STH BNK by Beulah is a dual skyscraper development proposed for

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

developed by Beulah and designed by architectural firms UNStudio and Cox Architecture. The site currently hosts a BMW dealership.

History

Site

The site for the development is 60 Southbank Boulevard, located in Southbank, an inner-city suburb of Melbourne, and is an amalgamation of two adjacent properties – 102-156 City Road and 158 City Road. The former property, with a land area of , hosts a purpose-built multi-level car showroom which was luxury vehicle manufacturer BMW’s flagship sales store in Melbourne. In December 2017, Beulah International purchased the site from BMW for approximately $AUD101 million. In April 2021, Beulah acquired 158 City Road, with the intention of expanding the development. The site is currently home to Hanover House, a seven storey commercial building, the tallest in Southbank between 1973 and 1990. The purchase brought the total land area of the development to , and the property is now an 'island' with four frontages: Power Street, City Road, Southbank Boulevard, and Waterfall Lane. The development will be situated in an area of Melbourne that has some of the tallest buildings in the city; for instance, the city's current tallest building, Australia 108, sits opposite the property at 70 Southbank Boulevard, whilst the previous tallest, Eureka Tower, is also in the vicinity.

Southbank competition

Beulah conducted a contest to determine the architect for the project, and dubbed the competition "STH BNK by Beulah". All six solicited bids involved two architectural firms, and partnerships included BIG Architects and

Fender Katsalidis Fender Katsalidis (FK) is an architecture firm which originated in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and now has additional studios in Sydney and Brisbane. Founded by Karl Fender and Nonda Katsalidis, the firm has been notable since the early 1990 ...

, MAD Studio and

Elenberg Fraser Elenberg Fraser is an Australian architecture firm, based in Melbourne with regional hubs in Brisbane and Ho Chi Minh City. It was established in 1998 by Zahava Elenberg and Callum Fraser, both RMIT University graduates. Notable projects include t ...

, and

Woods Bagot Woods Bagot is a global architectural and consulting practice founded in Adelaide, South Australia. It specialises in the design and planning of buildings across a wide variety of sectors and disciplines. Former names of the practice include Woo ...

and

MVRDV MVRDV is a Rotterdam, Netherlands-based architecture and urban design practice founded in 1993. The name is an acronym for the founding members: Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs, and Nathalie de Vries. History Maas and Van Rijs worked at OMA, De Vri ...

. The collaborative bid by UNStudio and Cox Architecture ultimately secured the commission. The winning design was announced in August 2018.

Project

The structure is part of the larger development on Melbourne's Southbank, estimated to cost AUD$2 billion. The development is planned to begin breaking ground in 2020. Green Spine is composed of two skyscrapers; Tower 1 will comprise 102 storeys and reach a height of 366 metres, surpassing the height of the current tallest building in Australia, Q1, which stands at 322 metres. The second tower will comprise 59 storeys and reach a height of 251 metres; as with Tower 1, the second building will include hotel rooms, residential apartments, and offices.Lenaghan, Nick. (6 August 2019)
"Beulah aims high for BMW site in Southbank"
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Australian Financial Review ''The Australian Financial Review'' (abbreviated to the ''AFR'') is an Australian business-focused, compact daily newspaper covering the current business and economic affairs of Australia and the world. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New Sou ...

''. Retrieved 10 August 2019. Both skyscrapers will seem to curve in a twist and will have foliage and trees growing on balconies along their exteriors.

Approval

In March 2020, the plan received approval by the

City of Melbourne The City of Melbourne is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central city area of Melbourne. In 2018, the city has an area of and had a population of 169,961. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. The c ...

. Planning Minister

Richard Wynne Richard William Wynne (born 6 October 1955) is an Australian politician. He has been a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1999 to 2022, representing the electorate of Richmond. He served as the Minister for Plannin ...

approved the project on 23 April 2020; like other developments, STH BNK by Beulah was identified by the Victorian Government as a project needing to be "fast-tracked", amid the impact of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

to the Victorian economy.

External links

References

{{coord, -37.822597, 144.963361, display=title Skyscrapers in Melbourne Residential skyscrapers in Australia Apartment buildings in Melbourne Proposed buildings and structures in Melbourne Southbank, Victoria