SYDNEY | Aspire Parramatta | 336m | 1102ft | 90 fl | 220m | 60 fl+ | 200m | 60 fl+ | Pro

[Sky_Is_The_Limit]

image hosted on flickr



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Official details to be released today, however the midnight news stories have filtered through.

Parramatta (23km west of the Sydney CBD) is staking a claim as 'Sydney's second CBD.' This proposal is part of a 3 ha redevelopment of council owned land at the heart of Parramatta.

The tower will be over 700 ft (i.e. minimum 213m ). At 213m (roof height) the tower would be the seventh tallest building in Sydney (to the roof) if constructed (and assuming the 236m+ 115 Bathurst Street and 217m International Tower are built).


http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/new...-1226430360492


http://smh.domain.com.au/real-estate...719-22d1u.html

Square to fill Civic void and Parramatta's skyline
Leesha McKenny

AFTER the collapse in March of its $1.6 billion attempt to redevelop the heart of Parramatta, the local council hopes to revive the project with a new name and plans for one of the tallest apartment blocks in the country.

Parramatta City Council has revealed the winners of two design competitions it held for its rebranded ''Parramatta Square'' development to replace the ill-fated Civic Place proposal, which was scrapped as unviable.

The Parramatta lord mayor, Lorraine Wearne, said Grimshaw Architecture had won the design excellence competition to build a 65-storey mixed-use tower on the corner of the site bordered by Church and Darcy streets.

In a ''state of the city address'' in Parramatta today, the mayor will also announce a winning proposal by Architectus for a 13-storey, 27,000-square-metre office block on the corner of Smith and Macquarie streets.

Six years ago, the council signed a $1.6 billion deal with Grocon to build a retail, commercial and residential Civic Place project on the three hectare site. The project included a new library, art gallery, piazzas and other retail, commercial and residential facilities but it never proceeded despite council spending more than $50 million to buy land for the project.

Cr Wearne hoped the ''excellent'' designs for the first buildings of the new proposal for the CBD site would attract a developer ''on either a sale or partnership basis''.

''Its iconic twisting form blends structural efficiency with contemporary urban living and at 65 storeys or over 700 feet, it will be among the tallest residential buildings, not just in Parramatta, but in NSW,'' she said of the Grimshaw design. The two architect firms will now work with council to prepare the development applications to be considered by a regional planning panel, Cr Wearne said.

Any costs paid to Grocon are subject to a confidentiality agreement, but Cr Wearne said ''at the end of the day there will be a net profit on those sites''.

''Our aim in all of this is to reduce debt as fast as possible and to provide an environment that's a workable and good environment for the city,'' she said.

The completed Parramatta Square would also provide public space, council facilities, retail and corporate centres accommodating 13,000 office workers.

Cr Wearne said unlike the plan for Civic Place, which was intended to be completed in a single development, Parramatta Square would be completed in at least three stages.

''What we don't want to do is create a bigger package than the market is currently capable of absorbing,'' she said. 'You can say, 'If I build it they will come, that doesn't always work.'''

http://smh.domain.com.au/real-estate...719-22d1u.html

Parramatta goes sky high as the state's tallest residential buildings will rise
VIKKI CAMPION
The Daily Telegraph
July 19, 201211:30PM

ONE of the state's tallest residential buildings will rise high above Parramatta as part of a project that will also house thousands of workers in the city's second largest CBD.

Details of the 65-storey building in the heart of Parramatta will be announced today in the wake of the failure of the $1.6 billion Civic Place project.

Parramatta Lord Mayor Lorraine Wearne will unveil the Parramatta Square with two buildings - one a soaring apartment block and the other, a more squat commercial office.

The smaller building will house more than 13,000 workers.

Civic Place plans fell over in March after developer Grocon and the Parramatta Council walked away from a $1 billion deal they signed six years ago.

But this time, the council will engage the designers to create development applications for the construction of Parramatta Square's first two buildings.

The tallest tower will boast "landscaped sky gardens every six floors" and be built on the corner of Church and Darcy Sts.

"Its iconic twisting form blends structural efficiency with contemporary urban living and at 65 storeys it will be among the tallest residential buildings, not just in Parramatta, but in NSW," Ms Wearne said. The second proposal, for the corner of Smith and Macquarie Sts, includes 27,000sq m of office space and would "set new environmental and quality standards".

Architects Grimshaw and Architectus will work with the council to submit development applications in the next few months. Upon approval, the council will look across Australia and around the globe to find partners to finance the project.

"I believe that what we are launching illustrates the vision of where we want to take Parramatta into the future. This is a vision we share with the community," Ms Wearne said.

"Parramatta Square represents a desirable and lucrative place to invest and do business. It emphasises Parramatta's role in meeting the business, cultural, entertainment and tourism needs of the fastest growing region in the country."

The council only got the land last year when the state government changed compulsory acquisition laws.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/new...-1226430360492

[Sky_Is_The_Limit]

The clearest render that has come our way so far.


http://www.parracity.nsw.gov.au/

Also confirmation of the height - 220m

[Sky_Is_The_Limit]

Video courtesy of Fabian;

Originally Posted by Fabian

Ten News (20/7/2012)

By the way there is a render of the proposed office tower next to our new residential monster which reinforces Culwulla's post about proposed heights for the office tower.

Renders from video courtesy of CULWULLA;

Originally Posted by CULWULLA

thanks for youtube short fabs. got some screen grabs from it
didnt realise the resi tower had a twist. wow

image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


the 250m office tower next door will make such a great pair
image hosted on flickr

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showth...=84616&page=31

In the last of the renders from CULWULLA, an envelope is shown for the next stage of the 'Parramatta Square' project - and it looks to include a 250m tall office tower...it will potentially be the tallest tower in Sydney

[shabangabang]

Most exciting thing about this project is that it is occurring in a satellite CBD (Parramatta) over 20km from the Sydney CBD, right in the geographical heart of the metropolitan area.

[Sky_Is_The_Limit]

Yes, that's a pretty phenomenal aspect of the project!!

Sydney truly on its way to becoming a 'city of cities.'

In the wider scheme of things...a vastly enhanced Parramatta linked to Sydney by a metro that services a renewed Parramatta Road would be worthy!

[R@ptor]

Originally Posted by Sky_Is_The_Limit

and it looks to include a 250m tall office tower...it will potentially be the tallest tower in Sydney

So the height limit of Sydney's CBD applies only to the CBD and not to the wider Sydney area?

[Sky_Is_The_Limit]

The 235m height limit applies to select sites throughout the Sydney CBD.

Parramatta is in a different Local Government Area and therefore has its own height limits. The specific height limits for Parramatta Square are 200m, however it appears that the Council uses this more as a 'guideline' and recognises the need to build tall and capture the interest of residents and business alike, as opposed to the Sydney City Council which rigorously enforces height limits with no exceptions.

[ScraperDude]

Congratulations to Parramatta! I hope it does comes to fruition! I can only imagine the fantastic views of the Sydney CBD skyline to the East and the mountains to the West.

[Sky_Is_The_Limit]

Agreed! The views will be pretty amazing

Here's a video posted by Parramatta City Council. It clearly shows that what we thought/assumed to be a 1 x 200m+ commercial tower (adjacent to the 1 x 220m mixed use tower) is actually 2 x 200m+ towers!! So in the longer term this development could see the construction of 3 x 200m+ towers

[Sky_Is_The_Limit]

More detailed render and a nice little article

PARRAMATTA TOWER

With our city sprawling outwards, Parramatta has long been hailed as the new geographical centre of Sydney. To compliment this shift, Parramatta Council has made plans to redevelop its city centre. Key to this is a proposed master plan for the heart of Parramatta CBD, an area bounded by Church, Macquarie and Darcy Streets. Titled Parramatta Square, this large block of land will be transformed into a thriving civic district.

The master plan also proposes the construction of several commercial and mixed-use towers, which will bring new businesses and residents to the city centre. The latest of these to emerge is Parramatta Tower, a mixed-use tower which will stand on the corner of Church and Darcy Streets. It has been designed by Grimshaw Architects and, at sixty-five storeys, is set to become one of the tallest residential towers in Australia.


A conventional response to such a site would take the allowable footprint of the building and extrude it however many hundred metres into the air. At the centre of this would be a lift core, with a corridor and apartments arrayed along either side.

However, Grimshaw have avoided following such convention. Rather than simply lifting the footprint of the site into a single tower, the architects have sliced the mass of the building by inserting a vertical breezeway. This creates two thin towers, which house the apartments. The light well in the middle then contains lifts and circulation bridges.

Pulling the two towers apart comes with many advantages. First off, it means that the mass of the building gets broken down and, rather than giving the appearance of one monolithic structure, we instead see two slender towers linked by a feathery breezeway. It also brings light and air into the heart of the building, making the tower feel infinitely more pleasant.

The building’s functions are divided vertically throughout the tower, with the ground floor dedicated to retail and several levels of commercial space above. Beyond this, the building stretches skywards, housing a series of residential apartments. These are broken up every six levels with some kind of common space, whether it be a swimming pool or a sky garden.

The apartments are designed to maximise amenity and efficiency. All of them have access to natural light, ventilation and balconies which, for a building of this size, is quite an achievement.

But the most captivating aspect of this tower is undoubtedly its form. Driven by a desire to provide each apartment with ideal views and daylight, the apartments are made up of capsule-like boxes which are offset slightly from one another. Close up, the effect of these stacked volumes is crisp, neat and rigorous. Yet, from far away, it gives the tower a gentle twist as it reaches skyward. Combined with the slender building forms, the effect is one of remarkable lightness and fluidity. The form is also contemporary and iconic, both of which are significant to a part of Sydney trying to signal its shift into a new age.

Parramatta Tower is set to transform the skyline of Sydney for more reasons than one. It sends a powerful message, one lauding the new presence of Parramatta within our city. Architecturally, Grimshaw have creatively captured the ambition and vision of the future Parramatta. By subverting many of the conventions of tower design, they have created a form that is sculptural, elegant and considered, with amenity and livability at its very core.

http://buildingblocksblog.tumblr.com/post/29597912335



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

The vertical breezeway sounds interesting!

[comet the cat]

Damn that looks good!

[Hegemonic]

Grimshaw's winning design for the development of a mixed use tower on the corner of Smith and Darcy Streets has been described as "a vertical community".

Its iconic twisting form blends structural efficiency with contemporary urban living and at 67 storeys or around 220m, it will be among the tallest residential buildings, not just in Parramatta, but in NSW.

The environmentally sustainable design incorporates landscaped sky gardens every six floors, shared by smaller communities.

[Sky_Is_The_Limit]

- Grimshaw and the project team are the ones pushing for a 280m maximum height.
- Council initiated an independent assessment of Grimshaw's request to increase the height. The independent assessment essentially supports the desire for more height, even going so far as to say that council needs to enshrine the 'landmark status' of the site in the DCP.
- Grimshaw is proposing a 70,000 sq m tower (with an additional 25,000 sq m of communal and private open spaces)
- The tower will be 78 storeys (up from the 65 proposed initially) with 483 residential apartments and a 180-room hotel
- 1,000 sq m of ground floor retail
- A two storey public viewing platform and 'visitor experience centre' to be operated by Parramatta City Council.




The document also notes that the approved Parramatta Square master plan allows for 3 x 200m towers with permissible uplift of 10%. Grimshaw has proposed using the 10% uplift from the middle tower (one of the two commercial towers) to push up 'Aspire's' height to give it landmark status and break up what would otherwise have been a 'wall' of towers. As such, the maximum perceived height for the two commercial towers is 200m (middle tower) and 220m (easternmost tower).

Also the DA is officially expected to be lodged with council in the first quarter of 2013

[Kiboko]

Nice design, It looks like it is built in the middle of the old downtown, on a square between the town hall and the main church. I predict a lot of nimbyism on this one.

[Sky_Is_The_Limit]

What makes you predict a lot of NIMBYism?

It has the backing of council, business and plenty of people within the community. Yes there will be some people that don't like it, but I think in general the people of western Sydney will see it for what it is - a fundamental shift in the provision of well paid jobs for well educated professionals.

[Sky_Is_The_Limit]

A planning proposal has been lodged with Council for Aspire. It is essentially a Stage 1 Development Application which CONFIRMS the project team want to go for Sydney's tallest building.

The overarching purpose of the planning proposal is to facilitate the development of site for the ‘Aspire Parramatta’ development proposal, for which Parramatta City Council is the proponent and Grimshaw Architects are the designer. Grimshaw Architects were declared the winner of an architectural design competition which was held for the site in July 2012 and have been retained by Council to further develop their design (Figure 3). The current proposal is for a 78-storey mixed use tower with approximately 483 residential apartments, a 180-room hotel, approximately 1,000m2 of ground-floor retail
and a two-storey public viewing platform and ‘visitor experience centre’ at roof level.

A Development Application for the Grimshaw Architects scheme is expected to be submitted to Council in the first quarter of 2013.

Given that the proposal incorporates traditional enclosed floor space and semi enclosed spaces in the form of louvered winter garden and central atriums, it is not considered as appropriate to define the site by an overall site FSR as is currently done in the LEP. Instead, it is considered appropriate to provide a
site specific floor space clause which locks down/commits the proposal to provide its key benefits as follows:
- traditional floor space counted as GFA (70,000m2);
- private open space in the form of winter gardens (5,000m2); and
- central communal circulation and atrium spaces (20,000m2).

Height to top of architectural feature = 276.66m
Height to top of roof (observation deck) = 267.50m
Number of Floors = 78

[Sky_Is_The_Limit]

The tallest tower could end up being Sydney's first supertall.

image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


We are awaiting detailed renders, due in a matter of weeks as part of the Development Application, however Parramatta City Council has revised up the number of floors for the tower from 78 to 'over 88' in an update on its website (see below).

Aspire
Grimshaw's winning design for the development of a mixed use tower on the corner of Smith and Darcy Streets has been described as "a vertical community".

Its iconic twisting form blends structural efficiency with contemporary urban living and, at over 88 storeys, Aspire will be among the tallest residential buildings in the whole of New South Wales, not just Parramatta.

The environmentally sustainable design incorporates landscaped sky gardens every six floors, shared by smaller communities.

The development application is expected to be submitted in the coming weeks and the site to be put to the market in the coming months.

http://www.parracity.nsw.gov.au/your...ramatta_Square

[Hegemonic]

You could say Sydney's first supertall, but it's really Parramatta's and NSW first supertall.

Sydney CBD, or the council if you will have in fact been against tall skyscrapers at all and throttled the economic growth to an extent.

Parramatta city council have been the champions here in this case and need to be acknowledged for there efforts in promoting economic growth for the region and NSW as a whole.

They have been pushing hard for this for nearly 10 years.

[R@ptor]

Originally Posted by Hegemonic

Sydney CBD, or the council if you will have in fact been against tall skyscrapers at all and throttled the economic growth to an extent.

Which is a real shame and a giant missed opportunity for the Sydney CBD because it would be the much better suited location for these towers.

Let's face it - even if Parramatta's CBD gets a boost from all of these new developments, it is hardly the most attractive location, both in terms of appearance and in terms of connections with the rest of Sydney.

[Sky_Is_The_Limit]

Now, yes. In future, no.

I can see public servants being relocated from the Sydney CBD to Parramatta. Cheaper rent, more central location for employees.

Private firms have already started opening satellite offices in the west including Deloitte in Parramatta and the Commonwealth Bank in Sydney Olympic Park.

Including Parramatta Square, there are 9 mooted 100m+ towers for Parramatta. Across the whole suburb, there are over 3,000 apartments in the pipeline for the suburb.

Westfield is looking to further expand the shopping centre to introduce international fashion chains like Topshop and Zara as well as to construct a 100m office tower.

The council plans to reinvigorate the waterfront with new bars, cafes, restaurants, shops, offices, apartments and hotels as well as improving the attractiveness of the river. The Riverside Theatres are planned to be expanded and Parramatta already hosts a number of popular events including Parramasala, Liquid Cinema and an open night as part of Sydney Festival.

Whilst it will have a rough time ever beating the Sydney CBD for primacy, it can certainly evolve into a city that Sydney as a whole can be proud of.