Project Description
FROM THE ARCHITECTS:
Located in the heart of Melbourne’s primary arts and entertainment precinct, BEULAH PROPELLER CITY will be a recognisable architectural landmark that redefines the residential, commercial, retail and public open-space environments of Melbourne. This new building, with its dramatic silhouette, will reflect the vitality and creativity of the city, becoming a destination for local, national and international visitors.
Our vision for BEULAH PROPELLER CITY is the creation of a vertical city composed of multiple functions intertwined in a fluid gesture of vertically linked public spaces. The “Gestalt” of the structural, material and functional components of the design will create a memorable and unmistakable icon in the city-scape.
BEULAH PROPELLER CITY will represent a new form of urban development for Melbourne; the lively, mixed-use, vertical city.
We approached the design of the building form as an artist would a sculpture. The maximum possible building envelope was the starting block; the client’s brief, planning regulations, the existing urban form, climate and views to and from site were considerations which prompted the specific carves and manipulations to reveal the dynamic urban figure within.
This hybrid vertical city creates both relationships and fields of tension with the surrounding urban structure; mediating and connecting with the urban fabric it establishes a new urban paradigm for this inspiring location in Melbourne.
The building design creates different districts to suit the principal functions. The interfaces between these areas promote and facilitate connections and sharing. This creates readability and the possibility of identification.
The concept of “public benefits”, which in the traditional sense generates the creation of a multifunctional building, is further developed and expanded: we create real public spaces within a multifunctional structure.
Within the interstices of the main building elements free spaces are created: atria, terraces, community facilities and amenity spaces such as recreational and public areas for leisure, pleasure and circulation.
These free spaces provide orientation for the people who use and live in the building and enable personal interaction such that communities are formed. This approach circumvents the isolation that frequently occurs with disconnected levels.
The result of this approach is a unified composition of identifiable building elements comprising low, mid and high-rise volumes created by dividing the program of the building into its four main functional parts; public podium, office, hotel and apartment tower.
Through the design of the external primary structure, the internal construction elements are optimised and reduced thereby enabling maximum flexibility for current uses as well as eventual adaptability in the future. This structure for future adaptability is a primary expression of the architectural design.
Formal decomposition articulating the various programmatic elements defines the new high-rise typology and ultimately serves to make each functional element feel more intimate.
SITE & CONTEXT
The primary urban design strategy for the site is for it to become the missing link which unifies the new Southbank Boulevard upgrade with the intensely developed adjacent city block by the river.
This public realm strategy ties existing pedestrian patterns to link the block with an upgraded Waterfall Lane, and directly connects to the courtyard in Freshwater Place. Additionally, a pedestrian link at Level 01 brings this new landscape and pedestrian activation up into the site from Freshwater Place.
The scale of the development and its unparalleled residential, commercial and leisure facilities will translate to round the clock activation and critical mass sufficient to transform the precinct. BEULAH PROPELLER CITY is the catalyst for the development of a vibrant, interconnected, urban realm which connects Southbank Boulevard to the south bank of the Yarra River.
Planning Strategy
The innovative move from a planning perspective is the creation and transfer to Council of a new public street, the extended Waterfall Lane. The new connection provides the missing link in this intensely developed city block. With access from City Road constrained, the new Waterfall Lane not only provides adequate vehicle access to the comprehensive building program, but also opens an amenable laneway frontage connected seamlessly to an upgraded Southbank Boulevard and, via a layout rearrangement, to the Freshwater Place internal plaza.
The proposal is conceived generally within the constraints of the C270 Central City Built Form Controls, recognising that the final design outcome will require agency negotiation. The principal statutory planning parameters are managed as follows:
1. Height
The overall tower height is below the Pans-Ops aviation level of 335m, with special permission required to breach during construction
The tower does not overshadow designated public spaces during the control times
The street wall or podium height is defined below 40m
2. Setbacks
Minimum 5m tower setback from streets, including the new Waterfall Lane, (which is wider than 9m, open-to-sky and to be transferred to Council)
Tower setback from neighbouring Hanover House to be 6% of overall height (20m)
However, the tower floorplate can be adjusted to suit design context, for instance, reduced setback of mid-level blocks in favour of space between the two blocks
3. Floor Area Ratio (FAR) & Uplifts
PUBLIC DOMAIN
City of Melbourne’s vision for Southbank Boulevard is to improve biodiversity and to develop an ecologically connected urban landscape.
The City of Melbourne plans to achieve this vision through the exploration of three key themes. The themes explore Pre-European Settlement, the Boulevard as a Biodiversity Corridor, and Connecting People to Nature. Southbank Boulevard design will respond to the presettlement ecologies of this place, creating micro-climates and revealing the beauty of landscapes past. Each ‘block’ of the Boulevard will have a different landscape response, which will ultimately connect to form a green corridor drawing focus to the Yarra River.
The ambition for the BMW end of the Boulevard acknowledges the confluence of commercial and residential interests, and will explore in more detail the relationship of this landscape to the Yarra, as well as opportunities for wayfinding, visibility and occupation.
“A place to relax and escape the traffic and noise pressures of the inner city”
The proposed character of the BMW interface with Southbank Boulevard evokes a blend between an urbane street edge condition, and a lush, shaded garden environment. The proposed City Road façade will feature green waterfalls cascading from sky gardens.
The design draws upon the City of Melbourne material palette for street paving, and adds elements of natural stone for seating and feature paving.
Continuing the Rainforest theme from Australia 108, the planting palette will mix south-eastern rainforest species with the Reed Swamp EVC, reminiscent of the presettlement ecologies.
Continuing the Rainforest theme from Australia 108, the planting palette will mix south-eastern rainforest species with the Reed Swamp EVC, reminiscent of the presettlement ecologies.
The propeller penthouse enjoys a private secluded landscape complete with pool and lush planting. The residential terrace is sheltered from the wind and transformed into a lush usable terrace, complete with space to meet, relax, dine, socialist and exercise.
Like a sky-high conservatory, the hotel terrace provides a wonderful winter-garden escape. A body of water reflects the sky into the terrace, and is surrounded by fern-like glade of planting.
Rooftops are sheltered from the wind and transformed into lush usable terraces.
Level 9 draws us to the top of the Vortex, where a lush tropical rainforest character surrounds the pool. Planting and lawn is integrated into the terrace, with seating edges for quiet relaxation.
PROGRAM
The design proposal for Beulah Propeller City has been discussed with a leading property advisory firm in terms of marketability of the project. The following are the key points of feedback that have been discussed:
Commercial offices in Southbank with a large flexible floor plate are an in-demand and marketable product
Hotels of a high quality standard are ideally positioned in Southbank to cater for Melbourne’s growth in tourism
Apartments in Melbourne are well supplied, however projects of a distinctive design can cater to the market segment seeking a unique high quality product
Multi-level retail has been successful in Asian cities. This form of integrated multi-level retail would be a new and unique model that would set a benchmark in Melbourne and Australia.
BMW Experience Centre would attract a high level of market response due to its internationally recognised brand and quality. Such “technology experience” centre’s have been highly successful destinations around the world
Our team have considered a staged handover as a critical driver for our concept design, buildability and progressive handover strategy.