THREAD #2b (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=214517)
[threadid = 214517]

Corner of Little Lonsdale and Swanston: QV2 (residential)
middle building: commercial / retail
corner of Lonsdale and Swanston: commercial / retail

Interesting summary from todays AGE
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/05/18/1084783514162.html

The making of a landmark
May 19, 2004

Architects hope the public square will soon hum with life.
Picture:Rodger Cummins
Related

The QV has risen out of the dust of 17 years of controversy. With completion looming, Royce Millar examines the project's merits and flaws.

The Queen Victoria site spent 17 years as one of Melbourne's most notorious bombsites and has been an endless source of frustration for politicians, planners and the public.

But finally, the covers are coming off the $600 million redevelopment. The time has come to ask: is the Queen Victoria Village, or QV, a positive contribution to Melbourne? Does it function as a public space? Have the developers delivered what they promised? Victorians have a right to ask, because, one way or another, this site has cost them dearly, both financially and aesthetically.

The site has had a vexed history. In 1992, the Kirner government sold the hospital, which had been valued at $63 million, to developer David Marriner for a song after the Victorian property market crashed.

The maverick developer negotiated even less under the Kennett government, paying just $15 million — and then onsold it for more than twice the price.

In the 1990s, developers made millions. For their money, the Victorian public ended up with a failed craft market, an iceworks, a skateboard rink, an open air carpark and a minigolf course.

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During this period, the site was considered a blight on Melbourne. The former premier dubbed it "a bloody disgrace" but did nothing to fix it. Finally the Melbourne City Council intervened, resumed public ownership and contracted the Grollo group to redevelop it.

Grollo has built a bold, high-density commercial complex that is contemporary in concept and design but which borrows much from the post-gold rush era of Marvellous Melbourne, especially its now celebrated laneways and arcades.

Open-air lanes dissect the site east-west, and minor lanes north-south. Diagonal arcades offer entrances from corners of the site. The key to QV, says everyone involved, is its permeability.

At the heart of the complex is an open-air, public square. As part of a development agreement with Grollo, the council insisted that one fifth of the site be given over to public space. That 20 per cent includes the square, plus one third of the laneways. This is intended to guarantee that the laneways are never built on.

Melbourne University architecture lecturer Scott Drake says QV builds on Melbourne's strengths.

"Sydney has got the harbour and the weather but Melbourne has an internal quality in its streets and buildings."

QV master architect Roger Nelson agrees. "Melbourne doesn't have things you can point at. You get in them. You live them and engage with them."


The Queen Victoria site.
Picture:Wayne Taylor
Will the laneways and public spaces work? Grollo managing director Daniel Grollo is confident they will, but stresses that Melburnians should not expect replicas of the Block Arcade and DeGraves Street.

"We always wanted it to be a modern interpretation. We didn't want to do mock-historic."

Long-time council city projects director Rob Adams admits the laneways are full of "smarty pants shops" and lack "a bit of the grunge of the remainder of Melbourne".

But he urges critics to be patient. "It's very difficult to get that sort of fine grain that has been the product of nearly 160 years of development, on day one."

Nelson said that from the beginning the project team was passionate about the public components of the QV.

"In most developments you do it (public space) because you have to. In this case it was in fact the essence of the project. We sort of inverted the process. We planned the public realm first."

Yet the major lanes, which enter the site at street level do not meet the square. They take the visitor via boutiques, cafes and juice bars into a subterranean food court, not unlike a regional shopping centre, except underground and more hard-edged. The square is on the next level above.

"The level change makes it a bit confusing. You walk in and kind of end up in and under," says University of Melbourne architecture lecturer Scott Drake.

Cynics will argue that laneways leading into a retail area is a deliberate ploy to make visitors run the consumer gauntlet before finding relief in public space.

Not true, protests architect Nelson. He says the operation of the laneways is due to the lie of the land, which drops six metres from Lonsdale to Little Lonsdale Street. To enter at a laneway inevitably takes the pedestrian underground — no place for a public square.

RMIT emeritus professor and landscape architect Jim Sinatra says Melburnians should enjoy the fact that not only do laneways run horizontally through the site, pedestrians are also able to move vertically through it.

"QV is really a three-dimensional matrix; it's like being in a complex video game. It's not in any way boring."

So enamoured with the place is Sinatra, that he bought two apartments in Wardell's 38-level apartment tower.

The slope of the site also helped bring a suburban-sized supermarket — now the largest supermarket in the CBD and the busiest Safeway in Victoria — and whitegoods retailers to QV. Supermarkets require large spaces and have dead perimeters — an anathema to planners for whom active street fronts are all-important.

"Here, the supermarket is in dirt (underground), so it doesn't matter," says Nelson. While the supermarket is an asset to the city, it comes at a cost. It meant that a substantial car park had to be included in the redevelopment.

Melbourne University Professor Emeritus David Yencken says the council and State Government have erred in supporting yet another large car park.

"Especially when so many other cities are penalising cars in their centres and encouraging people to catch public transport."

He points to the "gaping hole" in Lonsdale Street — the main entrance to the car park — and says he is astounded that the Government allowed such damage to the city's pedestrian environment.

The council's Rob Adams refuses to comment; a telling silence. But Grollo is in no doubt. "Frankly, I wouldn't have done the project without the car park, because the retailers wanted it."

A much noted feature of QV is the use of multiple architects, a major break with tradition for large development projects or with "development monoculture", as master architect Nelson puts it.

Encouraged by the council, Grollo asked a variety of Victorian architects including rising stars John Wardle, Kerstin Thompson and Rob McBride, to work on different parts of QV. Accolades are pouring in for the diversity of design that has resulted.

Perhaps the most controversial of the QV buildings is the massive 1960s-style BHP headquarters on the corner of Russell and Lonsdale Streets, designed by Lyons.

Eyebrows have been raised over the building's height, bulk and effect on neighbours. It has had a marked impact on the Greek cafes across the road.

Restaurateur Harry Tsindos says his taverna has picked up some extra trade from the new office workers and visitors to QV, but the trade-off has been a change in climate.

The Greek cafes have suffered a big reduction in sunlight to their kerbside tables, "They took my sun away and gave me some people," says Tsindos. And QV has created a wind tunnel.

Tsindos says where once wind was not a problem, now it howls down Lonsdale Street. "It's a huge difference and it will force me to put up barriers. I want to put up my gas heater but I'm scared I'll only end up heating the coffee shop down the road."

It is widely acknowledged that the BHP office dominates the Queen Victoria Women's Centre in Lonsdale Street. It has also sparked an environmental row.

Grollo's initial scheme envisaged a hotel and residential building stepping away from the Women's Centre along Lonsdale Street to its maximum height on Russell Street.

But Grollo sought to change his scheme when he realised he might be able to lure BHP Billiton into a new headquarters on the site. The mining giant wanted more space and a different design. So instead of a stepped building to Russell Street, Grollo asked for council backing for a massive slab building instead.

The council agreed, on the proviso that the BHP office was a state-of-the-art environmental building. It's not.

Grollo concedes that some of the major environmental features "dropped off" in negotiations with BHP, including the dual facade, or second skin, which allows natural ventilation.

"But I'm sure if you spoke to council they would be extremely happy with the way it's (the BHP building) done," says Grollo.

Not quite. "The one thing that was promised and not delivered in my mind was the environmental initiatives," says Adams. "That was the deal, and they didn't deliver."

The Wardle residential tower on the site's north-east corner also has its drawbacks. In particular, it restricts sunlight into the public square for much of the morning.

Under the former Labor government, a 40-metre height limit applied to the entire site from Swanston to Russell Street. That limit was wound back by Kennett planning minister Rob Maclellan, to cover only the western half of the site.

Both the Bracks Government and the council backed Grollo's bid for big towers on the eastern end of the site. They even supported the developer adding another eight levels to the Wardle tower as apartment sales were booming.

Adams, Nelson and even Grollo, acknowledge that, at this early stage, the public square is a little undercooked, but all express confidence that, when all the cafes and bars open and spill out onto the pavement, the space will hum with life.

That is, with the exception of the southern and sunniest side. For here is the final reminder of what used to be — the Queen Victoria Women's Centre.

The ageing red brick building clearly belongs to a world vastly different to the brash commercialism of the Grollo project.

Nonetheless, it is surprising to visitors that no attempt appears to have been made to integrate the centre into the square at all. It is as if the old QV and the new have simply turned their backs on one another. It is not far from the truth.

Helen Hewett, chairwoman of the Queen Victoria Women's Centre Trust, which manages the centre on behalf of the State is clearly angry with Grollo over his handlng of the project.

She says Grollo wanted to take control of the women's building and incorporate it into part of commercial QV.

"It (the centre) was not given to the women of Victoria to provide a thoroughfare to the Grollo development."

Hewett says the centre, which she describes as the "jewel in the crown" for QV, does want to integrate with the new development, including its own cafe to the rear, but, as Grollo would be the main beneficiary, he should help pay.

Grollo is frustrated by the women. He says there is a group on the board of management that are obstructive and want to turn their back on the new-look QV.

"It's one of the great losses in this project but in time I'm sure wiser heads will prevail."

The Women's Centre of course, will forever be a reminder of what could have been. The panicked Kirner government sealed the fate of the old hospital buildings when it sold the site to David Marriner for a song.

But demolition of the old hospital now would be unthinkable. A growing interest in Melbourne's heritage and the cachet of old-style city apartments, would have made the hospital a cherished part of the city streetscape.

"With the way the city has changed and the way we value historic buildings it wouldn't have taken two thirds of anything to convert the hospital into student housing or something like that," says Adams.

In place of the hospital is a totally new project offering interesting, diverse architecture that respects the public realm. It has certainly helped kill off the sort of monolithic and introverted development that Melbourne Central exemplified.

While lacking the magic of old Melbourne, QV ensures that at least some of the Queen Vic site remains open to the public, day and night.

Importantly, it is proving a major catalyst in the transformation of the northern end of the city. Grollo says QV is growing to the size of a small town with up to 1500 residents, 6000 office workers and 4000 retail staff.

He says the project is "a pretty ballsy undertaking" although he acknowledges the good luck in embarking on QV as residential and commercial property cycles were about to peak.

In their eagerness to ride that property wave and get something happening at this troubled place, compromises have been made by the council and government. But city workers, students and residents finally have a supermarket to drop into on the way home.

Now thta is very interesting!

.......Wardell's 38-level apartment tower.

[The] Bracks Government and the council ....... even supported the developer adding another eight levels to the Wardle tower as apartment sales were booming.

Broken green promise riles council

By Royce Millar
City Reporter
May 19, 2004

The new QV building on the corner of Lonsdale and Russell streets.

A senior Melbourne City Council officer has criticised developer Grocon and mining giant BHP for failing to keep a promise to make the $600 million Queen Victoria Village in Lonsdale Street a special green project.

City projects director Rob Adams said the council had agreed to major changes to the Queen Village scheme in return for a four-star green rating for one of the key buildings on the site.

He said the council allowed Grocon to swap plans for a hotel and residential building on Lonsdale Street with a larger building to house the head office of BHP Billiton. "BHP backed away from that and, having said the building would be a four-star building, it doesn't get anywhere near it," Mr Adams said.

In particular, Grocon and BHP proposed a dual facade and natural ventilation system for the building. Mr Adams said he understood BHP later argued that the green components of the building were too expensive.

"In my mind that's a joke because they have spent more per square metre on the office fit-out than on the structure of the building," he said. He blamed both Grocon and BHP for failing to deliver the green building.

He said that, in retrospect, the council should have been firmer in ensuring the agreement was honoured.

Grocon managing director Daniel Grollo at first denied that environmental components were deleted from the BHP building. But later he conceded that the dual facade had been dropped.

"The issue is, it's got to be commercially viable and commercially workable," he said.

He said one of the drawbacks of the natural ventilation system was that the office temperature would vary between 19 and 25 degrees when the optimal office temperature was 21. "So it meant that, at 25 degrees, you're not going to work in a suit and tie."

At the time of going to press last night BHP had been unable to provide a reply.

Cheap bastards! No wonder the building looks so shit. For a boring box like BHP-Billiton to look good it has to have a special facade, the facade they have put up is very ordinary.

Really it's a blight on the landscape and they should have only been able to build such a tall, bulky building is it was something really special not a building which isn't even good example of a corporate box.

Cheap bastards! No wonder the building looks so shit. For a boring box like BHP-Billiton to look good it has to have a special facade, the facade they have put up is very ordinary.

Really it's a blight on the landscape and they should have only been able to build such a tall, bulky building is it was something really special not a building which isn't even good example of a corporate box.

BASTARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and its the little people that end up having to pull there houses down and spending hundreds of thousands in court for fences and paint colours....

G who is to say the double-skin facade woulda looked any better? IMHO the facade isn't the worst feature of the building - just the general design overall..

Regarding the bigger article - well I can tell you some parts of QV are already booming - the whole Food underground food area is absolutely chockas at all times of day - the busiest I've ever seen the Safeway was last Saturday night even!!

The laneways also appear to be working well - Albert Coates is 100% class and having the wedge cafe in the middle of it works well to keep the lane busy.

Jury is still out on the upper level open-air plaza space. Much of the shops & bars are still yet to open but so far people tend to get driven downstairs into the underground bit rather than up - and there's no obvious line-of-sight to the upper plaza area once your underground..

But I'm confident when all the plaza is fully running it should bring in the numbers - there's a heap of very cool venues there opening as we speak.

Overall I'd definately give it a 'tick' - very Melbourne.

It's amazing when Melb Central first opened you were so impressed by the scale you never noticed it's huge flaws with blocking off laneways and natural light - but in comparison to QV you can see it was a terribly non-Melbourne design - which thankfully they are now trying to address..

As far as the bars and restaurants go, in an area also designed for residential, what about the imminent bitching about noise? The first official complaints about potential noise have been received in Docklands, when a bar applied for a 5am liquor licence. They reckon it will disturb their morning walks (not joking, read the Port Phillip Leader)
How much is this area to be promoted as a proper, all-round night spot for all Melbourne?

i think the overall qv development so far as a-brain said is very melbourne.

re bhp-b, i think it's fugly. but i agree with the environmental thing - it's BS - you can't have an office building with temperatures varying in a 5 degree range. just can't. it would never work with a large corporate (maybe a boutique or small company). but in any event, second layer or not, i still think bhp-b would have turned out just as fugly as it is now.

From today's herald-sun:

Pull the boots on for virtual footy
Cheryl Critchley
19may04

COLLINGWQOOD fans will at last be able to enjoy Grand Final glory - in an AFL dreamworld.

Black and white fanatics will be able to change the result of last year's clash with Brisbane in a hi-tech cinematic experience at the new AFL Hall of Fame and Sensation.
They can even pit themselves against the Lions to help break Collingwood's premiership drought.

The virtual footy centre at the new QV Centre in the heart of the city will also feature a goal-kicking simulator, where fans can try to kick a famous goal like Tony Lockett's 1300th.

If that's not enough, would-be media stars can call an AFL game for radio.

Pie fans can even play Eddie McGuire and host The Footy Show in replica studios.

Or they might fancy themselves as Mike Sheahan and break a story in the Herald Sun, the AFL Hall of Fame and Sensation's official paper.

Fans will be able to use special computers to create their own footy headlines on Herald Sun masthead, then e-mail them home to use as screensavers or to print out.

The interactive centre, which uses the latest technology to thrill footy fans, was meant to open early this year.

Organisers are confident it will open in time for this year's finals, giving bottom-placed Magpie fans something to look forward to in September.

The virtual reality Grand Final day experience sees fans enter a simulated change room where current and past coaches, including David Parkin, rev them up.

Then, in a 60-seat wide-screen cinema, viewers become a footballer playing on Grand Final day.

The high-definition footage was shot by a separate crew at last year's Grand Final.

Film producer Rob Dickson says it will have two endings, which he won't confirm yet, but one will almost certainly see Collingwood win.

Local composer Dale Cornelius came up with the epic music score, which used everything from a 70-piece orchestra to fence-banging noises.

The goal-kicking simulator will allow fans to try famous goals such as Lockett's 1300th and Gary Ablett's 1989 Grand Final boundary-line snap.

Computer technology tracks the kick then places it on to the original footage to see how you fared.

Admission prices will be the same as the Melbourne Aquarium at $22 for adults, $12 for children aged 4-16 and $14 for concession. Family tickets will range from $38 to $55.

Had a quick wander through today and QV is starting to take shape nicely and unlike MC that looks like a missmach of nothingness shoud be quite a magnet for shoppers.I know where I would rather be a tenant and it aint MC.

G who is to say the double-skin facade woulda looked any better? IMHO the facade isn't the worst feature of the building - just the general design overall..


I have heard from several different architects and designers, that the double skin facade DID look a hell of a lot better. The original concept for the south facade of BHP was more multi-layered and textured. Basicly, the entrance / podium treatment was more beefed up and applied to the whole facade. Apparently, it did look really good and was very brutally cut by grollos...

http://metropolis.tayser.net/projects/cbd/qv/qv3001041.jpg

level 41 exposed. but how many to go...is it reaching 43 or 45?

The higher this one goes, the happier I will be. :D

level 41 exposed. but how many to go...is it reaching 43 or 45?
it has 43 floors so must be topped out by now? any recent pix??

No top out as yet. Still 41 exposed. The box is still up there.
All of this as of 9am this morning.

Level 42 visible.....

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/yyyyih/DSC01869.JPG

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/yyyyih/DSC01871.JPG

nice work!

i wish it covered up more of that damn blank wall! but cant have everything. QV res its looking fab! should be fine when all clad in glass!

Why oh why would you buy an apartment on the BHP side of QV???

Why oh why would you buy an apartment on the BHP side of QV???

I think that by placing the core of the resi tower on the BHP side, and by making it very slender, most apartments will not be facing BHP, and the ones that have windows that do face BHP also have windows which face other directions. Someone please correct me if im wrong?

Go back to previous page and take a gander at Fountainhead's pic. It will give you an indication of how many apatments will have a fabulous bare unsculputered concrete slab as a neighbour...

Wardel's apartment building is looking pretty unique albethe apartments lookin' pokey....and ever since finding out about Grocon & Co. cutting back costs on BHP-B., that bare concrete looks even more uuuuurrrgly! Now that's a mystery!! At least the residents of Concept Blue will be saved from it.

muse have you been to the muse bar?

Go back to previous page and take a gander at Fountainhead's pic. It will give you an indication of how many apatments will have a fabulous bare unsculputered concrete slab as a neighbour...

The concrete wall actually has raised patterns on it, they almost look like steel girders. The concrete wall is unfinished and will be rendered sooner or later and could look OK (just OK :-) if it is painted to show off the raised patterns on the concrete.

I don't think the concrete will be painted as part of this current design. If anything happnes to that concrete wall, it will be in the distant future.

I don't think the concrete will be painted as part of this current design. If anything happnes to that concrete wall, it will be in the distant future.

If you go to QV and have a close look at the wall you can see that's it unfinished, with patched up bits and holes and wires sticking out of it. Even Central Equity don't leave buildings like that, so I dobut Grocon would allow such a por quality finish to remain.

Yes , i agree, the blank wall on the back of BHP looks very , very DENSE indeed ! Quite Ugly Actually ! :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

I am sure they will render it though !

Lozza :rant:

any updates on progress of QV1?

I'll be at work tomorrow and will have to see if the core has moved any higher. I hope so!

This one looks great in person, especially the sharp 'serated edge' part of the apartments. If anyone can keep going into the courtyard there, every now and then, and take a shot from almost underneath, I'm sure it would be much appreciated by all. :)

I like the concrete wall of BHP, seriously! (Tays will attest to this :)) I hope they don't paint it unless it turns that browny colour that concrete turns after 15-20 years when exposed to the elements. Otherwise, don't touch it!!

Still at Level 42.

This one looks great in person, especially the sharp 'serated edge' part of the apartments. If anyone can keep going into the courtyard there, every now and then, and take a shot from almost underneath, I'm sure it would be much appreciated by all. :)

I like the concrete wall of BHP, seriously! (Tays will attest to this :)) I hope they don't paint it unless it turns that browny colour that concrete turns after 15-20 years when exposed to the elements. Otherwise, don't touch it!!

They should have used the bare wall to project images or for some massive (partially obscured in the Melb way) artwork, but unfortunately the fact that it's not perfectly flat is a bummer. And you can see how shoddy the potruding parts are at ground level in Albert Coates Lane (I think that's what it's called), the lane that leads out to Exhibition St, where Officeworks is.

Btw, I think the BHP-B tower is pretty good at ground level (Lonsdale) and the laneways are AMAZING and hugely successful so far, but the tower itself is really quite UNIMPRESSIVE and DISAPPOINTING.

:banana:

http://thehoddlegrid.net/projects/updates/cbd/qv/qv2006041.jpg

maybe not as tall as the others going up...but this is my favourite tower going up in Melbourne at the moment....the design is far superior to anything going on in OZ at the moment...

mass qv pics, gotta love it...

qv square, with the blades of QV2 and the red Pod H
http://home.iprimus.com.au/revlis81/qv 200406 int.JPG

...St George loves it! check out the purple fins of QV2
http://home.iprimus.com.au/revlis81/qv 200406 ext1.JPG

various others
http://home.iprimus.com.au/revlis81/qv 200406 ext.JPG

pure quality! - the development and shots ;)

/\/\ :eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2:

Very photogenic, so many different angles and views. If only BHP-Billiton turned out better, all of the other buildings are stunning.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

This development is pure Class with a capital "C".

Indeed thanks for sharing silvermb. More beautiful works from Studio Cunning Stunts.

LOL After scrolling down through such beauties, we surprisingly end up on Big W. :sleepy:

I really like the previouly posted shot that tayser has taken too. It will complement MC quite nicely from that point :)

nice!!

is that the 12storey resi tower? looks very finished?

http://home.iprimus.com.au/revlis81/qv%20200406%20ext1.JPG

THANKS SILVERMB! :):):):)

those black panels in the macbride building where made in sth australia makes u wonder why melbournes so expensive :P

i've heard that the mcbride apartments aren't settling until August, so there's still some work to do.

Beautiful!QV has finally shown its beauty!

im not convinced qv will be a major hit the shops on the ground level look anything but busy if they want to make this work they need to get a market feel happening

http://members.optusnet.com.au/~wadad/mypic103.jpg
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~wadad/mypic104.jpg

^^^ When the residents move in I'm sure there'll be a lot more going on.

Eureka,FWP1, QV, Blue, Verve501
As another small downpayment of forum dues, went in and walked QV today. But as - other than QV2 - i was not taken with much of it, will start on the way there:

FWP1 : level 20 exposed below the core: this is really moving along and I think will soon become our favourite through sheer pace of construction.

Eureka: activity there, so work has obviously resumed. Totally speculative, but my secret fear abt last week's union office bugging incident is that this site might get caught up in the whole melb ganglands/police corruption thing through Gatto et al, and that we could have a terribly disputaceous completion of our most iconic building. Hope I'm just wrong. very possibly

QV: Well, liked the drama of QV 2, and was relieved to see a better degree of separation from QV 1 than my former impression.
I"m no expert, obviously, but I see QV2 has level 43 exposed below the core, and there are still sleeves on the crane shafts (right term? ). I always thought a sleeve on the shaft meant the building has higher to go, but QV2 shd be toppng out I think.
The internal laneways and food halls of the so-called 'village' below left me a bit cold. seen this stuff in a thousand places elsewhere, and had somehow hoped for something more imaginative and distinctively 'melbourne.' a bit of bluestone and cobbling maybe. Huge amount of retail already going on and am sure my wife and teenage daughters would love it, but that has nothing to do with the inherent qualities of the building. It left me with that ragged, tatty commercial fast-foto shop feel i always get when i go anywhere near frigging shopping. Like some others, was very disappointed with QV1. Can't believe MCC has allowed the concrete wall at the back, and that red BHP-Billiton logo (is that what the blobs indicate ?) is just a disgrace, cheapening the whole building.
Con Blue: Going well, and see scaffolding around the 'old" northern wing of the former police HQ. indicating restoration I assume. The warren of old press rooms used to go in off the street there, and were the scene of some of my own most lost younger years. Whatever is going into that wing, the tenants can have no idea of what preceded them.

Verve501: Just a few of the old Ansett blg piles still sticking up, and what looked like a pile-driver for a new start on site. cheers Bronte

sleeves on the crane shaft???????? Sounds like the erect and phallic world of tower cranes is wearing condoms???

Nice descriptions of other stuff but!

I knew you would pick this up Favco, but what's the answer : does the double shaft (if you like - see the 2nd pic in post below) mean the building is going higher ? :rock:

QV is a really mixed bag, innit? On the one hand, the quality of finishes in the food hall and "guts" on the inside are crappy - on the other, the laneways and arcades DO have a classy Melbourne feel in a way that no other shopping centre has. The laneways themselves ARE paved with bluestone, and it's all good here. Half indoors, half outdoors. The disconnect with what's left of the QV hospital is a shame, though. Similarly, people just haven't taken to the outdoor square yet.

Re the towers: mixed bag, really. BHP-B is meant to be spectacularly plush internally, but it is difficult not to associate the building with the uncompromising feel of an unwelcome visitor. The bare wall, the crappy glazed facade treatment, the big car park entrance hole on Lonsdale. Wardle's tower looks better as it goes up - from certain angles. But from the north, just as with BHP-B from the south, the hulking presence is difficult to swallow, especially given that it's surrounded by relatively low-rise bulk-less structures. The Swanston St buildings are aesthetically "safe" but not exactly stimulating. Gee, at least we can always count on the SLV will always look good, day or night (when it's lit up beautifully).

do the laneways feel kinda tacky, fake and manufactured compared to the other traditional ones?

Although the rest of the tower is pretty crap the BHP-Billiton podium is still pretty cool:

http://members.optusnet.com.au/~naharrison/bhp web.jpg

The podium canopies were supposed to be extensions of the second layer of glass on the main facade and the cut outs on the main facades were supposed to be cut out of the second layer of glass, that would have looked good. Cheap bastards :-(

I agree 100% - the most visually appealing part of this building is the podium on that angle ^^

The laneways are generally a little wider than the popular ones: Centre, Block and Causeway, the density is around the same, in the context of QV, the amount of retail et al is roughly the same as well and I agree with blabbs, they're very classy in a 'metropolis' (http://stonegarden.brinkster.net/2026/images/metropolis.jpg) kind of way (especially the Swanston Street side of the network with the airbridges, office walkways etc etc overhead).

I think some of your guys are being way harsh and easy-targety (to use Buffy speak)..

They have created atmosphere out of a barren empty block in one go. QV is *quite* an achievement. The laneways *DO* have a class and feel about them that you don't just get in your average retail development. Bronte - do you wanna name even 5 of your 1000 developments that feels the way QV does??

We had a beer the other night at Three Bears (or whatever it's called) in the central square and there is definately huge potential for that area when it's all finished - already great atmoshpere.

The food court and supermarket is for servicing the city workers & residents (inc. myself) so it doesn't need to look flashy - hence it's underground.

But all the laneways leading into it look great.

I think QV is starting to get its own unique ambience that is titally different to anything else in Melb it literally s**ts all over the abomonation that Melbourne Central is becoming.

i agree the podium on BHP-B is good, but would've been better with the second layer of glass cut-out. Perhaps the bigger question is: what is Melb Central turning out to be? IMHO, I regret the loss of the sense of open space and awe that the hollow are under the cone used to give - it has lost its best feature, being the impressive sense of immense scale. Now the cone's effect is muted. I think of 1970s shopping centres in Asia, and they were all pushed aside for Chadstone-like developments, and now we're going back on all that to return to the cavernous, claustrophobic scale of WWII trenches. That doesn't bother me in QV becos you're never far from an "outdoor" bit, but Melb Central is quite different - they are trying to reproduce all the lanes and alleyways INTERNALLY within a self-contained enclosed building. I hope that when the main bits are done - with the restaurants, cinemas, etc, things will be better. I mean, Melb Central is more than the cone, and there was all that Daimaru floorspace to fill, so hopefully that will be better.

I think we all need to wait till Melbourne Central is finished before we pass judgement.

And A_Brain, the pub is called "Three Degrees" at QV.

PS The new Sensis signs are up on Lonsdale Street and at the corne rof Swanston Street. Both of which look great.
http://www.sensis.com.au/images/hme/sensis_logo.gif

. Bronte - do you wanna name even 5 of your 1000 developments that feels the way QV does??

Northland, Southland, Eastland, Westland, and ...umm, Singapore.

Hey Bronteboy, jump into the cranes thread and check out some other photos, then leave a post. The only sleeves, or double shaft I can see what you might be talking about is the climbing frame, which might mean it is going higher, or might mean it is ready to climb down. This frame is still on it 'cause it had to get up that high in the first place. Go to the crane thread and we'll figure it out.

thanks, but i'm not much of a site navigator, and have random ways of getting around it. where is the cranes thread ??

btw to all, the pic below reminds me that the Q1 podium from Lonsdale/Russell is very definitely a redeeeming feature, and maybe was too harsh overall. Think i missed the first point because i came out by the car-park 'mouth' and didn't stand off to view the podium overall. Generally viewed the interior on a bleak morning with unfinished stuff everywhere.

oh, and don't know where to put this, but dropped into the bunnings display site on the way to the AFR's annual Christopher Skase testimonial lunch today (we all worked with him in his young financial reporter days). lunch was at Grosvenor Tavern, Sam Kekovic master of ceremonies: that snitchy little Kiwi Karina Barrymore wasn't there or i"d have passed on the forum's regards) ..anyway,lady in Bunning's display said the tower, shown in heavy shades of blue and green, wd be "5 to 7 years."

thanks, but i'm not much of a site navigator, and have random ways of getting around it. where is the cranes thread ??

btw to all, the pic below reminds me that the Q1 podium from Lonsdale/Russell is very definitely a redeeeming feature, and maybe was too harsh overall. Think i missed the first point because i came out by the car-park 'mouth' and didn't stand off to view the podium overall. Generally viewed the interior on a bleak morning with unfinished stuff everywhere.
Hey Bronteboy, go to the melb/vic thread, level 55 club, crane porn for melb crane stuff or go to to Ozscrapers, city images, skyscraper & skylines, oFficIaL# CrAneS thread for a general around Australia site.

melbourne is becoming like sydney with these underground walkways

http://members.optusnet.com.au/~wadad/mypic116.JPG

wtf?? I cannot work that picture out for the life of me *confused*

wtf?? I cannot work that picture out for the life of me *confused*

Nor can I!

Artsy-fartsy...

The buildings on the street through the gap are on an approximately 35 degree angle.

Whatever it is, I like the olive-bronze and 'titanium-ish' bluish-purple plates.

But where the fuck are the Sydney-like underground walkways?

Very arty-tarty plotstyle.

But where the fuck are the Sydney-like underground walkways?

I think he's referring to the lanes - of which the only example you'd find in Sydney would be Galleries Vic. @ Citigroup or the curved lane out the back of 400 George Street. But even then that's far fetched.

:dunno:

what are you on Plotstyle? LOL ;)

btw that pic is the main entry to the the site from the cnr of Swanston and Lonsdale streets.

when you hope off at town hall or wynard cant remember and theres heaps of shops at subway level and long walkways melbourne has never had a station like central where they weave you though all these shops and made you spend heaps of money think about the moment you hop of the train you have a food court i mean what a tease although in melbourne its better done cause its new walking along these cosy underground strips makes the street seem strange because in these malls all you can see shops and they are so close to u but i do miss the days of reverse escaltor sliding in peak hour i think they have added about 4 minutes to RMIT by changing things

the picture doesnt have anything to do with the walk ways its an entrance to one...
but it reminds me of the new national gallery in canberra

the picture doesnt have anything to do with the walk ways its an entrance to one...Oh O.K.. I still can't see what it is. I of course believe you when saying it's an entrance (obviously unfinished with wires exposed, machinery etc).

plotstyle, request. Do you think you can get another pic of it in context? i.e. step back further and take a pic so we can see where it is positioned on the project....because it really has my curiousity juices goin'.

Northland, Southland, Eastland, Westland, and ...umm, Singapore.

Bronte sorry mate but surely your on the wacky tabaccy.. ;)

Singapore has *ZERO* architecture that compares to QV - It's all very generic contemporary Asiana style - at least all the bits I explored in February (which was quite a bit)..

As for comparing QV to N/S/E/W-land ...

:weird:

It strikes me your just making an easy shot observation that QV is the same as all other developments - when clearly it's not if you've actually visited parts like Albert Coates Lane etc..

I think we all need to wait till Melbourne Central is finished before we pass judgement.

And A_Brain, the pub is called "Three Degrees" at QV.

PS The new Sensis signs are up on Lonsdale Street and at the corne rof Swanston Street. Both of which look great.
http://www.sensis.com.au/images/hme/sensis_logo.gif

Yep, glad to see my Melbourne compadres are moving into a nice new office - bastards!

what are you on Plotstyle? LOL ;)

i get this alot almost all the time from people that dont know me well... :)

Bronte sorry mate but surely your on the wacky tabaccy.. ;)

Singapore has *ZERO* architecture that compares to QV - It's all very generic contemporary Asiana style - at least all the bits I explored in February (which was quite a bit)..

As for comparing QV to N/S/E/W-land ...

:weird:

It strikes me your just making an easy shot observation that QV is the same as all other developments - when clearly it's not if you've actually visited parts like Albert Coates Lane etc..
Agree totally (as usual, I'm agreeing with A-Brain!) :dance2:

okay. okay. I said it was a bleak early morning. Scrolling back i see it is one of yr favourite projects A-Brain, so I'll go in and look again, just for you, my dear, and provide a full written report on the laneways in due course :soon: ...

Bronte sorry mate but surely your on the wacky tabaccy.. ;)

Singapore has *ZERO* architecture that compares to QV - It's all very generic contemporary Asiana style - at least all the bits I explored in February (which was quite a bit)..

As for comparing QV to N/S/E/W-land ...

:weird:

It strikes me your just making an easy shot observation that QV is the same as all other developments - when clearly it's not if you've actually visited parts like Albert Coates Lane etc..

A-brain (and Blabbyboy), just further to my earlier post ...it strikes me that you might think I was wimping out on meeting the challenge of naming 5 other centres like QV, and that implicit in your own observations about Singapore in my (intended as whimsical) reference to it, I was ducking there too. Well, on the first, in a way I was wimping out...my walk-through QV on a freezing morning had been a bit cursory, and my subsequent comments impressionistic. But there's another reason. After happening on the forum a couple of years ago, I eventually signed on - very hesitantly I must say, in view of my own background - but determined to treat my own part on it (as my Avatar/signature etc shows) as a fun hobby, but one which also offers a huge amount of serious information and enjoyment from pics, progress reports and architectural history etc - things I am genuinely interested in. Fun, and its funny exchanges I like: but I was determined to avoid the combative and often childish parts of the forum (I'm not including your responses here). Having said all that, I wouldnt like you to think that i don't know Singapore, and indeed most of the other main cities in the world, pretty well. One of the problems with the forum is that you are generally exchanging comments with people you know next-to-nothing about. In my case I've been lucky in my worklife, and since 1969 have lived in or worked between many of the world capitals almost constantly, and many of the 'hot spots' in between. Africa, for some reason, I think is about the only place or continent I have entirely missed. This is not meant as boasting, as I have nothing like the technical expertise or accumulated building knowledge that many on the forum have. And while i fool around with words sometimes, i wouldn't like you to think my underlying attitude to melb and its structures is scoffing or negative. I love the city: in fact, four years ago I individually conceived, pushed for, raised funds for, and gave two years unpaid work to bringing about the installation of quite a major public art piece - a sculpture/fountain - here. It has won two major awards, and I'm terribly proud of it. Sometime, when i learn how post pics on the forum, i might initiate a "Best of" thread for fountains, and put it up for you to see. Bests. Bronte

Sensis are going to have a nice view of the action below (Albert Coates Lane):

http://www.thehoddlegrid.net/projects/updates/cbd/qv/qv0607041.jpg

the lanes are good n tjhe fooscourt is denect but reaally it's substandard i son't approve k thc i'm drunk bye

A-brain (and Blabbyboy), just further to my earlier post ...it strikes me that you might think I was wimping out on meeting the challenge of naming 5 other centres like QV, and that implicit in your own observations about Singapore in my (intended as whimsical) reference to it, I was ducking there too. Well, on the first, in a way I was wimping out...my walk-through QV on a freezing morning had been a bit cursory, and my subsequent comments impressionistic. But there's another reason. After happening on the forum a couple of years ago, I eventually signed on - very hesitantly I must say, in view of my own background - but determined to treat my own part on it (as my Avatar/signature etc shows) as a fun hobby, but one which also offers a huge amount of serious information and enjoyment from pics, progress reports and architectural history etc - things I am genuinely interested in. Fun, and its funny exchanges I like: but I was determined to avoid the combative and often childish parts of the forum (I'm not including your responses here). Having said all that, I wouldnt like you to think that i don't know Singapore, and indeed most of the other main cities in the world, pretty well. One of the problems with the forum is that you are generally exchanging comments with people you know next-to-nothing about. In my case I've been lucky in my worklife, and since 1969 have lived in or worked between many of the world capitals almost constantly, and many of the 'hot spots' in between. Africa, for some reason, I think is about the only place or continent I have entirely missed. This is not meant as boasting, as I have nothing like the technical expertise or accumulated building knowledge that many on the forum have. And while i fool around with words sometimes, i wouldn't like you to think my underlying attitude to melb and its structures is scoffing or negative. I love the city: in fact, four years ago I individually conceived, pushed for, raised funds for, and gave two years unpaid work to bringing about the installation of quite a major public art piece - a sculpture/fountain - here. It has won two major awards, and I'm terribly proud of it. Sometime, when i learn how post pics on the forum, i might initiate a "Best of" thread for fountains, and put it up for you to see. Bests. Bronte

Yeah, ok, I respect all that and I have no doubt you have seen a lot more places and a lot more architecture in your time than mine.. and I don't think you don't know Sing and lots of other places to compare (having met you I know this for sure!)

But I still reckon QV has barely nothing in common with Northland or most of Singapore.. that's all!!

A-brain (and Blabbyboy), just further to my earlier post ...it strikes me that you might think I was wimping out on meeting the challenge of naming 5 other centres like QV, and that implicit in your own observations about Singapore in my (intended as whimsical) reference to it, I was ducking there too. Well, on the first, in a way I was wimping out...my walk-through QV on a freezing morning had been a bit cursory, and my subsequent comments impressionistic. But there's another reason. After happening on the forum a couple of years ago, I eventually signed on - very hesitantly I must say, in view of my own background - but determined to treat my own part on it (as my Avatar/signature etc shows) as a fun hobby, but one which also offers a huge amount of serious information and enjoyment from pics, progress reports and architectural history etc - things I am genuinely interested in. Fun, and its funny exchanges I like: but I was determined to avoid the combative and often childish parts of the forum (I'm not including your responses here). Having said all that, I wouldnt like you to think that i don't know Singapore, and indeed most of the other main cities in the world, pretty well. One of the problems with the forum is that you are generally exchanging comments with people you know next-to-nothing about. In my case I've been lucky in my worklife, and since 1969 have lived in or worked between many of the world capitals almost constantly, and many of the 'hot spots' in between. Africa, for some reason, I think is about the only place or continent I have entirely missed. This is not meant as boasting, as I have nothing like the technical expertise or accumulated building knowledge that many on the forum have. And while i fool around with words sometimes, i wouldn't like you to think my underlying attitude to melb and its structures is scoffing or negative. I love the city: in fact, four years ago I individually conceived, pushed for, raised funds for, and gave two years unpaid work to bringing about the installation of quite a major public art piece - a sculpture/fountain - here. It has won two major awards, and I'm terribly proud of it. Sometime, when i learn how post pics on the forum, i might initiate a "Best of" thread for fountains, and put it up for you to see. Bests. Bronte
I want you to be clear about something, Bronte. Nobody is attacking anyone personally on this forum, least of all me. It might sound like that, but that's the beauty of the internet - we are relatively anonymous here, and it gives everyone an opportunity to share, expand (sometimes blow) our minds, and exercise some good old fashioned parliamentary style barbed debates! It's all part of the fun. :D

And most importantly - and this is the honest truth - because we ARE anonymous, we don't have an issue with judging anyone else. Sure, I respond to posts, but I never read behind the post and judge the person who wrote it. I don't judge your experiences, familiarity with this or other cities or architecture or your sense of style, how cultured you are or whatever. So - and this is to everyone, by the way - it's NEVER personal when it's on the forum. The truth is...I love youse all - even the Sydneysiders! And yes, even Chrisaus and, yes, even JayT (randomly picked forumers).

Now, Bronte, if you helped us get that installation/fountain, could you please lobby to have our fountains TURNED ON (or drought proofed)? :D

But - like A-Brain, QV is better than anything Singapore has ever built (they can't even conceive of a place like QV in Singapore!)

well, hope all that's cleared the air - nuff said. btw the scultpure/fountain i initiated (its a work by the sculptor peter blizzard) reticulates with minimal water loss but was conceived to work as a sculpture in a natural rocks and native grasses setting without it. but great when green bronze filmed by water, and a big attraction to local lorikeets in inner-city.. As i said i'll post a pic to a 'best of' fountains thread when i get those skills organised.

[QUOTE=Blabbyboy]
Now, Bronte, if you helped us get that installation/fountain, could you please lobby to have our fountains TURNED ON (or drought proofed)? :D[QUOTE]

that fountian saving water stuff is such a scam...

most fountains just filter the same water over and over unlike the city of melbourne where it ends up in the bay and as for ch2 its doggy as well because more embodied energy goes into double glazing and double facades and the fact most energy is used during construction, but heh i lov the built environment :)

Okay, had an hour to spare in the city this morning, so with greatest goodwill here is my penalty homework project set by Mr A-Brain for his beloved QV:

First visit: was on a freezing wet morning approached from Russell Street,
and had difficulty through various construction-blocked access and getting in. Today, sparkling morning, took care to go down the other side of Lonsdale and come in from Swanston. Impressions: QV 1, as before, find the podium (and the slanted setback some way up) has some style and impact, but overall the stolid corporate style left me a bit cold. Higher up, looks like a stumpy version of the UN Building, albeit with glass ends, and I thought the city was striving to do away with flat rooflines. Anyway, not the worst building in the city, by an means, but not one of the best either - and it should have been. BHP-Billiton logo remains lousy.

Sensis Bldg corner. Some interesting design features: hmmm, so-so, guess I accept a comment made by someone else, that the variety of styles is good for a block-sized project. thought the stylised building by the National Library much more interesting. QV-2, as before, a lot of dramatic impact, and pleasantly surprised by the degreee of separation from QV-1.

Internal. To be quite honest, in the face of A-Brain's defence, I wondered whether I had actually missed the laneways, or a major portion of them, first time in. I didn't. And i think we are just going to have to put this down to a difference in tastes or expectations. I'm older, and tend to have rather 'retro,' or nostalgic tastes in many things. Had coffee at The Wedge.
Looking up, I was quite impressed by the skybridges and design features shown in Tayser's pic (posted below), and those each above Albert Coates, Red Cape and Artemis Lanes (are there more lanes, other than the short one-sided access entries beside the old Queen Vic?). I guess my point is that I don't see lanes as places for looking up, and was much more interested in them at ground-level. So, sorry. Being a bit broader than most of Melb's best lanes, I found them lacking intimacy, shorter and straighter than I expected - and the retail presentations very, very, generic (altho I guess that's up to the tenants). In my prior glib throw-away line about having seen this stuff a thousand times before I was actually thinking of "New" New Shinjuku ('Shin' means 'new'- or 'dead,' in fact, depending on how its written) and parts of Shibuya in Tokyo, and some of the more elaborate complexes in Santa Monica and Beverley Hills, , but perhaps that doesn't stand-up on 'atmosphere' grounds, so let's not go on with it - as we have already.
Now, some more specifics. Again, sorry A-Brain, but I really just don't like those fold-up cage constructions around the food/coffee outlets etc., in the central food "plaza' - and if they are trying to evoke an open "market" feeling i just think they could have been done better. Above that, i"m just confused about what is 'finished' in that area, and what is not. Are the open ceilings with exposed ducting etc. meant to be design features ? If so, I don't find them welcoming, but cold. Similarly, the bare concrete of the columns and around the lifts. If that's 'it' - a kind of latter-day expression of Kenzo Tange's philosophy about concrete as a finished surface - then I'm agin it. And anyway, Tange layered his concrete forms (1964 Tokyo Olympics pool). But again, maybe this area is not after all, 'finished.' Which brings me to the bluestone you mentioned, in which i think you were referring to the paving in lanes and other areas. Well, okay, but it isn't really what I meant: I find the bluestone pavers used grey, flat and dusty, and not dark enough for the effect I wd have preffered, and wd have liked some bluestone walls too. In particular I'm just confused -again- about the mottled mixed-finish paving in the food hall and down the escalators outside the two supermarkets (which are good, and as you say, much needed for the CBD), and don't know whether they are worked over for slipping safety, or still not finished. Anyway, looking down from the escalator, atm i think they look a bit shitty.
Finally, as for the open-air square - well, mid-winter's not the moment to judge it, and on neither visit was anyone there.Certainly there's some striking features looking up around it, with QV2 looming, and it might work brilliantly come spring/summer. Found the old Vic side of it, however, a bit awkward with an open-sided, detached feeling. Well, that's it: nothing definitive or conclusive about this - just one person's opinion.. If its in yr community area,(or not) feel free to love it.

other stuff:
FWP 22floors exposed below the core and lot of glass going in to the curved section now: Big mobile crane at work at Verve501 and looked like maybe some foundation work starting. Melb looked just wonderful, and spectacular all round, this morning from Federation Square, E&Y core already showing up from that area too. Regards Bronte

well - I for one welcome debate in these threads, keep it up ;)

some more pics

http://www.thehoddlegrid.net/projects/updates/cbd/qv/qv0807041.jpg

standing at La Trobe and Swanston st for a split second I had a horrible image in my head: QV2 (low-rise resi) as a Housing comission block in Collingwood (the balconies) until going further down the street for this much much much MUCH better angle

http://www.thehoddlegrid.net/projects/updates/cbd/qv/qv0807042.jpg

One of the best parts of the development IMO: it's a welcome modern addition to Swanston St. Nice height and bulk too

http://www.thehoddlegrid.net/projects/updates/cbd/qv/qv0807043.jpg

On silvermb's request

http://www.thehoddlegrid.net/projects/updates/cbd/qv/qv0807044.jpg

On silvermb's request part deux.

http://www.thehoddlegrid.net/projects/updates/cbd/qv/qv0807045.jpg

I would have prefered to have seen QV1 the height of QV2 and QV2 the height of QV1.

I think I have made up my mind and I don't like QV1. I woudl give it a 3/10. I would give QV2 7/10 and the rest woudl get a 7/10.

It's a bit early to judge QV1, the top section is a big design feature of the tower and even a lot of the sections of the facade that have gone up so far are unfinished or still covered in protective plastic sheeting.

QV2 is way cool, very Melbourne: solid and stylish, the perfect design for the section of QV adjacent to the main Facade of the State Library.

^ cool pics tayser I think QV is really good all bar the back of BHP building with soo much exposed concrete etc other wise overall project gets a 7.5/10

The Harvey Norman sign was going up this morning on the Swanston Street facade.

http://www.theedge.co.nz/dynimages/Harvey%20Norman.jpg

im in lov with the exterior of the apartment tower...

great shots

interesting, looks hard to judge the project from pics really, im looking forward to seeing it in person. Melbourne looks so different with the leaves gone from the trees!!

http://home.swiftdsl.com.au/~ciaobella/Scott/110704.jpg

The Harvey Norman sign was going up this morning on the Swanston Street facade.

http://www.theedge.co.nz/dynimages/Harvey%20Norman.jpg

Yep and there's another big sign further up for a furniture store - starts with 'D' not a familiar brand..

But boths signs along with the great new Sensis signage really add's to the 'bigness' of QV .. almost in an American way (not the style - but the bigness) ..

"D" stands for

http://www.domayne.com.au/Images/DOMWEB_TOP.jpg

Thas the one.. thanks AS.

Some great stores coming to QV !! Whats the history of this Domayne place? Havent' seen it in Oz before.

This will be the first store in Victoria. There are stores throughout NSW and Qld. If you get the Sunday Herald Sun or The Sunday Age, a number of their magazines feature Domayne advertisments even though there is not a single store in Victoria!

They also advertize on optus TV which seemed strange as they didnt have a store in Vic.

level 44 of lift core exposed now - not long to go, i guess.

WOW ! 44 exposed ! i thought it was only 41 stories ! A bit of a bonus me reckons ! :banana2: :banana:

cheers :cheers:

Lozza :lock:

Yeah I think the core has topped out now. We'll know when they start removing the formwork structure; shouldn't be too long now on the best Melbourne resi IMO since Republic.

John Wardle Rocks!

Blue

Brace yourself fella's.

Level 44 is the last apartment level. Level 45 is the pool and gym. Level 46 is the roof and the core will go to level 47 for the lift overrun/motor room.

So a couple more yet.

Yeh, I thought it would be going a little higher, but I wasn't certain. Thanks Sky High :)

Absolutely awesome - and the renders turned out to be *exactly* right that QV sits much taller than BHP ..

Higher RL but also surely there has to be more than 5m difference between the claimed 127m & 132m respective heights?? QV is looking more like 140m+

if lev44 is exposed , the floors heights must be atleast 3m, thus 44x3 = 132m isnt that the official height? if its going higher another few floors must have grown with updated design? so 141m? we better find out/

I have no problems with being wrong about that!

Blue

OFFICIAL HEIGHT- 142M!!!
Architects got back to me today with more accurate height of 142m to LMR. and 47 levels in total.
So on completion this year it will cement a place in Melbourne's history as there tallest apartment block scraping in before opening of Eureka next year!
i dont think its worth putting in 134m YE5 because they will open same year.

so table
melbournes tallest residential tower chronologically>
Apartment tower/height/storeys/year
MELBOURNE MANSIONS/20/5 /1910-dem 1960
ALCASTON HOUSE/ 30/8/1930
STANHILL,ST KILDA/35/10/1949
EDGEWATER GARDENS,STKILDA BEACH/40/13/1959
DOMAIN PARK, SOUTH YARRA/62/20/1962
ROCKMANS REGENCY/115/33 /1997
REPUBLIC TOWERS/120/36/1999
QV APARTMENTS/142/47/2004
EUREKA TOWERS/297/91/2005

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

YAY!!!

I *knew* it was taller than 132m .. I just *knew* it - all the renders showing it against BHP suggested that... and 47 stories!! That's awesome.. this about makes up for YE5 topping out today lower than I thought (and originally planned) ..

Gee nearly another 500ft'er ... if only... but it's still going to boost up that part of the city no end... along with RDT

To quote Sharon from Kath & Kim: "Really big changes are happening for moi.. I'm growin' just watch this space!"

melbournes tallest residential tower chronologically>
Apartment tower/height/storeys/year
MELBOURNE MANSIONS/20/5/1910-dem 1960
ALCASTON HOUSE/30/8/1930
STANHILL,ST KILDA/35/10/1949
EDGEWATER GARDENS,STKILDA BEACH/40/13/1959
DOMAIN PARK APARTMENTS, SOUTH YARRA/20/62/1962
PARK TOWERS, SOUTH MELB/93/31/1969
ROCKMANS REGENCY/115/33/1997
REPUBLIC TOWERS/120/36/1999
MELBOURNE/CITY TOWERS/122/37/2004
QV APARTMENTS/142/47/2004
EUREKA TOWERS/297/91/2005

melbournes tallest residential tower chronologically>
Apartment tower/height/storeys/year
MELBOURNE MANSIONS/20/5/1910-dem 1960
ALCASTON HOUSE/30/8/1930
STANHILL,ST KILDA/35/10/1949
EDGEWATER GARDENS,STKILDA BEACH/40/13/1959
DOMAIN PARK APARTMENTS, SOUTH YARRA/20/62/1962
PARK TOWERS, SOUTH MELB/93/31/1969
ROCKMANS REGENCY/115/33/1997
REPUBLIC TOWERS/120/36/1999
MELBOURNE/CITY TOWERS/122/37/2004
QV APARTMENTS/142/47/2004
EUREKA TOWERS/297/91/2005
thats right, we worked out last year the 20 level Domain Park would have probably 2.7m floors, thus 20x 2.7m=54m + twin 3 lev high LMR =62m.

http://www.statelibrary.vic.gov.au/pictoria/a/2/1/im/a21462.jpg
the
i suppose the 55m/21st Debney Towers would have most floors from 1963-69.

Actually I think we agreed to disagree :-) I thought that snce this was a luxurious apartment building that the floor to floor levels would be around the same as Blues Point Tower which are around 2.85. Also you can see that the twin LMR's are closer to 4 levels high when viewed from the side. So I would estimate a height of 68 metres :-)

Question: What does LMR stand for?

Lift Motor Room I think.

MG2

dyna- as MG2 says, just a quick way of saying it. i think its approx 5m high.
Grollo- to make sure i might get it surveyed.they just dont look 9ft. especially for 60's. i thought closer to 8ft/2.4m with 200mm slab so 2.6m? maybe slightly higher at 2.7m in total.anyway i definalty think no lower than 60m and no higher than 70m.

Ah sweet. Thanks.

back to a fresh taste of qv...

http://members.optusnet.com.au/~wadad/mypic133.jpg

Has anyone noticed this yet (Flinders & Swanston)

http://www.thehoddlegrid.net/projects/updates/cbd/qv/qv2307041.jpg

?? :)

http://www.thehoddlegrid.net/projects/updates/cbd/qv/qv2307042.jpg

^^ :banana: :)

http://www.thehoddlegrid.net/projects/updates/cbd/qv/qv2307043.jpg

http://www.thehoddlegrid.net/projects/updates/cbd/qv/qv2307044.jpg

Its now way over BHPB and clearly visable from St Kilda Rd too.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - QV is absa-bloody-lutely sensational.. it continues to impress more and more.- this morning it was packed with people and full of vibe and atmosphere...

And what particularly really impressed this morning was some of the uber-funky shops that continue to open - there are a couple of shoe stores that have just openeed on the Swanaston St frontage that are just soooo funky it's criminal..

It just puts another big fat rubber stamp on Melbourne as the undisputed Style & Shopping captial of Australia..

Singapore has absolutely nothing that even comes to close to p*ssing on QV - as Radiohead once said - 'From a greeat height' ..

:D

I've said it before and I'll say it again - QV is absa-bloody-lutely sensational.. it continues to impress more and more.- this morning it was packed with people and full of vibe and atmosphere...

And what particularly really impressed this morning was some of the uber-funky shops that continue to open - there are a couple of shoe stores that have just openeed on the Swanaston St frontage that are just soooo funky it's criminal..

It just puts another big fat rubber stamp on Melbourne as the undisputed Style & Shopping captial of Australia..

Singapore has absolutely nothing that even comes to close to p*ssing on QV - as Radiohead once said - 'From a greeat height' ..

:D

Okay that's it, ABrain. I'll meet you at noon in Albert Coates Lane outside the 45th frock shop (no doubt one of your favourites)! Bronte

Lol high noon eh? Again I was being levitious but I also do happen to believe it.. I'm not having a go at you again :D

well, so am i - of course . but being serious for a moment, and this is not arguing the buzz you got out of QV this morning ..one can tell from yr tone that the place was obviously humming - but i realised a week or two ago what the extra element was that i personally am still sort of waiting to see arrive in melb CBD resi life in an established way ...and its something to do with the numbers eventually reaching critical mass, I guess. Anyway, in addition to the supermarkets (which QV has ) , I'm looking forward to the time when - around the big apartment complex areas - there is the odd local fruit and veg shop spilling onto the footpath (or into the laneway), ditto the flowershop, speciality bakery, deli etc....the mix that makes a true community life and neighbourhoods, besides the big brand-name city centre shopping. Probably needs a council strategy when numbers start to make it economically viable .. the way, years ago, MCC prevailed on newspaper publishers to make the city newstands more attractive and Paris-style.
Perhaps retailing has changed too much, but it did seem to work in Manhattan neighbourhoods, where a few local fresh food shops always seemed to co-exist with the A&Ps, which were usually on the ground floor or basement of a big apartment building. :wink2:

Well that's another extremely valid point - but yes it is way in it's infancy..

But your 'spilling onto the footpath' idea - which I love - is already in a sense in place at QV. You yourself have been to the Wedge Cafe which fills the corner space of the two alleyways - and the Max Brenner Chocolate Bar is absolutely packed with people always and the tables and chairs now spill out onto the central plaza ...

So it remains to be seen if a fruit stand or two will open up in the spaces in QV - personally I don't know if that is suited to the development - but I don't think it's going to be the lesser for it. That sort of thing I think already works well and is best suited to Melbourne's busy office thoroughfares of Collinses & Elizabeth Streets..

im all for diversity and fruit shops but melbourne has alot more potential if the the population goes up by a million the things that worry me are chaddy its cool but any bigger and...

.......Collinses & Elizabeth Streets..

AAAAAARRRRGGGHHHH

Collins & Elizabeth Streets.

im all for diversity and fruit shops but melbourne has alot more potential if the the population goes up by a million the things that worry me are chaddy its cool but any bigger and...
it'll pop? :runaway:

I've said it before and I'll say it again - QV is absa-bloody-lutely sensational.. it continues to impress more and more.- this morning it was packed with people and full of vibe and atmosphere...

And what particularly really impressed this morning was some of the uber-funky shops that continue to open - there are a couple of shoe stores that have just openeed on the Swanaston St frontage that are just soooo funky it's criminal..

It just puts another big fat rubber stamp on Melbourne as the undisputed Style & Shopping captial of Australia..

Singapore has absolutely nothing that even comes to close to p*ssing on QV - as Radiohead once said - 'From a greeat height' ..

:D
Hear hear!

Okay that's it, ABrain. I'll meet you at noon in Albert Coates Lane outside the 45th frock shop (no doubt one of your favourites)! Bronte

I always thought Birrarrung Marr, either on the decking bridge or on the sandy bit next to the river - on a crisp, sunny winter's day. Duelling swords or hairtriggers, I'll be ABrain's second, but you better not get killed becos I don't want to lug the coffin back to the other end of town! I'll provide Bibles and white hankie (clean), but you better order your shot from Melbourne Central shot tower. Or we could also do it in a dodgy chinatown laneway and have dumplings for lunch?

Nothing like a good duel to liven the spirit. Too much excitement for one day, really, stiff drink and straight to bed after that!

:gunz: I always thought Birrarrung Marr, either on the decking bridge or on the sandy bit next to the river - on a crisp, sunny winter's day. Duelling swords or hairtriggers, I'll be ABrain's second, but you better not get killed becos I don't want to lug the coffin back to the other end of town! I'll provide Bibles and white hankie (clean), but you better order your shot from Melbourne Central shot tower. Or we could also do it in a dodgy chinatown laneway and have dumplings for lunch?

Nothing like a good duel to liven the spirit. Too much excitement for one day, really, stiff drink and straight to bed after that!

Actually Blabby I've chickened out and made my peace with A-Brain (for the moment) : here's the reason (true story, thrown in for instructive fun) ...

my first forebear recorded in Australia, Charles P (Bronte). chief mate of the ship 'Elizabeth' (Captain Walter Cock commanding) died in a pistol duel with the third mate Robert Atkin on the shores of Garden Island on April 2, 1828: Shipboard squabble the night before, Chucka hit the third mate, and they met at dawn the next morning. The duello. Tennyson once called it 'the Christless code that must have life for a blow.' They presented and fired on each other three times, including two misfires. Chief Mate was smoking a cigar throughout and perhaps smoke got in his eyes: Atkin's third shot went right through him, and he died on board an hour later. Atkin, second mate John Chalmers (his 'second') and boatswain Henry Milton (P's 'second') were tried for murder before the first NSW chief justice Francis Forbes a month later, the latter acquited, the first two convicted of manslaughter and sent. to 3mnths.Sources'Decisions of the Superior Courts of NSW 1788-1899, Div. of Law, Macquarie Univ. 1999; The Sydney Gazette, The Monitor, The Australian, Ap 4, 1828, May 2,5,9 various, (trial reports).
As elsewhere, duelling was fairly common in NSW, for instance: chief surgeon John White v. deputy c.s. Dr William Balmain (wounded), June 1788; Macarthur v. Lieutentant Gov William Paterson (wounded) at Paramatta, 1801; Macarthur v. Captain Joseph Foveaux, 1807 (neither injured). Duelling was a means of advancement. Samuel Johnson once wrote...
' Some fiery fop, with new commission vain
Who sleeps on brambles till he kills his man.'
Now A-Brain: if QV's honour is not satisfied, I suggest a drinking match at 10 paces at the next meet. Having observed yr noble physique and apparent practice, however , I choose ...lattes (from The Wedge if you insist).

btw, a contemporary print suggests that the tallest structure on Sydney skyline in 1828 wd have been, maybe not st james church spire, but a mock windmill on top of convict entrepreneur solomon levey's Theatre Royal in George Street ( much like the later Moulin Rouge in Pigalle). There were 19 real windmills ringing the harbour then. Just thought i"d keep this relevant to skylines. Cheers Bronte :gunz: :cheers1:

Bronte, that's an inspired post.

btw, i don't have a second : might have to be my missus...somehow in recent years i seem to have alienated all my friends :wallbash:

http://img55.exs.cx/img55/5585/QV5.jpg

http://img55.exs.cx/img55/8029/QV6.jpg

http://img55.exs.cx/img55/3671/QV7.jpg

RMIT certainly has 'the money shot' eh? ;)

hmmm still not sure what I think about this one, nothing comes to my head really as to If I love it or hate it

Exclusive pics inside QV2

http://img56.exs.cx/img56/8140/Image003.jpg

http://img56.exs.cx/img56/285/Image004.jpg

http://img56.exs.cx/img56/3842/Image005.jpg

http://img56.exs.cx/img56/7973/Image41.jpg

http://img56.exs.cx/img56/7293/Image42.jpg

http://img56.exs.cx/img56/7308/Image008.jpg

http://img56.exs.cx/img56/6595/Image010.jpg

brilliant stuff! any chance of a QV1 sneak preview?

wow.

that view = cool!

you have your fingers in a few pies now don't you A. Steve? ;)

hmmm still not sure what I think about this one, nothing comes to my head really as to If I love it or hate it

well i know that i think most of central equity's creations look better than this :nuts: :crazy2: :colgate:

hmmm still not sure what I think about this one, nothing comes to my head really as to If I love it or hate it

Ask A-Brain. He'll tell you you love it. :runaway:

:bleh:

Yes all must bow to the wonders of the exposed concrete and rusted steel look ...

:clown:

Seriously.. I don't mind if you don't like it !!! That's ok .. just as long as you don't compare to things it umm.. doesn't look like !!

:nocrook:

:stupid:

Your da main man on QV, A-Brain - no doubt abt it! ;)

Oh, btw, didn't think much of that apartment in Aussie Steve's pics though - all that kitchen needed was a wok and you might be in some SE Asian nation-state not unadjacent to the Straits of Malacca ! :runaway:

I like some interiors of SE Asian nation-states not unadjacent to the Straits of Malacca.

I was thinking they look like ice-cream parlour chains like Wendy's.

Absolutely. And nothing wrong with woks either. :cheers2:

OK, I was in the city today - and all I had was my new mobile phone so the pics are pretty crappy but thought people would be interested.

They were taking from inside QV (the sensis offices, hence I'm posting them in this thread) :) and the car park on the other side of the road.

http://homepage.mac.com/jbadcock/pictures/Picture(3).jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/jbadcock/pictures/Picture(4).jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/jbadcock/pictures/Picture(5).jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/jbadcock/pictures/Picture(6).jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/jbadcock/pictures/Picture(7).jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/jbadcock/pictures/Picture(8).jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/jbadcock/pictures/Picture(9).jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/jbadcock/pictures/Picture(10).jpg

really good considering it was a camera phone. Those things are horrible! Well done!

ahh good shots, i like them. During work Experiance in may with a graphic designer i wokred right near QV, went there a few times that week, infact, if you ever go to Space health clubs, in QV and in Victoria Gardens, they guy i was with designed all the interiors. His name is Joe Bland, a little strange for a Graphic Designer :)

but i like the progress of QV shall be very cool once it is done.
and i worked (Work Exp) in the building that is circled, but on the other side, nice veiw, and that strange greenish building was infront of us.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/drunkill/Picture6.jpg

I walked into Harvey Norman & Domayne on Friday night. The views are just as joed has shown, spectacular!

Sweet work joey despite the quality they're great snaps..

I love this one in particular:

http://homepage.mac.com/jbadcock/pictures/Picture(8).jpg

that strange greenish building was infront of us.

Hey, leave Hero (that's what you're talking about, isn't it?) alone! I live there! :runaway:

Giancarlo :)

QV has had one more half-rise of the core - no exposed number 45 (not enough of a rise for it anyway) and the config looks different to floors below it - so this perhaps could be it for the core rises??

Either way I think if it is still 47 levels there might be a couple of floors of plant perhaps non-lifted??

Anyway either way it's towering over BHP now so it's all good!

Thanks guys, especially A-Brain. Very kind words :)

After hearing that, I had to go back and take a couple more. Well, here's the best one.

http://homepage.mac.com/jbadcock/pictures/P1020406.jpg

:eek: nice!

Why does BHP-B HQ always look so great in pics yet so many are disatisfied with it due to the cut-backs. Still looks great to me. Somebody please explain. How does it differ from most of the pics?

signed
Mystified. :?

it's because when you dont have the podium in view, it brings new meaning to the word 'plain' regardless of the shiny brand-spanker factor that's displayed from you look from Lonsdale street (joed's pic). case in point: compare the "short back and sides" of BHP to the "WTF happened to you last night" of Qv1 Res behind (in other words, compare the facades) :cool:

well that's how I view it anyhow - others might differ.

But tays I think that's where the constrast is nice - BHP is a good solid slab of 50's style internationalism with a mix of 00's added. The exposed core at the top is still a shocker despite the very night lighting treatement - but certaintly I don't see BHP as an eyesore particularly when there's more than enough going on around it in QV to mix it up..

joed's great new pic emphasises the cool 'Lots of windows' factor of BHP ..

Anyway QV work's wonders at ground level (for me) and that make's it all worthwhile .. living in the city it's a place that you just naturally gravitate towards - it's intitmate enough to feel cosy to just go get a coffee or wander around - yet big enough to be interesting and dynamic. The alleyways & plaza's work perfectly just like the Melbourne Arcade's to enclose you in from the cold winter streets.

Compared to it I barely set foot in MC - yes to be fair I will wait till all the new alleyways open up but still can't see it feeling as warm & inviting as QV.

LOVE IT !!

A-Brain: #1 ticket holder of the 'We love QV' fanclub ..

I flat out hate BHP. QV as a whole is really cool though. I love how the stairways and tiny alleys go all sorts of weird directions.
http://psyonline.ru/info/illusion_esher_stair.jpg

Heh, you get the idea :)

umm... I dont really see how people can hate BHP and then look a bit further up the road and say that ICI House is a great looking building. I like them both.

From a distance they're hard to tell apart.

I agree the arse end is shit but im sure they'll do something about that in the future.

Cheers


Dean - Melbourne

Well, a couple of months back it was mentioned that the arse end was yet to be clad. So, I dunno...

I went to Harvey Noman/Domayne today and the verdict is IN folks. Sh*t HOT.
Great views out the windows and a great department store that puts the Myer's of this world to shame. Seriously I wanted to buy cooktops and vac's it got my juices flowing.

I've been holding off passing judgement but MC is NOT going to cut it shopping wise compared to QV, though it may get the cinema and bookshop to draw customers.

Dean: Exactly my point! (That I didn't make) BHP is like a post-modern ICI - if there is such a thing as post-modern of 50's era architecture ..

And BigVman - great to see someone else is 'getting' the QV message of the style ..

Thats why I don't like it. Its like a building built 40? years ago.

Its better than nothing, but anything built recently is better than it. With the exception of shell house of course :)

I hope that Melbourne Central does get a few majors to add to Boarders, Coles and Hoyts, otherwise it will be way behind QV.

OV is certainly very stylish indeed but what about all those terrible little rundown shops opposite in Swanston St rip,em down and lets add somethimg special on that side as well.

I hope that Melbourne Central does get a few majors to add to Boarders, Coles and Hoyts, otherwise it will be way behind QV.

Is MC getting a Borders? Thats great news! I wish the Coles was a full sized supermarket though :(

Boarders is going to be on the First Floor of the La Trobe St building just near the bubble bridge on the Tower (Elizabeth St) side of the walk way. MC Is also getting a Max Brenner too. Yummmmm

PS. Some of the glass for the bubble bridge has been on the eastern side of the bridge for a few weeks now. You can only see it when your inside. Its not that exciting.

Hello all, I've been lurking for about a month and have decided to finally make an appearance. I live in Carlton and work at the University of Melbourne, so from here QV currently appears to be the same height as Eureka (!) - even though its only half the height, it's much closer. Are there likely to be any more core rises in QV Residential or does it still have some distance to go before topping out?

Gday Phi1ip

Q.V. Residential will be 47 floors from memory, so it will rise only a few more times

Cheers

Lozza :lock:

Okay, I've watched the Queen Vic site all the way from Nauru ownership to Marriner to Grollo. Hell, even before that - I used to date a girl who worked at the old hospital as a research scientist!

I can't think of a better example anywhere in the world where a developer has worked with a group of architects to perfectly ecapsulate the "feel' of a city. It is an absolute winner. And it is only going to get better as more of the spaces open up!

Yes, I also went through the Harvey Norman/Domayne setup and this is amazing. What a buzz it must be for a retailer like HM (used to barns!!) to get a purpose built/cutting edge retail space. A perfect example of a customer (HM) and a client (Grollo, arhcitects, buliders et al) pushing each other to the limit to get a great result.

Can't wait for the rest!

And the homebrew at 3 Degrees (the pub at QV) is great too!

As of this morning, it looks like the core for QV1 has gone up another 1/2.

Gold against Blue looks a pretty good combination to me..

http://users.bigpond.net.au/speckled10/DSC00837.jpg

Now aren't we expecting this lovely colour scheme on another tower somewhere in the city ?? :D

Sweet pic a-brain :)

Here's one from 120 Collins.

http://homepage.mac.com/jbadcock/pictures/P1020417.jpg

Everyone needs a Hero Hero Hero Hero Hero..... not ;)

great stuff joed, and go hard beefy Russell street! :rock:

Love that angle joed! Not too long before QV peeks it's head over, really adds to the impression of bulk from there :)
stu

Everyone needs a Hero Hero Hero Hero Hero..... not ;)

Oh, no-one ever likes Hero! I think I'll just crawl off into my corner and cry! :cry:

To save on double posting - I have posted a new phototour of QV over in the S&S forum

I think you'll like ----> http://skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=2045406#post2045406

Very nice A-brain!! Gotta head over to QV personally and check it out as soon as I get the time... I'm sure it looks even better in person! Question though, do people seem to be going there? Like is it going to be successful as a shopping area you think?
stu

I think the core has gone up again today another 1/2

gotta love the mix of fog and sunshine

Perspective A

http://www.thehoddlegrid.net/projects/updates/cbd/qv/qv1708041.jpg

Perspective B

http://www.thehoddlegrid.net/projects/updates/cbd/qv/qv1708042.jpg

Yep hazy winter days are almost the best for SS viewing !!

There was no half core rise AussieS that happened over a week ago - but they *were* pouring into the core this arvo - which means perhaps this is the final pour and they will then remove the box at this level - OR there could be another rise?

Tays you LEGEND! Both shots are fantastic views and I particularly enjoy perspective B. Both at right-click-> Save as :D
stu

:eek2: at taysers pics...looks friggin huge

Great news!!! The core has risen again pretty much a full level !!!

So it's definately not stopping at that little half level .. it now completely overpowers BHP just as the renders indicated ...

So I think now it's 46 in the box and 45ish exposed so there yet could be one more rise in it !!

:banana:

hope everyone doesn't put their furniture to one side of the building! man that looks slim.
Can someone tell me if that beauty is the slimmest resi in aust'?
a hight to width ratio if ya know what I mean.
Thanks

i reckon 47 is in the box, so it's probably topped out.
any news on completion date?

hope everyone doesn't put their furniture to one side of the building! man that looks slim.That's not as funny as it reads. Some scrapers whether they be residential or commercial have made mistakes in the past for not allowing "live weight" allowances in same positions to be integrated into the load bearers of the superstructure. In other words if everyone put there heavy fridges in the same place throughout, then there could be weakening.

I'm sure this one is O.K. though.

BTW Nice smog pics tays ;)

pfft smog, shmog ;)

sfog (sunshine+fog) more like :banana:

a new sticker then? "If this scrapers rockin' don't bother knockin'"
thanks Muse.
But can someone clue me in on this slim beauty.
Is it the slimest free standing?
I once worked in the now pug ugly qantas house, then australian airlines and that was/is quite slim but not as tall of course.
By the way I know it's only a shorty but i know how to get to the roof/never used helipad on top of 501 swanston. Formerly Ansett. Another ugly piece of brown shit that needs a facelift facade.

http://www.melbournephotos.net/pics/2004-08-23%20Melbourne%20-%20Rialto%20Observation%20Deck/IMG_4021.jpg

QV1 looks like it it only around 17m wide which would make it the slimmest tower in Australia.

And doesn't it look bloody spectacular too!
stu

QV1 looks like it it only around 17m wide which would make it the slimmest tower in Australia.
Sydney;s Hilton Hotel is 17m wide also. i should find out exactly QVs width.

**ANOTHER** Core Rise !!

I've completely lose count but my gut tells me the core height now is the height of the final Level 47 !?

The core stands way over BHP even when viewed from down near the Yarra..

yarp sure does - best view is from Russell Street, outside the backdoor to 120C!

http://members.optusnet.com.au/~wadad/mypic207.jpg

Not all that happy withthe outcome of this QV1 tower. Its very plastic looking and although it has a very well articulated facade, the treatment is a little unusual and dare I say, boring and not inovative and exciting.

By contrast, I love it! Very slapstick, out there, and suited to the character of the area and Melbourne in general. Looks fantastic too IMHO.
stu

Not all that happy withthe outcome of this QV1 tower. Its very plastic looking and although it has a very well articulated facade, the treatment is a little unusual and dare I say, boring and not inovative and exciting.

It was always going to be difficult to make a huge flat wall look good and I think they have done a pretty good job. The top section is the main feature of the tower so it should look really good when that is completed (hopefully!)

ATM The northern aspect is not the best although when the glass panels shine in the sun, it looks quite good. The slender side os course looks fantastic.

It will look so much better when it has been completed & lived in. Imagine it @ night when many of the internal lights are on.

Just goes to show how tall the Telstra Corp. Building is from the pic taken by uewepuep posted on the previous page.

looks good in plot's pic

i dont mind the "feel" of this one. very different for Melbourne indeed. maybe thats what the cityscape needs? a totally dif scraper then the rest in the CBD.

I love it. It looks "scarey" skinny and very spiffy.
A pity for occupants that the best view is mostly blocked however.

Another crane rise at QV1 this afternoon!

http://img57.exs.cx/img57/4103/P9202048.jpg

where'd you go for that one hacks???

great shot anyhow.

http://img57.exs.cx/img57/7590/collingwoodpano.jpg

People who live in the Housing Commission towers next to Collingwood College along Hoddle Street get this great view of the city.

judging by the plants on one of the balconies, it looks like the first residents have moved into qv2.

give us a heart attack why don't you!

you going in those commission flats again??

you going in those commission flats again??

I went up two this morning. One in Collingwood the other in South Melb. Tried to make a pano from the latter, but didn't turn out good:
http://img62.exs.cx/img62/1575/CommissionPano.th.jpg (http://img62.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img62&image=CommissionPano.jpg)


I don't see why more people go up them, there is no security entrance... just hide the cam!

Holy shit! That is a massive skyline.

thats it im moving outta home ;)

i can make/take pano's??? (not just stiching)

you wanna go up em again???

Melbhattan!!! Jeeezzus!!!

I am going to quit my job and go on the dole so I can join the waiting list to get myself one of those apartments.

I don't see why more people go up them, there is no security entrance... just hide the cam!
Thats so awesome. I might give it a go one day. Its the kinda place I would wanna take people with me though. Sif get rolled taking skyscraper photos :)

http://img62.exs.cx/img62/821/Mvc-001f.jpg

http://img62.exs.cx/img62/6536/Mvc-003f.jpg

http://img62.exs.cx/img62/6376/Mvc-004f.jpg

http://img62.exs.cx/img62/6189/Mvc-013f.jpg

http://img62.exs.cx/img62/681/Mvc-015f.jpg

I went up two this morning. One in Collingwood the other in South Melb. Tried to make a pano from the latter, but didn't turn out good:
http://img62.exs.cx/img62/1575/CommissionPano.th.jpg (http://img62.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img62&image=CommissionPano.jpg)


I don't see why more people go up them, there is no security entrance... just hide the cam!

Fantastic pic Hacksaw, hell yeah, bring on Melbhatten! This angle, as demonstrated in several pics recently definately makes Melbourne look incredibly beefy indeed. As more projects get finished (noteably FWP, Eureka and E&Y) that angle will only get even more impressive! All we are really missing now that Southbank, Paris end, docklands and the Market precinct have/ are recieving major high rise overhauls.... is some development to 'fill the gap' in the middle of the CBD around Swanston. QV has helped somewhat but a couple more 500 footers would really boost the skyline.... perhaps next cycle.

stu

I am going to quit my job and go on the dole so I can join the waiting list to get myself one of those apartments.
:lol: :lol:

I went up two this morning. One in Collingwood the other in South Melb. Tried to make a pano from the latter, but didn't turn out good:
http://img62.exs.cx/img62/1575/CommissionPano.th.jpg (http://img62.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img62&image=CommissionPano.jpg)

Hacksaw the South Melbourne shot is MAGNIFICENT. :gunz:
Just taken at the wrong time of day, you need to take that same shot in the afternoon on a clear day! :)

At night too would be a great shot, with the lights it would be stellar!
stu

....some development to 'fill the gap' in the middle of the CBD around Swanston. QV has helped somewhat but a couple more 500 footers would really boost the skyline.... perhaps next cycle.

stu
Stu, we will be getting 2 fillers Verve 501 & Milano. Verve especially will be very tall and stick out or shoudl I say up!

They are right on the edge of the CBD yeah, near Vic Parade? Forgot about them, nice fillers indeed at about 170m and 120m... but a Church place or similar 200m+ tower there in the CBD would be a dream.

stu

and 13 cranes!! ( a glancing count )

nope 15 slightly closer inspection

Thanks Hacksaw for the pic :D

http://img29.exs.cx/img29/1575/CommissionPano.jpg
Just in case people don't know where these new buildings are in the CBD

http://img60.exs.cx/img60/7243/P9242147.jpg

http://img60.exs.cx/img60/3913/P9242180.jpg

Check out the Gawd awful pink of Hotel Ibis.
Great pics again Hack, you efforts and time are much appreciated.

the core box is starting to come down

hack. top pic, hey in the foreground, would that church spire belong to St Johns at Clifton Hill?
http://img60.exs.cx/img60/3913/P9242180.jpg

hack. top pic, hey in the foreground, would that church spire belong to St Johns at Clifton Hill?

I'd say it's somewhere in Nth Melb...I think the greyish clock tower to the left of it is Nth Melb Town Hall. But not 100%...

I think it's St Michaels in Victoria Street, North Melbourne. Not sure about the name.

NO, Clifton Hill is North EAST of the city.

oh ok. then it could be the Union Memorial in Curzon st, nth melb?
thats 44m tall. pretty tall.

gee I sounded a bit terse there in my last post...sorry, I'm tired zzzzzz

I think you will find it is St Pats main spire.

oh now i get the angle! i thought it was from the east, but its from west.
St pats spire is to far left. the one i was asking about is bottom right (near Library dome). i can see St marys further right below BHP WHQ.its definately Union memorial Church on Curzon st. i have a pic of spire and its identical.
cheers

QV1 has now toped out and the core box is being removed :(

Another development about to close its doors on Melbourne.

PS. Mr C, you are right about Curzon St Church spire.

Bye bye core box:
http://img79.exs.cx/img79/5040/P9282310.jpg

BHP-B looks SOOOOO BAD compared to QV1!!!

oh now i get the angle! i thought it was from the east, but its from west.
St pats spire is to far left. the one i was asking about is bottom right (near Library dome). i can see St marys further right below BHP WHQ.its definately Union memorial Church on Curzon st. i have a pic of spire and its identical.
cheers

Yeah it is the church in Curzon Street, I work in Queensberry street just near it. Its totally falling apart and half of it occupied by squatters, but the part that is used it quite nice.

I tell ya , what amazes me about QV residential is how bloody narrow it is from the side ! :omg:

Its amazing to see in the flesh !!

Cheers

Lozza :bowtie:

Has anyone been to QVII to check out the newly released apartments? I love the purple and black colour scheme!

Were there some kind of restrictions placed on Grocon about not 'interfering' with the state library, because wouldn't it have made a whole lotta sense to build QVI (the tall one) on the site of QV2 (the little one) so that the views from the taller tower would not be restricted by the BHP building. I now they have tried to minimise the impact of BHP by having the lift core on the outer wall, but wouldn't it have made sense to have the taller tower get the 'better views'

However I must say that I like both buildings. The smaller one is nice, it doesn't stand out and is a 'good little building'. the larger of the two is an amazing building. I really love all the angles to it and the protruding balconies, it is just fun to look at, especially the food court from the middle of the QV complex. It would probably, no definatly, be my apartment building of choice in the CBD.

qv is way behind in communications technology well we should blame grocon, because they use whistles instead of the radio to talk to each and to give each other signals for the crane to move or something to get loaded with eureka its the radio gotta lift up your game qv even E&Y plaza have got the radios going

Were there some kind of restrictions placed on Grocon about not 'interfering' with the state library, because wouldn't it have made a whole lotta sense to build QVI (the tall one) on the site of QV2 (the little one) so that the views from the taller tower would not be restricted by the BHP building. I now they have tried to minimise the impact of BHP by having the lift core on the outer wall, but wouldn't it have made sense to have the taller tower get the 'better views'

However I must say that I like both buildings. The smaller one is nice, it doesn't stand out and is a 'good little building'. the larger of the two is an amazing building. I really love all the angles to it and the protruding balconies, it is just fun to look at, especially the food court from the middle of the QV complex. It would probably, no definatly, be my apartment building of choice in the CBD.

No - Melbourne's main skyscraper restriction is Swanston Street, it's extremely limiting in what you can do for that stretch - building Qv1 and BHP to those heights in that area was pushing the limit (I think it was grollo who said they exceeded it?) in the first place. I doubt SLV was much of a problem as it wouldn't be overshadowed, but the main height restriction down Swanston Street has basically dictated the way the buildings have formed on the whole site - it's all about preserving natural light in Swanston Street.

Any skyscraper or real 'high-rise' in the CBD will either be in the West End (west of Elizabeth Street) or in the East End (east of Russell Street) however there's limited sites in East End. Everything in between Elizabeth and Russell Streets between Flinders and La Trobe streets (roughly - there are exceptions, like BHP and QV1 as they are now) comes under protection re: detail above.

Maybe they need radios of Euraka because its so far up, you cannot hear the whistle :P
wow, thats strange, you'd think they would use radios, because well, there radios, and as well so its not as loud to bypassers.

^ I think you'll find they are using radios but using the whistles through the radios.(if you know what I mean) To me it makes more sense using teh whistles....favelle or favco can answer that one!

Well I am very impressed with the QV development! Looks quite good. Have many a lunch in the food court. Has anyone been to Max brenners choclate cafe? If you want som expensive chocolate go there!

Whats with the gap Between the East end Near collins and that near Londsdale st- hence a large gap when viewed from the east-I'm sure there are some old buildings that can be demolished to make way for development-

There is hardly anything between TAC house and Collins Place

There are height limits along Bourke Street so there won't be any more tall buildings between Southern Cross and TAC House.

last pic was by hacky nearly a month ago. how is it looking?

hey guys,i tried taking some photos in QV but was stopped by the security:( Is it illegal to take construction photos?

They STILL haven't removed all of the protective plastic coating from the facade of BHP...wtf??

hey guys,i tried taking some photos in QV but was stopped by the security:( Is it illegal to take construction photos?
"security" cant stop anyone taking photos of a bldg from a public place, eg-footpath road ect. obviously if you go on site,it can cause a problem.
you can say your taking photos of a bird flying past, how the fuc do they know what your taking. iv had some great run ins over the years. i love putting them back in there place!lol
next time you go, and they hassle you ,ask them why cant you take them? id love to hear there response.
Only 3 weeks ago in Pyrmont i was taking a photo of a 2storey terrace UC and was approached by one of the bludging workmen. He asked me what and why i was taking photos of? i said your bldg! but why? none of your business! i said.he was just paranoid about work practises i think>?lol paranoid.

no...he was Polaroid...errr, sorry folks.
Tell 'em you are taking a photo of your new apartment/home and then tell him to mind his own f***ing business and then ask for his name and number.

Has anyone been to Max brenners choclate cafe? If you want som expensive chocolate go there!

You can get a "lick" of chocolate relatively cheaply, but yes, you have to try one of the unusual chocolate drinks - especially as its served in a very weirdly shaped mug.

http://www.maxbrenner.com.au/stores/img/header-max.gif

Max Brenner (http://www.maxbrenner.com.au/) is great. I can't wait to try the new Melbourne Central outlet which I hope will open soon!