This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
A LOW-grade office building in Brisbane’s inner north has been approved for conversion into luxury apartments, in an adaptive reuse play that may point the way to a bigger trend which could address the housing crisis and oversupply of office space.
Brisbane developer Chapter Two plans to transform the dated building on a prominent Wickham Terrace in Spring Hill into a boutique collection of whole-floor apartments and a two-level penthouse.
Work is expected to start early next year on the project, which Brisbane City Council has aid is “considered to be a very good example of adaptive reuse of a redundant small office building”.
Constructed in around 1970, the Spring Hill building’s solid floor plates allow for 300 sqm of column-free residential living on each level, and the addition of outdoor entertaining areas.
After conversion, each apartment will include up to four bedrooms, each with en suite, a kitchen with butler’s pantry, study, and luxury fittings and finishes. The five-bedroom penthouse will have a second storey at rooftop level with lounge, bar, wine cellar and 180 sqm of outdoor living, including its own swimming pool.
Designed by architects Cera Stribley, the building will feature basement parking, common areas, a private lift, greenery and an entrance lobby.
Adaptive reuse of lower-graded commercial buildings is slowly gaining momentum as a method to address chronic housing shortages across the country while dealing with a post-COVID excess of low-grade office space and providing sustainability benefits.
On a broader scale, a study by architects Hassell conducted for the Property Council of Australia estimated that about 86 office buildings in Melbourne are “ripe” for adaptive reuse and could be transformed into 12,000 new homes.
Melbourne City Council is converting one of its own buildings, at 602 Bourke Street in the CBD, into supported social-housing accommodation. The Council considers the project a pilot for further adaptive reuse plays, in particular the conversion of office buildings to residential use.
Chapter Two director Jon Quayle the developer is also forecasting a significant reduction in embodied carbon in the Spring Hill project, by repurposing the structure and using existing materials rather than sourcing new ones.
“Our concept retains almost 1,700 tonnes of the existing concrete structure, which helps to save more than 1,500 tonnes of CO2 – the equivalent of charging 100 million iPhones or driving 6,174,008 kms in an average vehicle,” he said.
“In addition, our focus on solar, natural light and natural ventilation, including eaves, shading control and screening, will reduce the operational carbon footprint of the building.”
Oliver Bagheri, Chapter Two director, said the developer had explored “countless” other opportunities that were not viable for adaptive reuse from a development and sustainability perspective.
“We engaged specialist consultants to undertake complex X-ray scans and keyhole drill testing of the structure, which confirmed it was a very solid building with a structure that could be retained for a new phase of life,” he said.
The project is located moments from the Brisbane CBD and overlooks Roma Street Parklands and the future Brisbane Live precinct.
