Soaring at 274 metres, the largest residential building in the southern hemisphere is nothing short of spectacular. But Brisbane Skytower’s success story wasn’t always assured.
Construction of Billbergia’s $1 billion Skytower is now almost complete.
With coastal views stretching from Moreton Bay to the Gold Coast, the tower features 1,141 one, two and three-bedroom apartments with luxurious penthouses and the world’s highest outdoor infinity-edge pool at its peak.
But for several years the site at 222 Margaret Street in Brisbane was nothing more than a 23-metre-deep hole in the ground.
Work on what was to become the 283-metre tall Vision Tower stalled after the previous developer went into receivership during the global financial crisis. John Kinsella AM, owner and managing director of Sydney-based Billbergia, purchased the site from the receivers in 2010 with AMP Capital.
Billbergia already had an impressive portfolio of large-scale residential projects under its belt, but the company’s development director, Rick Graf, says taking on Skytower “showed remarkable bravery”.
The size and scale of the project was daunting. But from the first time John Kinsella “went down to the bottom of the hole,” he said Billbergia “could see the potential”.
Bates Smart was immediately appointed to design the twin towers of Skytower. Director Philip Vivian designed the triangular shape, curved corners and central core to withstand oscillating cyclonic winds. This design reduced sway and delivered two extra floors of saleable product.
Then, during the Brisbane floods of 2011, the big hole on site famously became a rescue reservoir.
“All the surrounding buildings had flooded basements and council approached us to help,” Graf explains.
“We saw it was in the public interest, and that the water could be an asset rather than a liability. We craned in a barge so we could progressively re-anchor the walls, level by level, and then pump the water out.”
Billbergia and Hutchinson Builders began rehabilitation of the water-filled site in 2013 and, after constructing 10-floors of basement car-parking, in 2014 the rear half was carved off and sold for development of the city’s newest Westin hotel.
Then, in 2015, construction of the above-ground structure of Skytower kicked off with an amended design by the NRA Collaborative.
The ambitious project posed many design and construction challenges. To overcome aviation restrictions, Hutchinson Builders installed a cantilevered structure on level 66 and lifted a flathead crane into operation during the day, which was then lowered at night.
An ingenious water and sewerage drainage system was developed to control the discharge of water and sewerage, which would otherwise build up pressure and speed as it moves down the building.
And by constructing the tower in four vertical components, residents could move in as early as 2017, allowing Billbergia to generate income two years before the project’s scheduled completion.
A long-term project of this scale must be planned out “from day one,” Graf advises.
“Knowing it would take five or six years to complete, there was no way a conventional financial structure would work. By taking on a revolving tranche of debt that could be recycled progressively, we were able to manage peak debt exposure over the life of the project.” With apartment layouts targeting a range of lifestyles and budgets, Skytower’s selling prices start from $435,000 for one-bedroom apartments in the lower levels, right up to $10 million-plus for the luxurious four-bedroom, two level penthouses.
The ear-popping ascent up the 100-level lift – with 90 storeys above ground and 10 below – takes two minutes.
And the building’s four separate ‘vertical villages’ – Downtown and Uptown, Skycity, Skyrise, and Penthouses – each enjoys its own lobby and recreational deck with gym, pool, lounge, barbecue area and steam room.
Its sheer scale has created a new urban vitality for Brisbane’s city centre, increasing the availability of CBD apartment living by more than 22 per cent and creating a 3,000-plus resident population in a thriving vertical village community.
What does it feel like to look up at Australia’s tallest tower and think: ‘We built that’?
“It’s an enormously satisfying feeling. Not only is it a successful team project, but it is providing homes for nearly 3,000 people in the centre of the city. We’ve created a community the size of a small country town in just one building,” Graf concludes.