TALL BUILDINGS/
Our cities have long been the drivers of innovation, culture and economic prosperity in society. The ability to build dense environments that foster these benefits has been a fundamental achievement allowing our urban communities to thrive. With our increasingly urbanised society, cities have become denser, more productive and taller than ever before. Tall buildings will become a more prolific typology. In the cities of tomorrow, they will increasingly play a role in meeting the needs of society through the creation of public space and streets, improving amenity and sustainability as well as contributing iconic forms to the skyline. Here we explore how we see the tall building typology evolving to meet the needs of the contemporary city.
TALL BUILDINGS Bates Smart has significant high-rise and super-tall experience, throughout Australia and South East Asia. Our work spans architecture, interior design and urban design for: // Significant mixed-use developments // Commercial office projects // Residential and hospitality projects. There is a growing commitment globally to a sustainable vertical urbanism that is conceptualised in relation to cities as a whole. While delivering vertical developments that exemplify elegant, sustainable and timeless architectural outcomes we believe they must be attuned to local climates, cultures, contexts and technologies. Irrespective of the size or complexity of the project, we tailor our approach to the specific client and project brief and an intelligent understanding of the target market.
Capitol Grand
Kuala Lumpur
Confidential
380
Guiyang City
Confidential
555
Melbourne
338
Competition Entry
Brisbane
333
Approval 2011
Melbourne
Sydney
303
300
Planning Pending Design Development
290
Confidential
Guiyang City
276
2018
Melbourne
275
2019
Sydney
Melbourne
215
Under Construction
205
2005
Melbourne
Melbourne
197
Under Construction
195
2016
Sydney
177 Pacific Highway
35 Spring Street
Melbourne
166
Under Construction
159
Approved
Perth
The Esplanade
137
2010
Sydney
420 George Street
Opal Tower
116
120
Sydney Under Construction Under Construction
Sydney
130 Elizabeth Street
103
2015
Sydney
Australia Towers
M
Freshwater Place
M
Collins House
50
50
Crown Sydney
100
100
Queensbridge Tower
150
150
Di-Long Tower (Apartment Tower)
200
200
8 Parramatta Square
250
250
555 Collins Street
300
300
111 + 222
350
350
Telstra Prima Tower
400
400
Signature Tower
450
450
Di-Long Tower (Mixed use tower)
500
500
Hospitality
550
Mixed Use
550
Commercial 600
Residential
600
KEY
35 SPRING STREET Melbourne Victoria Australia CLIENT Cbus Property PROGRAM Luxury residential tower DATA 54,000 sqm (GFA), 45 storeys COMPLETION 2017 35 Spring Street is designed as a major new landmark for Melbourne and to mark a key gateway into the City. Located in an extraordinary position on the eastern boundary of Melbourne’s Central Business District, the building combines the facilities of a refined hotel and world-standard highrise living. The vertical and horizontal pattern of the façade references the “rag trade” businesses that traditionally occupied this area of the city. It also serves to create a woven veil, defining framed views across the tower and giving a domestic quality to the building. Deeper frames at street level and the Garden Terrace reveal glimpses of the building’s interior. These are compelling contemporary spaces, full of light, focused on street activation and linked to the Treasury Gardens beyond.
177 PACIFIC HIGHWAY Sydney New South Wales Australia CLIENT Suntec REIT + Leighton Properties PROGRAM A-Grade commercial office tower DATA 45,000 sqm, 30 storeys COMPLETION 2016 ESD 5 Star Green Star and 5 Star NABERS As our cities grow into mega-cities, becoming ever more dense, tall buildings require innovative solutions to maintain the amenity of a city. Through solar analysis, design and engineering, this building negotiated a prohibition on overshadowing, unlocking the sites development potential and adding a major public open space to the city. The site has a highly irregular geometry and planning restrictions preventing overshadowing of surrounding public spaces, effectively halting new high-rises in the city of North Sydney for a decade. The brief was an A Grade office building (45,000 sqm NLA) with large floorplates (>1500 sqm) in a rectilinear configuration. The solution was to create a rectilinear central area with 17 m central spans & 6 m cantilevers on either side to enlarge the plate. The cantilevers incorporate ‘cut-outs’ to avoid shadow impact, achieving zero mid winter shadow. To compensate for minor shadow impacts at the equinoxes, the base of the building has been raised 9 m to create a public wintergarden with cafes & restaurants for the city. The podium has been designed as a naturally ventilated garden space. 177 Pacific Highway is the first building built to the maximum height limit of 195 m. This innovative project, shaped by shadow analysis and minimising impact on existing public spaces demonstrates how high-rises can be built in dense urban environments without sacrificing amenity to surrounding public spaces.
COLLINS HOUSE 466 Collins Street, Melbourne Victoria Australia CLIENT Golden Age Group PROGRAM Residential tower DATA 32,300 sqm, 57 storeys COMPLETION 2018 Collins House, the newest super slim tower to hit the global stage will be the most slender tower in Australia and the fourth globally. The ultra slimline tower with a slenderness ratio of 1:16.5 is designed as an entirely integrated architecture, interior, engineering and construction solution. The narrow site required the team to invent a 3D prefabricated composite construction system which radically reduces construction timeframes, kick starting the viability of the development and overturning the traditional economic and development parameters of building tall structures. The design of this tower is uncompromising in its use of contemporary thinking almost unseen in today’s world of high-rise development.
8 PARRAMATTA SQUARE Parramatta, Sydney New South Wales Australia CLIENT Walker Corporation PROGRAM Mixed use residential tower DATA 82,500 sqm (GFA), 300 storeys COMPLETION 2020 ESD Targeting 5 Star Green Star AWARDS // Design Excellence Competition winner As part of the Parramatta City Council’s AUD$ 2 billion redevelopment of a 3 ha urban precinct, a limited Design Excellence Competition was called for a mixed use residential, hotel and retail tower. Bates Smart’s vision, for an iconic yet sensuous structure showing a clear relationship to the surrounding heritage palette, most impressed the judges, winning the competition. The premise for the project was the creation of a structure that simultaneously expresses its residential function and human scale, while achieving the Council’s goal of creating a pre-eminent Western Sydney destination. Retail and community uses will also be accommodated, creating a vibrant and inclusive public space. The building will be the tallest tower in Sydney rising to a maximum height of 300 m or 90 storeys. The golden bronze tones of the façade are a reference to the history and legacy of Parramatta’s sandstone colonial buildings. Environmentally, the horizontal and vertical architectural expression provides passive shading and reduced glazing area for thermal performance.
OPÉRA 450 St Kilda Road, Melbourne Victoria Australia CLIENT Golden Age Group PROGRAM Multi-storey residential development DATA 33,000 sqm COMPLETION 2017 The design vision for 450 St Kilda Road draws on the nostalgic glamour of the adjoining Airlie Mansion and creates a landmark form, which exudes a distinctive, elegant and alluring aesthetic. The result is a unique contemporary sculptural object which reflects the area’s history and stands proud amongst the current ‘block form’ building stock. The glass façade appears to stretch like fabric over this contemporary form. Openings are expressed as cuts which accentuate the sense of movement. The ground plane draws on the idea of pattern making of traditional paving evident in the grand mansions along St Kilda Road, but provides a contemporary twist. Our design harmonises the site with its historical and social context, celebrates it with new energy and life to create a strong and unique identity for this new form of luxurious living.
DI-LONG TOWER Guizhou Cultural Square Guiyang China CLIENT Zhongtian Urban Investment Group PROGRAM Premium tower design including office, residential, hotel, retail and cultural facilities DATA 1,400,000 sqm (555 m height) COMPLETION Competition held 2012 (short-listed) Our vision is to create a cultural heart for Guiyang. With towers for both living and working, the precinct will be active day and night. Performance venues, shopping and two landscaped parks will attract the public, creating a new civic and cultural centre for the city. The building forms and landscape reference the dramatic countryside surrounding Guizhou. The tower concept is to create a building that is both uniquely Chinese, while simultaneously being global in its aspirations. To achieve this we have drawn upon the mythology of the Chinese Dragon, symbolising strength, fertility and prosperity. A series of overlapping diagonal scales, based on a dragon’s skin, wrap the tower, reinforcing the perimeter mega-frame while providing sunshading to the habitable spaces.
CITY OF SYDNEY 2050 Sydney New South Wales Australia CLIENT Urban Taskforce PROGRAM Masterplanning concepts for Sydney 2050 COMPLETION 2014
Our vision for 2050 is based on balancing sustainability and economic development. For Sydney to sustainably increase density, it needs to be supported by a fully integrated transport system. Bates Smart’s proposal is that future supertall development in the city will fund this sustainable transport system. A new underground Metro system is proposed to service the inner ring suburbs of Sydney. The existing heavy rail network will service outer ring suburbs then run express through the inner ring, providing a link to the city centre. To directly relate supertall development to this sustainable transport network, supertall buildings will be allowed within 200 m of a Metro station in the city centre. The economic uplift of additional density is directly linked to the provision of sustainable transport through the purchase of supertall floor space area from the State Government. These principles have been quantified in a parametric model to create a future vision of Sydney. The concept allows for significant additional floor space. Using the current value of Heritage Floor Space as a benchmark, compounding its value over 35 years, Bates Smart estimates this realises AUD$ 7.1 billion to fund a sustainable transport network.
CAPITOL GRAND South Yarra, Melbourne Victoria Australia CLIENT LK Property Group PROGRAM Mixed use development including two residential buildings and substantial retail space DATA 99,000 sqm Capitol Grand: 10 storeys LK Tower: 49 storeys COMPLETION 2018 Capitol Grand is a new residential and retail development designed to build on South Yarra’s vibrant mix of culture, dining and shopping. The dynamic two level retail podium takes advantage of level changes on the site and creates new connections and laneway experiences authentic to Melbourne. The retail loop is flooded with natural light and its dynamic shape has informed the soft form and façade expression of both residential buildings. The 197 m residential tower brings together three elliptical forms, ensuring that light and shadows play across its surface. The design creates an elegant, slender composition of dynamic character, changing with one’s viewpoint and the weather. The tower expression reduces its mass at the top most levels, creating a unique iconic tower worthy of its landmark location.
130 ELIZABETH STREET Sydney New South Wales Australia CLIENT Ecove + Aoyuan PROGRAM Luxury residential tower DATA 15,000 sqm (GFA), 38 storeys, 148 apartments COMPLETION 2018 AWARDS // City of Sydney Design Excellence Competition winner 2014 Won through a City of Sydney Design Excellence Competition, our vision for 130 Elizabeth Street is to create a dynamic contemporary tower that contributes to the historic significance and civic nature of Hyde Park’s urban room. We aim to hold and terminate the southern edge of Hyde Park while simultaneously creating a dynamic corner expression. The design hybridises the tower and podium typology into a singular expression of stacked boxes, recalling the scale of its context while resolving a complex stepped envelope. Polished pre cast masonry on the base references the adjoining historic Mark Foys building, while lighter metallic fins provide sunshading to the tower. The apartments have been designed to maximise amenity, functionality and aesthetic appeal. External sunshade elements have been carefully considered to minimise the obstruction of views. The internal material palette is refined and rich in texture and variation, sitting in harmony with the external façade and parkside setting.
555 COLLINS STREET Melbourne Victoria Australia CLIENT Fragrance Group Limited PROGRAM Mixed-use residential, commercial and hotel development DATA 123,000 sqm, 91 levels COMPLETION 2017. Not proceeding as designed. 555 Collins Street occupies a key position in the Melbourne Central Business District, overlooking Southbank and the Yarra River. The scheme, located on the corner of King and Collins Streets, seeks to become one of Melbourne’s future mixed-use development hubs — a place where people can truly work, live and play within a mix of office space, residential apartments and hotel environment. The architecture embraces the corner site with the tower split into two intersecting rectilinear forms, akin to intertwining ribbons. These forms work in a north-south direction to adhere to Melbourne’s historic north-south land plots and result in a more slender form.
111 + 222 Brisbane Queensland Australia CLIENT AMP + Billbergia PROGRAM Premium Grade mixed use development DATA 150,000 sqm (GFA), 333 m high COMPLETION Concept Design completed, Not proceeding as designed. 111 + 222 consists of two buildings: a 36 level 45,000 sqm commercial office building at 111 Mary Street, and a 92 level, five star hotel and residential tower at 222 Margaret Street. The lowest four floors form a street scaled podium providing an active ground plane with a public through site link between Mary and Margaret Streets. At 300 m in height to the architectural top of the building 222 Margaret Street will be one of the tallest buildings in Australia with the highest occupiable penthouse. Situated 200 m from a future metro rail station on the edge of the Central Business District, residents will have easy access to mass transport and be able to walk to work in the city. The high density mixeduse development incorporates living, working, shopping and accommodation, creating a microcosm of a sustainable city. Renewable technologies are integral to the design, and respond to the sub-tropical Brisbane climate. The north facing roof top of 111 Mary Street is angled to incorporate a photovoltaic array, while the roof of 222 Margaret Street incorporates wind turbines. A gas fired tri-generation plant will provide on-site power generation. The tower’s façade has been designed in response to the low angled sub-tropical sun, glare, and tropical downpours; while working with contemporary glass curtain wall technology. A floor-by-floor system of layered and angled glass planes creates a façade-type expression that allows windows to operate in tropical downpours; minimises solar heat load, sheds wind, and reduces glare. The result is a unique contemporary interpretation of sub-tropical typologies.
171 COLLINS STREET Melbourne Victoria Australia CLIENT Charter Hall and CBUS Property PROGRAM 6 Star Green Star premium office building DATA 29,800 sqm (NLA) tower 31,500sqm (NLA) tower and Mayfair COMPLETION 2013 AWARDS // (inside) IDEA Award for Public Space // Urban Taskforce Awards, Sustainability Development Award // United Nations Association of Australia World Environment Day Awards, Hanson’s Green Building Award // Asia Pacific Property Awards, Best Commercial High-rise Development // Asia Pacific Property Awards, Best Office Development // Australian Property Institute’s Pinnacle PR Environmental Development Award // Illuminating Engineers Society Excellence Award for foyer/atrium/lift lobby 171 Collins Street integrates a new generation of workplace environment linking Collins Street’s luxury and sophistication with the intimacy and vibrant atmosphere of Flinders Lane. The development consists of 29,800 sqm of premium office space, spread over 17 large campus-style floorplates and 1,700 sqm of boutique office space in a restored heritage building addressing Collins Street. The lower levels incorporate a business centre and over 1,500 sqm of high-end retail space. The design concept addresses the façade’s relationship to St Paul’s Cathedral spires, which sit directly in front of the building when seen from Southbank. Previously, these spires were visually lost among the mixed assembly of structures beyond. The new insertion allows the Cathedral’s fine architecture to be clearly discerned against the elegant white glass curtain of the building. In addition to the finely crafted façade, the building incorporates key environmental features, in particular, the use of an under-floor air distribution system that provides superior indoor air quality, occupant comfort and flexibility.
420 GEORGE STREET MidCity, Sydney New South Wales Australia CLIENT Fortius Funds Management / APPF PROGRAM A-Grade office tower with retail podium DATA 36,000 sqm (NLA) COMPLETION 2010 ESD 5 Star Green Star ‘As Built’ v2 achieved, 4.5 Star NABERS AWARDS // 2012 Property Council of Australia Innovation & Excellence Awards, Category Finalist Best Workplace Project // 2011 AIA (NSW) Sir Arthur G. Stephenson Award for Commercial Architecture // 2011 MBA NSW Excellence in Construction Awards, Commercial Buildings $50M+ // 2003 City of Sydney Design Excellence Competition Bates Smart won a City of Sydney Design Excellence competition for a new mixed use project comprising a 36 storey commercial tower and a 5 storey retail podium located in the retail heart between George and Pitt Streets. The challenge was to insert a large scale mixed-use building seamlessly into the fabric of the city. Bates Smart created a highly contemporary addition to the city that respects its historic neighbours and provides an active public mid-block link, while reconciling the complexity of competing uses and maximising their efficiency. The tower is expressed as two volumes: a silvery polished concrete volume to the north, housing the core and breakout areas, and a transparent green glass volume to the south housing a 19 m clear span office space. A nine level atrium with breakout ‘pods’ provides amenity to offices in the low rise adjoining a neighbouring building. Sunshades to the east and west façades minimise heat gain. The podium façades respond directly to the sandstone and vertical proportioning of the adjoining heritage buildings.
KUALA LUMPUR SIGNATURE TOWER International Financial District Kuala Lumpur Malaysia CLIENT 1Malaysia Development Berhad PROGRAM Competition for Premium Grade, mixed use tower comprising residential, hotel and office space DATA 200,000 sqm, 380 m high COMPLETION On hold Our design integrates current workplace thinking, creating three large highly interconnected work spaces, with hubs at the natural intersection of circulation and form. The resulting floorplate is flexible, efficient, and designed for financial services firms in today’s knowledge economy. The triangular geometry responds to the masterplan, axially relating to the Ravine, the MRT approach and the adjoining Neighbourhood Park, while maximising views into the KLIFD Parkland. The tower is vertically stacked with the observation levels at the top to maximise the view. A boutique hotel beneath takes advantage of the smaller core requirements to create an atrium open to the sky. The office space below takes advantage of the larger spans to create flexible office space. Sky lift lobbies are naturally ventilated ‘gardens in the sky’, with cafés to provide a break from the conditioned office environment. Transfer trusses dramatically frame the space & views out across the Kuala Lumpur skyline. Inspired by a flower bud on the cusp of opening, the organic triangular form is highly efficient in terms of wind shear, creating a cost effective structure. The environmental approach is integral to the architecture, with a layered shingle façade reducing heat load and glare, while recalling traditional Malaysian tropical architecture. The corners of the tower have naturally ventilated breakout spaces call ‘breezeways’, utilising a ventilated double skin facade. The building elegantly tapers to create an omnidirectional iconic profile on the skyline, its warm, soft, glassy image theatrically playing with the Petronas Towers image to create a uniquely Malaysian skyline. This building’s timeless design will be attractive and adaptable to the needs of tenants through the next century.
BATES SMART Architecture Interior Design Urban Design Strategy For over 160 years, Bates Smart has been at the forefront of practice in Australia, delivering projects around the world from their studios in Melbourne and Sydney. Bates Smart has an unparalleled reputation for the design and delivery of architecture, interior design and urban design projects. Specialising in commercial, residential, hospitality, health and research projects, Bates Smart has specific skills in dealing with larger and more complex projects, with particular experience in mixed use buildings. No project can attain brilliance without a great founding idea. At Bates Smart our projects are brought to life through a rigorous, astute, and highly creative design approach working in collaboration with our clients. Our reputation for design excellence is founded on a disciplined intellectual base. We develop a thorough understanding of the design opportunities offered by each individual project, and we create design solutions which speak directly to the challenge. Almost uniquely, we address all design issues simultaneously through collaborative teams of architects and interior designers working in concert. From urban and faรงade design to perfecting finegrain interior details, Bates Smart crafts seamless, holistic solutions. We pay special attention to the environmental performance and longterm durability of our buildings. We harness proven sustainable principles and technologies in order to create buildings that stand the test of time. Our talented team of over 200 is constantly developing its capacity to produce outstanding results around the world. We invest in the latest tools for global teamwork and maintain an expanding network of collaborators whose special skills complement our own.
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