to stay too.

They need to get rid of the crappy paint job, I think it has a nice facade under all that paint similar to the Port Authority Building.

A reinforced concrete and steel emporium built to the then Melbourne height limit of 132 feet (40 metres) the London Stores was built in 1925 to a design by the architects H W and F B Tompkins. The building is in the same tradition of cubic classical revival forms expressed by others such as the Nicholas and Port Authority buildings, is one of the major emporiums built in Bourke Street in the period 1910-30 and, is a significant landmark marking, together with the Post Office, the entry to the Bourke Street shopping centre.

http://www.statelibrary.vic.gov.au/pictoria/b/0/0/im/b00572.jpg

http://www.statelibrary.vic.gov.au/pictures/0/0/2/im/pi002236.jpg

http://www.statelibrary.vic.gov.au/pictures/0/0/2/im/pi002237.jpg

Developer poised to buy Windsor Hotel (http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Developer-poised-to-buy-Windsor-Hotel/2005/05/19/1116361673569.html)
The Age (www.theage.com.au)
By Cameron Houston and Aileen Keenan
20 May 2005

http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2005/05/19/windsor1_narrowweb__200x254.jpg
The "Duchess of Spring Street", the Windsor.
Photo: Penny Stephens

Developer and publisher Morry Schwartz is set to become the new owner of Melbourne's historic Windsor Hotel, with plans to turn the heritage-listed building into luxury apartments.

Mr Schwartz has been granted two weeks to complete due diligence on the "Duchess of Spring Street" and is negotiating the price with the owners, the Oberoi Group.

Mr Schwartz and business partner Adam Garrisson have the financial backing of an Indonesian-based investment company, the Halim Group, and a price of $40 million has been mooted by insiders.

Mr Schwartz yesterday refused to discuss the deal but a commercial property source said negotiations were advanced.

Known for his forthright business style and ability to get difficult projects off the ground, Mr Schwartz described himself as "60 per cent publisher, 40 per cent developer", after launching The Monthly magazine earlier this month.

Mr Schwartz and Mr Garrisson are about to embark on the $60 million SOHO resi-dential and office development in the Docklands, while putting the finishing touches to the nearby $180 million Watergate Towers.

The pair boosted their coffers recently with the sale of the 95-year leasehold on the GPO development in Bourke Street.

While details of the proposed Windsor redevelopment are not known, the conversion of Melbourne's oldest five-star hotel into luxury units is likely to upset heritage groups and frequent visitors to the Windsor.

The existence of asbestos in the building will further complicate redevelopment of the prime Spring Street site.

The Windsor's longest-staying tenant, Peter Janson, returned yesterday from a business trip to Britain, where he was attempting to arrange finance for a rival bid for the hotel.

"I would desperately like to buy it, but I can't let sentiment cloud my judgement," Mr Janson said.

"If you put that sort of money up then you've got to get a return . . . Mr Schwartz is haggling over the price at the moment, so I'm going to wait and see what happens."

The conversion of Melbourne's oldest five-star hotel into luxury units is likely to upset heritage groups."He expressed concern over the fate of the Windsor's grand dining room and lounge, along with the Cricketers Bar, which has become an institution among politicians, businessmen and journalists.

The hotel has a history of thwarting developers.

Another publisher and businessman, Gordon Barton, organised the consortium that bought the Windsor in 1976, with plans for a casino and residential development on the site.

Rupert Hamer's Liberal Government intervened at the 11th hour to buy the Windsor, sparing it from the wrecker's ball.

In 1990 the Cain Labor Government sold the hotel to the Oberoi Group for $17.7 million, despite an offer of $20 million from the Cayman Islands. The Cayman Islands syndicate was believed to be representing West Australian-born developer Wes Anderson, who had earmarked the property for an up-market department store.

< If they had developed The Windsor as a department store, it may have had the same fate as Daimaru (we'll never know).

...but apartments!?! Although it does lend itself to them, can't they come up with something more imaginative than that? :|


....

The windsor is the last grand hotel left in Australia, it should stay as a hotel. After all the money and effort that the government put into saving it as a hotel I think it would be completely reasonable for the government to say that it has to remain as a hotel.

Perhaps they could turn part of it into the Windsor boutique hotel (with the part above the Hard Rock Cafe as apartments). I sure hope that they make good use of it and maintain public access to the main parts downstairs - ie ballroom, restaurant, pub.

Quick written update for the new Landmark residential tower on Lonsdale Street

7 floor plates are complete.

The core is 9 levels up with 1 in the box

I went through the whole thread and the only render left of the 25 level/77m Landmark Tower was posted by silvermb on page 8 of this thread.

Gee its construction is taking quite a while.

I did the best in doozing up the render with my software and this is the best I could do - just pretend there are a few low clouds floating by lol ;)

______________http://www.skyscrapercity.com/photopost/data/510/379landmarktower1.jpg

It looks like a nicely designed tower and should be a great addition to that part of town.
...

^^ i dont know Muse, seems to be a respectable pace. they've been on the carpark segment of the tower so theres uneven floorplates and ramps to build so once they hit the resi levels it'll move along. driving past today and caught a glimpse of what looked to be a second black crane on the western side of the tower. think they are replacing the yellow crane?

this is moving quite quickly now...funny thing was they had 2 number '8's painted on the core for ages, last week they changed the first one to a '7'.

i recently lowered the height inclusion for my monthly diagrams from 90m to 80m, so i guess landmark just misses out at 77m. bummer.

I took this photo recently... Southern Cross Eastern Office is really starting to look big!!

http://members.iinet.net.au/~troneast/100_0560.JPG

looking like a great cluster there

AFR

Windsor Hotel buyer plans to keep it running
Nicole Lindsay and Ben Wilmot
9 June 2005

A twist has emerged in the $40 million sale of Melbourne's iconic Windsor Hotel with the likely buyer proposing to keep the hotel operating.

Pan Urban's Morry Schwartz and his partner Wetherby Capital's Adam Garrisson have rejected plans to sub-divide the hotel into apartments and will keep it running for several years if they get control, according to sources in the hotel sector.

But some doubt how long it will last under Mr Schwartz.

"Morry Schwartz has never bought a hotel. He might run it as a hotel for a few years but it will get bulldozed eventually," another source said.

The hotel is owned by the Oberoi group, which would run it for the new owner.

The parties are still in negotiation but talks have stalled over the cost of the refurbishment which will include a costly asbestos removal program.

The five-storey building on the corner of Spring and Bourke Streets has 160 rooms.

Oberoi spent $18 million renovating it to its colonial glory after it bought it in the 1980s and a splashed a further $10 million on it in the mid-1990s.

It is classified by the National Trust and redevelopment plans could have trouble getting through the planning process.

Mr Schwartz would not comment yesterday.

The Windsor is the second hotel in play in Melbourne at the moment.

Sydney-based Eureka Funds Management is negotiating with the Rino Grollo-owned Grollo Australia group and Kuwaiti investment firm St Martins Properties to buy Le Meridien at Rialto for about $40 million and spend a further $20 million on a refurbishment.

InterContinental Hotels Group is expected to win the management rights to the Collins Street hotel.

Sunday Herald Sun

Historic hotel will stay open
Matthew Schulz
12 June 2005

Melbourne's historic Windsor Hotel will not be converted into apartments, its new owners say.

They deny claims they planned to convert the Melbourne landmark.

"We will be maintaining it as a hotel as long as we own the building," Melbourne investor and buyer Adam Garrisson said yesterday.

"Our plans are to inject millions into the building, to re-establish it as one of the finest hotels in the world.

"It's an amazing property with enormous potential."

Under a deal worth an estimated $40 million, former owners the Oberoi Group will remain in charge of managing the 1883 hotel.

Mr Garrisson's Wetherby Capital and Dharmapoetra Halim's Halim Group, also based in Melbourne, struck the deal for the Spring St property on Friday.

The refurbishment would follow a similar line to Mr Garrisson's rejuvenation of the Melbourne GPO, in an agreement likely to relieve historians and hotel regulars.

Developer/publisher Morry Schwartz was previously linked to negotiations and speculation the consortium wanted apartments.

But Mr Schwartz pulled out of the deal last week.

"Why would you spend all that money pulling the building apart? Commercially it just wouldn't make sense," Mr Garrisson said.

--- End of article

With all those "Mr Garrisson" quotes, can't help thinking of this :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v474/mugley/garrison.jpg