Riparian Plaza is a 53-storey skyscraper located in the central business district of

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 ...

. The building stands at in height to its communications spire and to its roof. It was Brisbane's tallest building until it was surpassed by

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

in 2006 and is a particularly iconic building on the Brisbane skyline. It is a mixed use building, with 11 car park levels from the ground up, 25 commercial levels, and 12 residential levels originally housing 50 penthouse apartments. On top of the tower is a

communications Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...

. A recreation centre including a

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...

is located on 39th floor, between the commercial and residential sections. The carpark is accessed via a helical annexe. The tower has an open

plaza A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Rela ...

and

promenade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortification, fortress or city walls ...

space totaling . The upper plaza level contains Madame Wu, an Asian Fusion restaurant. The building was developed by Bloomberg Incorporation Limited with a construction cost of A$130 million. Bloomberg retained ownership of the commercial component and sold off the residential apartments during construction. It is located at 71 Eagle Street, and was the last waterfront vacant block in the

Brisbane CBD Brisbane City is the central Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb and central business district of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. It is also colloquially referred to as the "Brisbane CBD", "the city", or simply "to ...

. Riparian Plaza provided the first, new, premium office space available in the Brisbane CBD for a decade. The building has a total floor area of approximately .

Brisbane Square Brisbane Square is a high-rise Office building, office Skyscraper, tower in Brisbane central business district, Brisbane City, Queensland, Australia. The building has 38 floors and rises to a height of 151 metres. The building's main use is for ...

completed in 2006, was the next major office building constructed in Brisbane.

Construction and design

Riparian Plaza was designed by

Harry Seidler Harry Seidler (25 June 19239 March 2006) was an Austrian-born Australian architect who is considered to be one of the leading exponents of Modernism's methodology in Australia and the first architect to fully express the principles of the Bauh ...

(

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

) and Robert Bird Group (

structural engineer Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research List of structural elements, structural components and structural systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants. Their work takes account mainly of ...

). It was the last major project that Seidler worked on. Most office spaces have river views, due to the 45-degree angle to the river of the building and the lack of columns on these mid level floors. Each penthouse has its own

curvilinear In geometry, curvilinear coordinates are a coordinate system for Euclidean space in which the coordinate lines may be curved. These coordinates may be derived from a set of Cartesian coordinates by using a transformation that is locally inv ...

, projecting terrace that faces the river. The cantilevering

balconies A balcony (from , "scaffold") is a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade, usually above the ground floor. They are commonly found on multi-level houses, apartme ...

have a highly sculptured shape. Seidler claimed the composite stacking of sectors vertically is unique in Australia. There were significant delays in the completion of the building. It was originally scheduled to be completed by early 2004 (giving a record construction time of 100 weeks). This date was continually pushed back. The delay led to significant criticism of the project in the local media, as well as complaints from prospective tenants of the building and withdrawal of committed tenants. The building was completed in November 2005. In October 2007, Riparian Plaza won the top prize for commercial architecture at the annual national architecture awards. In 2008, the building won the overall winner of the Rider Levett Bucknall /

Property Council of Australia The Property Council of Australia is a prominent industry organisation that represents the Australian property sector, advocating for its growth and positive impact on the nation. Founded in 1969, the Property Council operates across all major ca ...

Award and the Property Council of Australia Award for Mixed Use Development.

Incidents

The building made headlines in 2005 when a severe storm caused two

window washer Window cleaning, or window washing, is the exterior cleaning of architectural glass used for structural, lighting, or decorative purposes. It can be done manually, using a variety of tools for cleaning and access. Technology is also employed and ...

s to become stranded on the 30th floor. Rescue operations were successful after a pane of glass was removed to reach them. A large panel of glass from pool fencing on level 39 crashed to Eagle Street in the early morning hours of 27 August 2009, creating a mess but no injuries.

Tenants

Office tenants include broker Wilson HTM and law firm

Clayton Utz Clayton Utz is an Australian law firm headquartered in Sydney. Established in 1833, it is a large-sized firm, known as one of the big six Australian law firms. The firm is recognised for its litigation practice, government clients, ''pro bono' ...

and Littles Lawyers. John Pearce, former CEO of the nearby Collection House, paid $6.7 million for the top penthouse. The building has attracted significant investor interest with median capital growth at 24.8% during 2007 and 27% in 2008. The building currently contains only 47 apartments, however there were 52 in the original design. Due to a flexible

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 ...

apartment amalgamations have been permitted and even encouraged because they enhance the exclusivity and therefore the price of the apartments. In 2022, tenants of the building tried unsuccessfully to halt the development at the neighbouring Eagle Street Pier site complaining the design was too bulky and imposing on

public space A public space is a place that is open and accessible to the general public. Roads, pavements, public squares, parks, and beaches are typically considered public space. To a limited extent, government buildings which are open to the public, su ...

In popular culture

The exterior of the building was a filming location for the 2009 science-fiction thriller film ''

Daybreakers ''Daybreakers'' is a 2009 American-Australian dystopian sci-fi action-horror vampire film written and directed by Michael and Peter Spierig. The film takes place in a futuristic world overrun by vampires, and centers around a vampiric corpor ...

''.

References

External links

Riparian Plaza official siteRiparian Plaza Structural Engineers Statement
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riparian Plaza Harry Seidler buildings Buildings and structures completed in 2005 Skyscraper office buildings in Brisbane Apartment buildings in Brisbane Brisbane central business district Residential skyscrapers in Australia Residential buildings completed in 2005 2005 establishments in Australia Office buildings completed in 2005