Aurora Tower is a

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It is 207 metres tall and was the tallest building in Brisbane from 2006 until being surpassed by

Soleil SOLEIL ("Sun" in French) is a synchrotron facility near Paris, France. It performed its first acceleration of electrons on May 14, 2006. The name ''SOLEIL'' is a backronym for ''Source Optimisée de Lumière d’Énergie Intermédiaire du LURE'' ...

in 2011. Aurora has 69 storeys comprising four floors of 18 penthouses, 54 skyhomes (two-storey luxury apartments) and 408 apartments. It features a heated pool, entertainment area and cinema for residents. Aurora Tower opened to the public on 5 May 2006. Aurora was designed to use iris recognition technology for security purposes, however this technology has not yet been put into use. Along with the intercom system and lifts, it has had problems functioning correctly. Another criticism has been the lack of

car park A parking lot or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface. In most jurisdic ...

s. The Tower is near central transport links such as the Central railway station. The Tower is also close to shopping areas such as

QueensPlaza QueensPlaza is an upmarket shopping centre located in the Brisbane central business district, Queensland, Australia, with frontages on Adelaide Street, Queen Street Mall, and Edward Street. Built by Besix Watpac, construction began in Septe ...

Queen Street Mall The Queen Street Mall is a pedestrian mall located on Queen Street in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The mall extends approximately from George Street to Edward Street, and has more than 700 retailers over of retail space, which incl ...

, Wintergarden and Elizabeth Street all of which feature shopping, restaurants, bars, and nightclubs. The location was the site of a dwelling built in 1837 for the first free settler in the Moreton Bay Settlement,

Andrew Petrie Andrew Petrie (June 1798 – 20 February 1872) was a Scottish-Australian pioneer, architect and builder in Brisbane, Queensland. Early life Andrew Petrie was born in June 1798 in Fife, Scotland, to parents Walter Petrie and Margaret (''née'' ...

. Other Brisbane landmarks such as the

Story Bridge The Story Bridge is a heritage-listed steel cantilever bridge spanning the Brisbane River built to carry vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the northern and the southern suburbs of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is the long ...

Central Plaza 1 Central Plaza 1 a skyscraper in the city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, was designed by renowned Japanese architect Kurokawa Kisho. The height of the tower is 174 m (571 ft) with 44 floors. Construction was completed in 1988 an ...

and

Brisbane City Hall Brisbane City Hall, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, is the seat of the Brisbane City Council. It is located adjacent to King George Square, where the rectangular City Hall has its main entrance. The City Hall also has frontages and entran ...

are visible from inside the tower. To ensure occupant comfort at the top of the building wind tunnel testing was conducted by the structural designers. Other innovative design and construction measures were needed due to the slender form of the building. In January 2008, the

body corporate In law, a legal person is any person or legal entity that can do the things a human person is usually able to do in law – such as enter into contracts, sue and be sued, own property, and so on. The reason for the term "''legal'' person" is t ...

informed owners that the building's management rights were acquired by the Oaks Group. At the same time an application with the

Brisbane City Council Brisbane City Council (BCC, also known as Council) is the local government of the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. The largest local government in Australia by population, BCC's jurisdiction includes 2 ...

to change the class of the building to short-term accommodation by the Oaks Group, raised concerns by residents that the building's facilities may be overwhelmed by hotel guests. The site of Aurora Tower was proposed in 1992 to be the site for the Brisbane 2000 tower. The proposed tower was to be 250 m (820 ft) tall, which at the time would have made it one of the tallest buildings in Australia.

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External links

Aurora

Aurora Residents Forum
{{Brisbane skyscrapers Skyscrapers in Brisbane Apartment buildings in Brisbane Residential buildings completed in 2006 Residential skyscrapers in Australia Queen Street, Brisbane 2006 establishments in Australia Neomodern architecture in Australia

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