Mild-mannered demolition site could soon be a Meriton Supertall in Gold Coast, QLD

Posted on November 6, 2017 by danieldschell

Meriton is a brand I didn’t know until our Australia trip. We saw a few properties in Sydney, spent a night in one Meriton serviced apartment and gawked at their 2nd Brisbane skyscraper, then noticed yet another from our rooftop deck in Gold Coast. Finally, a casual stroll through Surfers Paradise revealed what remains of an almost-completed 22-story demolition (of the former International Beach Resort) that may just turn out to be the most impressive Meriton tower yet.

This rendering appeared in the Gold Coast Bulletin.

Over the past 12 months, since Meriton bought the property at 84 Esplanade, multiple outlets including the Gold Coast Bulletin, Brisbane Development, the Australian Financial Review, Ray White Surfers Paradise, and Meriton itself (that’s a lot of sources) are reporting that Meriton will build a tower of at least 90 stories in height. That could make it the tallest in Gold Coast, the tallest in Queensland, and even the tallest in all of Australia, depending on how high it goes.

Meriton Suites Surfers Paradise would contain 311 suites on floors 3-30, with the upper floors being for-purchase units. That link says it would be open in 2018; with demolition still underway, that seems optimistic, but we’ll see.

The consensus seems to be that SJB designed the would-be supertall.

For now though, it’s still this modest-looking demo job.

Scape Swanston adds a skyscraper to Melbourne’s student housing boom

Posted on November 5, 2017 by danieldschell

Scape Swanston (right) is on the rise in the Central Business District of Melbourne, Victoria.

Scape Swanston render from Denton Corker Marshall.

It struck me as I walked around Melbourne, Victoria last month how many construction projects were designated specifically as student housing. A quick look around the interwebs told me there are 345,000 college students in this city, according to AustralianUniversities.com. About a third of those students are from outside Australia. No wonder Melbourne is building so much housing for them.

Scape Swanston is one such facility. No ordinary dorm, Scape Swanston will be a 43-story skyscraper with 763 apartments. Scape Student Living is developing the tower, which is a design by Denton Corker Marshall. Built is the builder. It is expected to open in 2018.

: Scape Swanston render from Denton Corker Marshall.

: Aurora is right next door.

Hutchinson Builders lights up Kangaroo Point, Brisbane with Walan Apartments

Posted on November 5, 2017 by danieldschell

Walan Apartments, lower right (with tower crane), rises just beyond Brisbane’s Story Bridge.

Walan Apartments first catches your eye from the City Reach Boardwalk along the Brisbane River. It’s hard not to notice; Hutchinson Builders has a huge banner celebrating their 105 years in business hanging from the west elevation of the construction site. But it’s after dark when Walan becomes can’t-miss scenery. That’s when Hutchinson lights up the tower crane like a giant blue lightsaber guarding the entrance to Story Bridge.

Walan Apartments is a 14-story apartment tower from GBW Investments. Designed by the Brisbane architecture firm of Bureau^Proberts, the project includes just 14 units at 2 Scott Street. It is expected to open in 2018.

: Bureau^Proberts rendering of Walan Apartments.

: Walan Apartments rendering from the Hutchinson Builders website.

: Looking across the Brisbane River.

: Congrats on 105 years!

: Story Bridge.

Enjoying the photos? Metra and CTA rides (and Amtrak trains to Milwaukee), Zipcars, Divvy Bikes, camera lenses, domain fees, snacks & energy drinks, and comfortable walking shoes add up. You can help offset expenses by making a greatly-appreciated donation to Building Up Chicago.

Cranes Without Context: Sydney Tower Eye Edition

Posted on November 4, 2017 by danieldschell

One project I know for sure: Darling Square.

Have you ever shared photos even though you weren’t really sure what you’d captured? Good. Don’t @ me then.

In an effort to not have hundreds of photos on my computer that I won’t do anything with, I’ve decided to start a new series of posts on The Blog. Welcome to Cranes Without Context. These are the pictures I take that I either haven’t taken the time to research, or don’t have additional photos to use for their particular development. (Because who wants to see a photo gallery with only one photo.)

Cranes Without Context begins in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, from the observation deck of the Sydney Tower Eye. Much as I do when visiting Chicago’s Hancock Center and Sears Tower, I snapped every tower crane I could see from this lofty perch. And there’s just no way I’m gonna be able to figure out what job site each is from.

** You got an accidental preview of Cranes Without Context in the Victoria Bridge Brisbane post a couple days ago. Too many cranes, not enough time, etc. **

Some of you (particularly in Australia) will know some of these tower cranes on sight. Feel free to chime in as to project names and specs.

: Crane on a rooftop.

: Snuck a demolition photo in here.

: Bonus barge crane.

A zillion construction photos of Jewel Residences Gold Coast you knew were inevitable

Posted on November 3, 2017 by danieldschell

Construction on Jewel Residences Gold Coast, from the beach.

You’ve seen the names of the five tower cranes, and you’ve seen them lit up at night. Now, it’s time to get a good look at Jewel Residences construction in the light of day.

Yes, I went by this construction site three times; it’s that good. So to accompany the nighttime photos and tower-crane close-ups you’ve already seen, here are a metric ton of pictures taken both in morning, and late afternoon, sunlight.

As a reminder, Jewel Residences is a three-tower development along Surfers Paradise Beach in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It will include more than 500 apartments and a 171-room Wanda Vista Hotel. It’s being developed jointly by two firms from China: Wanda Group and RDG. The design is by DBI Design, and Multiplex is the builder.

Follow the tower cranes down Surfers Paradise Beach to Jewel Residences.

There should be a prize if you make it through this entire galley.

: Okay, one night shot.

A site almost missed, Melbourne’s Collins Arch will be a sight to behold

Posted on November 2, 2017 by danieldschell

The four tower cranes of Collins Arch. Think that’s cool? Just wait ’til you see renderings.

I wouldn’t normally post about tower cranes I saw from the back seat of a tour van (it’s a long story), but Collins Arch in Melbourne’s Central Business District isn’t your typical development. It was the four tower cranes that got my attention, but it was the fabulous renderings that made me a fan.

Collins Arch is being developed by Cbus Property. The architecture is the work of SHoP Architects and Woods Bagot. Multiplex is the builder. Completion is expected in 2019.

: Collins Arch rendering from Cbus Property.

: Collins Arch rendering from Cbus Property.

: Collins Arch rendering from Cbus Property.

: Getting what I can, from the van.

Tower-crane hunting from Brisbane’s Victoria Bridge

Posted on November 1, 2017 by danieldschell

I prepped for our Australia trip the same way I do for every city I visit; I jumped on Google Maps and tried to find the most advantageous spots for seeing tower cranes. (Actually, I don’t do it just for travel. I do that in cities all over the world, whether I have travel aspirations there or not.)

I found a great spot in Brisbane, Victoria. As you can see in the tweet below, I spotted 20 tower cranes from the Victoria Bridge by scanning 360 degrees from the span across the Brisbane River.

https://twitter.com/BuildUpChicago/status/909910318675103744

Even so, I still got there a little too late; a tweet from June 2016 claims 26 cranes were visible from the bridge:

https://twitter.com/mattdennien/status/747312201963167744

Obviously, I knew I had to make the pilgrimage. Alas, “all” I found were 19 tower cranes. Pretty impressive for standing in one spot (about 4/5 of the way across toward South Brisbane.

Without context, here they are:

: 1,2

: 3,4

: 5

: 6,7

: 8,9

: 10,11

: 12

: 13,14

: 15

: 16

: 17

: 18

: 19

: And one demo job.

Lendlease rolls a Lucky Seven at Darling Square in Sydney’s Darling Harbour

Posted on October 31, 2017 by danieldschell

Spotted from the Sydney Tower Eye: The Seven Tower Cranes of Darling Square, by Lendlease.

Please know for certain that I didn’t see every construction project in Australia. Come on. Two weeks? Just not enough time. But of what I saw, this one easily takes the award for Most Tower Cranes.

Darling Square is a mixed-use project being developed and built by Lendlease. Located along Sydney’s famed Darling Harbour, Darling Square will be comprised of many, many parts. So many parts, in fact, that I don’t know if I’ve got them all straight. The main portion of the development will have three towers of 41, 19, and 7 stories, and a 6-story podium, per design architects Tzannes Associates. There will be 581 apartments located here.

Rendering of The Darling Exchange from Kengo Kuma and Associates.

Darling Square will also include a public square, designed by Aspect Studios; a community hub called The Darling Exchange, designed by Kengo Kuma & Associates; and two retail pavilions designed by Archer Office. No wonder they need 7 tower cranes on the site.

And if all that doesn’t sound like enough of a task, Darling Square necessitated the demolition of a 13,000-seat stadium, Qantas Credit Union Arena (previously known as The Sydney Entertainment Centre) in order to clear space for the project.

Whether you’ve been able to process all of that info or not, here comes the photo gallery:

Students from the Mudgeeraba Special School named the five tower cranes at Jewel Gold Coast

Posted on October 31, 2017 by danieldschell

Monday’s post showed you four lighted tower cranes at Jewel Residences on Surfers Paradise Beach in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. As I mentioned in that story, Multiplex has five tower cranes in total at the job site, and they all have names. The video above, from 9 News Gold Coast, gives you some of the back story on where the names came from. And it’s fantastic.

Using five tower cranes, lighting four of them up at night, *and* involving special-needs children from Mudgeeraba Special School in naming them? Take a bow, Multiplex. Very well done.

: Sally Saphire. (One P on the crane; 2 Ps on the poster)

: Multiplexosaurus

: Lotty

: The Mighty Jewel

: Jake

Subtraction before addition for Sydney’s Greenland Centre

Posted on October 30, 2017 by danieldschell

This is the end of the beginning of a new 66-story residential tower, Greenland Centre Sydney.

You all know me by now. I brake for tower cranes. Not only do I still get giddy when I see them, but now and then, they leave me staring in disbelief. These are two such cranes.

In Sydney’s Central Business District, Greenland Centre Sydney is starting with demolition, but not total destruction. The 26-story former HQ building for Sydney Water on Bathurst Street was stripped of everything but the iron frame, which now stands alone — along with those two tower cranes — in the sky. Demolition wrapped up in July, and Probuild began the process of turning that steel cage into a 66-story residential tower, making it the tallest residential tower in Sydney at about 770 feet.

A project by China-based developer Greenland Group, and designed by BVN with executive architect Woods Bagot, Greenland Centre will contain nearly 500 one-, two-, and three-bedroom luxury apartments. Construction is expected to take another two+ years, with opening slated for 2020. But admit it; you’d kinda like to see it remain a bare-steel frame.