Form section The Melbourne Review February 2013

THE MELB OU R N E R EVIEW FEB R UA RY 201 3

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Photo by: John McKenzie.

Byron George on Melbourne’s continual urban evolution

FORTÉ Introducing Australian buyers to Cross Laminated Timber in Melbourne’s Victoria Harbour

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THE WORK/LIFE BALANCE ‘Lifestyle Working Collins Street’ combines creative planning with community responsibility

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Playing to our strengths Jennifer Cunich on improving our ‘liveability’

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FORM Forté showcases a new way of building and living

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he world’s tallest (and Australian’s g re en e s t ) h i g h-ri s e ti m b er ap ar tment bu ild ing , For té, showcases a new way of building – and a new way of living. Located near the water’s edge in Melbourne’s Victoria Harbour, Forté rises over 10 storeys offering 23 boutique residential apartments.

Forté has been built using a revolutionary new building material called Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) which has a structural strength akin to the traditionally used concrete and steel. Already popular in Europe where it has been used for over a decade, Forté will be the first opportunity for Australian buyers to experience the benefits of CLT. As well as offering a strong, solid, warmer and more natural living experience, the use of timber is also better for the environment. Concrete and steel buildings are carbon intensive but timber, as well as being renewable, has the advantage of storing carbon. Timbers used are also sourced from certified sustainably managed forests.

With the structure being built entirely from CLT, Forté reduces CO2 equivalent emissions by more than 1,645 tonnes when compared to concrete and steel – the equivalent of removing more than 400 cars from our roads.

Designed and produced in a factory environment,

Forté has been built 30 percent faster and safer, and with higher precision than its material counterparts. It has also resulted in reduced construction traffic to and from site, causing less disruption to the community and producing less waste.

The question of fire is often raised in relation to timber buildings. Forté has been engineered to meet or exceed the Australian building code requirements, so that the risk of fire spread is the same as a conventional building. In the event of a fire, solid timber will char, and therefore provides a self-protecting layer.

Forté is built on the principle that what’s good for the environment is good for the resident too. Using CLT offers better thermal performance and requires less energy to heat and cool – which means reduced energy and water costs which averages savings of $300 per year or up to 25 percent less than a typical code-compliant apartment.

The benefits of the CLT structure, along with design elements such as dual aspect apartments where bedrooms and living areas have abundant natural light and fresh air, reduced chemical emissions from paints, carpets, joinery and wood products all make it a healthier and more enticing living option.

Aspiring to be the first 5 Star Green Star As Built residential building, Forté will provide energy

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The Showcase C

efficient appliances, LED lighting, inhome displays linked to smart meters, rainwater reuse and balcony vegetable gardens. It is also conveniently located within close proximity to walking and bike paths, and public transport.

With its direct connection to the CBD via Collins Street, a vibrant mix of residential, office, retail and community open space set along 3km of water frontage, Victoria Harbour offers a truly unique Melbourne experience. Victoria Harbour has 30 hectares of space with spectacular promenades and welcoming parklands. It can also lay claim to having the highest concentration of green buildings in Australia.

A showpiece for the natural and new, Forté reflects the modern urban lifestyle while delivering a healthier, more natural living environment for occupants. It proves that it is possible for people to live more sustainably, without compromising on location, style and quality.

INFORMATION For further information about Forté, please visit forteliving.com.au or call 03 8610 4800

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urious and culturally-minded Melbournians will have the first opportunity to step inside the world’s tallest timber apartment building at the Forté Living Festival on 22-23 February 2013 in Melbourne’s Victoria Harbour.

Showcasing the future of good living in a unique festival setting, the Forté Living Festival welcomes some of Melbourne’s most inspiring individuals from the cinematography, street art, culinary and sustainable design community, including renowned architect Peter Maddison and environmental advocate Arron Wood.

Including Urban Markets, free openair cinema, green transport displays, expert speaker series on sustainability and activities for kids; the Forté Living Festival is not to be missed. Download the full event program at forteliving.com.au

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FORM It’s a bit like breaking up from a long term relationship.

Yes, it’s traumatic and no one wants to go through it, but it does give you that sense of “anything is possible”. After all, what’s left to lose? ” flashy monuments that were more about symbols of Melbourne as a place to do business; Bracks and Brumby gave us new waterside residential and commercial neighbourhoods modelled on the Gold Coast.

From an urban point of view (perhaps with the exclusion of one very large building on the south bank of the river), Kennett’s legacy is the greatest in terms of the architectural endowment on this city as design was at the forefront. Denton Corker Marshall built a number of great buildings in Melbourne at that time that are still fresh and current. With other governments, design seemed to come second in the early years to social policy, the later years to the dollar.

Aerial view of Barcelona.

Somebody Drew That Byron George

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elbourne is a great city. It was lucky enough to be incredibly wealthy in its formative years, at a time when urban thinking was more about pomposity and making an impression than the wellbeing of its citizens. The incongruity of the scale and grandeur of some of our more wedding cake Victorian monuments sitting in dusty or muddy streets must have been amusing for visitors from the motherland. Fortunately, those wide, muddy tracks, with grand names such as “Royal Parade,” set this city up with bones particularly suited to creating great urban scale.

Melbourne’s wealth of course dried up in the 1890s, which was paralleled in the 1990s. In both centuries, the boom had fundamentally changed the face of the city. The 1880s turned us into one of the world’s great Victorian cities, the 1980s saw dozens of high rises appear within the Hoddle Grid.

Big investment and change followed by a big bust.

In both of these busts, Melbourne was more affected than other Australian capital cities for a variety of reasons that I won’t go into here. What

I think is important is the psychological impact of a bust, and how this can have a really positive impact on a city.

Melbourne in the early 90s was in economic turmoil. The loss of jobs, heavy state government cuts, the collapse of the State Bank of Victoria, the Pyramid Building Society. Interest rates were at 18 percent. Melbourne was depressed in the day, and dull at night. Vacancy rates in the glut of new towers were at record highs. Talk of the day had Brisbane overtaking Melbourne as Australia’s second largest city sometime in the early 21st century.

Over the next twenty years, a remarkable transformation occurred in this city. Urban life and food culture diversified and flourished. Melbourne was open beyond 9-5. Apartments sprang up in older empty buildings. A real estate glut meant that back alley spaces were affordable for small business, artists and creatives. Liquor license deregulation led to Melbourne’s famed bar scene.

This change was in part curated by the City of Melbourne. I say “curated” because I think that is one of the great distinctions that really turned

this city around. It was done in a way where a number of urban policies were all designed to drive a certain type of urbanity. Postcode 3000, urban lane way renewal, vertical lane ways to reinvigorate upper levels of older buildings – all of these were City of Melbourne initiatives. Add this to an urban fabric with larger blocks and a capillary-like lane way network and you have a good canvas for urban renewal.

Part of the transformation of Melbourne can be put down to these factors, but I think a greater part could be down to what occurs culturally when a city goes through a major downturn and shake up. It’s a bit like breaking up from a long term relationship. Yes, it’s traumatic and no one wants to go through it, but it does give you that sense of “anything is possible”. After all, what’s left to lose?

The city that was once the butt of jokes from the north has now become the urban model to copy. Brisbane speaks of Melbourne bars, Sydney and Perth are building lane ways. Sydney has recently changed its liquor laws so you can finally go into a bar and not have to deal with old ladies playing pokies. Even Denver is using Melbourne as a model for urban renewal. But Melbourne is more than the 32 blocks within the Hoddle Grid.

Driving someone back from the airport is a case in point. You pass half a century of government urban policy. We have Bolte’s commission flats, a deterministic take on fixing the “poor people” problem by demolishing great swathes of what would now be prime real estate. Kennett gave us

We now have a large scale opportunity for another government to show its urban credentials – Fisherman’s Bend. While there is talk of affordable housing and community being part of a masterplan (both important), I think the real opportunity here is in urban form. Rather than open slather with apartment towers, what about a 6 - 8 storey height limit and some rules about building to the perimeter? This way the form, scale and proportion of the streets could be crafted in a way to make them friendly to people, without dictating what the building will look like. It also allows the city to evolve based on need over the years – a crucial thing in the development of any city. This model has worked in cities from Barcelona to Berlin and created compact and dense urban form that is amazingly livable. Compare some of the newer areas off Barcelona’s Avenue Diagonal with Southbank and this argument becomes very compelling. The amazing thing is, the density of both typologies is about the same.

The irony is, we don’t need to go as far as Barcelona for inspiration. Before the 1960s, our own CBD was built and controlled along these lines. Low enough so the sun shone in the streets, but dense enough for critical mass. It also assisted with one other crucial thing. It allowed the city to grow and change within a framework. This is crucial, because great cities evolve, they are not built.

INFORMATION Byron George and partner Ryan Russell are directors of Russell & George, a design and architecture practice with offices in Melbourne and Rome. russellandgeorge.com

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architects, nettletontribe – the creators behind Stable’s Triptych, one of Melbourne’s luxury apartment buildings and recognised as Australia’s Best Residential Development at the 2012 Property Council of Australia Innovation and Excellence Awards.

Designed principally for small to medium enterprises, the building presents a unique opportunity by delivering the benefits a large organisation would enjoy. Consisting of 137 suites, over ground and four upper levels, including retail and a bar / cafe, the creation will allow small businesses to enjoy the benefits and connectivity that are traditionally associated with large corporations.

Melbourne’s emerging strata-sphere

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new concept for Melbourne’s small to medium enterprise market is taking shape and charging towards completion.

Located at 838 Collins Street in Victoria Harbour, Docklands, “Lifestyle Working Collins Street” is a refreshing concept that combines architectural vision and creative planning with community responsibility, commercial functionality and environmental sustainability.

The innovative commercial strata office building is unique for Melbourne and a creation

by Lend Lease in collaboration with the Stable Group, the pioneers of the acclaimed “Lifestyle Working Brookvale” in Sydney.

The striking design is by renowned firm of

With an enviable Collins Street address, housed directly opposite the award-winning ANZ Centre and adjacent to Myer, Lifestyle Working Collins Street sets a new benchmark in sustainable office strata office space, housing a fusion of disciplines across industries.

The sustainable characteristics largely define this unique development. With an unprecedented amount of solar panels for a building of this type, we are going to see “Solar: Lots” – strata titled solar arrays linked to specific suites for the individual benefit of businesses occupying those suites. In addition, the base building energy during daylight is run from solar.

The building will feature state of the art voice and data technologies – including ubiquitous

SuStaiNaBle GroWtH SuStaiNaBle Value SuStaiNaBle iNVeStMeNt MelBourNe CoMMerCial Strata • Under construction – completion June 2013 • Invest in the higher yielding sector • Boost your portfolio from $420K • Ground breaking, sustainable design Own or rent 50 sqm - 700 sqm in this groundbreaking building designed for people and business.

Contact us at info@lifestyleworkingcollinsstreet.com

www.lifestyleworkingcollinsstreet.com

wireless connectivity – next generation fibre and Internet infrastructure. It incorporates a series of ‘privileged’ and ‘semi-privileged’ spaces for tenants to utilise. The spaces offer various levels of privacy and containment within the building, as well as a flexible platform for meeting spaces, discussion areas and alternative working environments.

The development also includes landscaped areas within the central open courtyard and the building edge.

The Victoria Harbour location, which is one of Australia’s largest urban renewal projects, presents a unique opportunity to participate in a dynamic and groundbreaking development and offers proximity and connectivity to surrounding business infrastructure, transport, waterways and the CBD. On completion, Lifestyle Working Collins Street will be the latest edition to Victoria Harbour’s enviable reputation as the home of Australia’s highest concentration of green buildings.

INFORMATION Lifestyle Working Collins Street suites start from $450,000, for sale and from 50 sqm to 750 sqm for lease. For further information visit lifestyleworkingcollinsstreet.com.au

CoMMerCial Strata SuiteS froM $450,000 for Sale or leaSe

MaKe aN aPPoiNtMeNt NoW CoNtaCt: Daniel Wolman

0412 957 839 Marc Mengoni

0413 484 866

838 Collins Street, Victoria Harbour, Melbourne

54 the MELBOURNE REVIEW FEBRUARY 2013

FORM At the same time, we must also focus on the talent-based economic development that cities are capable of. In every global powerhouse, the gathering of skilled and entrepreneurial individuals will produce networks that transmit knowledge and breed innovation. That Victoria cannot depend on the resource boom like some of our western and northern counterparts means that our market outlook is intrinsically tied to the extent we attract investment and a talented labour force, which in turn generates more of the same. Melbourne’s status as a global metropolis likewise depends on the extent to which we encourage growth to achieve this critical mass. In the long run, these will be the key drivers of urban and regional growth, and crucial sources of local jobs and wealth.

Today’s cities operate in an increasingly unpredictable environment. There is no recipe for guaranteed success, and the best laid plans are often vulnerable to forces beyond our control. Planning for an uncertain future will require a flexible governance model that brings businesses and communities into play, to reflect the city’s unique character while responding to international forces and market realities.

Playing to our strengths Jennifer Cunich

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n some respects, no other city in Australia has evoked as much international attention in recent years as Melbourne.

Aside from proudly wearing the title of the world’s most liveable city, we are also quietly realising our potential as a major regional hub. Melbourne is recognised as a compelling destination for providing an

exceptional visitor experience, world-class educational services and a political and economic climate conducive to business and employment.

We have also undertaken joint trade initiatives to forge strong relationships overseas, particularly with our neighbours. There is no question that Melbournians are increasingly reconciled with our own particular brand on the world stage.

However, these successes should not let us forget that there are a large number of serious contenders aspiring to become important financial, tourism and education centres in the

Asia Pacific region. To enhance Melbourne’s capacity as a truly competitive brand, we need to work at removing the bottlenecks to progress.

On this front, there is much work to be done.

Understandably, part of the focus should be on improving our ‘liveability’ – one of Melbourne’s most important advantages. A crucial issue that must be addressed is the delivery of an adequate and efficient transport system, in particular to assist with the heavy congestion that Melbourne currently suffers from. A stock of modern, efficient transport infrastructure will benefit the city significantly – by helping to develop a high quality labour force, boosting productivity, preserving our standard of living and attracting visitors and investors alike. Government projections claim a net increase of 480,000 people to Victoria’s population from overseas migration by 2020. This increase, plus the tourists and foreign students who will flock to our global city, means that connectivity will be a high priority.

The time has come to recognise that our wealth and enviable lifestyle can only be maintained, and enhanced, by playing to our strengths. In this globalised age, the most dynamic cities will be those that offer the infrastructure, knowledge, labour force and institutions to suit the demands of the 21st century. For Melbourne, this means not only providing the infrastructure needed to support a growing population, but also making sure to attract talent and investment that will help develop our city. The enviable lifestyle we enjoy today is no accident, but is rather the product of hard work and far-sighted planning that must be proactively renewed as we build the future of our great city.

INFORMATION Jennifer Cunich is Victorian Executive Director, Property Council of Australia propertyoz.com.au/vic

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