Tall & Urban News

Global construction company Multiplex has reached a major construction milestone on the AU$800 million (US$544 million) mixed-use project at 80 Collins Street in Melbourne’s CBD, topping out South Tower, its new 41-story office building.

The 80 Collins precinct is owned by Dexus and Dexus Wholesale Property Fund, following QIC’s successful divestment of the asset in May 2019. The development project is being delivered by QIC GRE until completion.

The development is located at the “Paris end” of Collins Street, and is one of the largest in Melbourne. The precinct comprises the new South Tower, which will provide premium office space across 43,000 square meters, major refurbishments to the North Tower, an existing 49-level A-grade office building, and construction of a 255-room boutique hotel.

The building design has been undertaken by local architects Woods Bagot, with collaboration from Dutch firm UNStudio on the South Tower and hotel façades.

A 5,000-square-meter retail precinct over a ground and podium level will link the hotel to the North and South towers, while connecting three surrounding streets through a series of laneways to become a new Collins Street shopping destination.

The new South Tower will feature a faceted glass exterior cantilevering towards Collins Street, and the interior will feature flexible floor plates with the ability to create inter-floor links, allowing occupants to engineer their space for collaboration and connectivity.

At 187 meters tall, 80 Collins boasts panoramic views across Melbourne.

“This premiere mixed-use development heralds a new chapter in the story of its prestigious location, and we’re delighted to see 80 Collins reach its highest point,” said Graham Cottam, Regional Managing Director at Multiplex

It is also “one of the most complex builds we are currently delivering in Melbourne, with the new South Tower constructed to cantilever 12 meters over existing buildings on Collins Street—one of the first times this engineering feat has been achieved to this scale.”

Around 550 workers are on-site every day, and approximately 6,000 tons of structural steel and 50,000 cubic meters of concrete have been used to date.

Innovative approaches include the introduction of a double-deck lift system with a destination control system. This system allows the development to achieve a Premium building rating and minimizes the size of the core to maximize the net lettable area.

The new tower has a 6-star Green Star design rating and is targeting a 5-star NABERS Energy rating. The building is also ready to allow tenants to pursue further fit-out certification. Environmental systems design (ESD) features include a chilled-beam mechanical system to allow for passive temperature control, as well as the inclusion of intuitive lighting control.

The South Tower at 80 Collins is on track for completion in 2020.

For more on this story, go to Multiplex.