This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
MELBOURNE’S Australia 108 is now the tallest residential tower in the southern hemisphere from floor to roof after officially topping out, rising 319 metres.
Located in Southbank on the Melbourne city fringe, the 100 storey tower’s roof is now complete and its glass façade reaches its highest levels, nearly five years after initial works started in November of 2015.
Builder Multiplex will now complete the remaining apartment interiors as well as the building’s Starburst amenity spaces, which include two infinity pools cantilevering 210 metres above the street. They Starburst is a protruding golden structure from levels 70 and 71 that pays homage to the Commonwealth Star on the Australian flag.
The building will be fully completed by the end of quarter three of this year.
Chief executive of developer, World Class Global, David Ng said the topping out of Australia 108 was a hugely fulfilling moment and a special moment for Melbourne’s skyline.
Architect Fender Katsalidis also designed the neighbouring 88-floor predecessor of the title, the 297 metre high Eureka Tower, which opened in 2006.
The Q1 tower on the Gold Coast, at 322.5 metres, and Auckland’s Sky Tower at 328 metre are taller than the Australia 108 tower due to their large spires, but to their top floors rise 235 metres and 222 metres respectively.
All will be surpassed in the coming years by another Southbank tower, Beulah International’s $2 billion Green Spine which will soar about 368 metres and has recently received approval from the Victorian government.
Construction challenges
Construction at Australia 108 has been led by Multiplex, which utilised new techniques developed specifically for the project, creating purpose-built platforms from which builders worked safely on to install the golden panels of the Starburst that were delivered by crane during the middle of the night.
Multiplex regional managing director, Graham Cottam, said the build from many metres below ground to the top had required innovation and had proceeded without any major issues.
“This is a build that has never been attempted in Australia before – the challenges in getting people and materials to such height required innovation, as did the construction of the cantilevering Starburst,” he said.
To allow Australia 108 to withstand gale force winds up to 140 kilometres per hour blowing in from Port Phillip Bay, underneath level 100 of the tower has been fitted with a 300,000-litre damper tank to act as a counterbalance.
A special purpose recovery crane will be installed to the top of the building roof to recover the final tower crane over the coming months. The recovery crane then breaks apart and is able to lift itself down from the roof to the ground.
Residents moving in
Residents started moving into Australia 108 from 2018 as part of a staged handover of lower level apartments. The building’s higher end apartments from levels 72 are the latest to welcome residents. A penthouse spanning the entire 100th floor sold for $25 million in 2015, setting what was at the time an Australian record.
More than three quarters of apartments have been completed.
Three bedroom residences in the top portion of the tower are still available for sale, while exclusive one and two-bedroom residences up to level 67 are ready to move into.
