Scenes from the Day
On Day 4, delegates departed Sydney and traveled to regional city programs in Melbourne and Brisbane, where the many facets of vertical urbanization and connectivity were explored in the context of Australia’s other premier urban laboratories.
The first session in Melbourne generated a lively discussion about the city’s status as “the world’s most livable city.”
The Melbourne program of the 2017 Conference took place at the Melbourne School of Design at the University of Melbourne.
Delegates at the Melbourne program, the majority of which also attended the Sydney core program, had plenty of energy to spare for two days of discussions and urban exploration.
Giorgio Marfella, Lecturer, University of Melbourne, chaired the afternoon program.
Larry Parsons, Director of Design, Ethos Urban envisions Melbourne’s high-rise future.
Jonathan Spear, Executive Director, Infrastructure Victoria, elucidates the 30-year plan for the state’s infrastructure.
John Flynn, Chair, CTBUH Australia Queensland Chapter and Director, Conrad Gargett Architects, introduces the first session of the Brisbane program.
Malcom Middleton, Queensland Government Architect, gives an overall context for understanding Brisbane as a river city.
Rob Vider, Senior Practice Director, BVN Architecture, introduces delegates to the host building of the first session, 480 Queen Street.
Brendan Gaffney, Director, Cox Architecture, gives a presentation on 111 Eagle Street, which the delegates would later tour.
Ian Ainsworth, Principle, Arup, describes the site constraints of 111 Eagle St., which was to fit into a Harry Seidler masterplan on the Brisbane riverfront.
Chris Stevenson, National Construction Manager, Hutchinson Builders, introduces the Brisbane Skytower project.
After the lectures at the Melbourne School of Design, delegates took to the streets in seven unique walking tours. Attendees of the Melbourne Laneways tour explored a series of intimate, eclectic linear pathways running throughout the CBD.
Lonsdale Lane, located in Melbourne’s legal precinct, illustrated how each laneway emerges as a bespoke solution for its specific context. Here, security and visibility were the priority, whereas retail and triangulation took precedence elsewhere.
Daniel Pike, Associate, Architectus, provided a wealth of information at designated stops along the tour, with assistance from several other Architectus colleagues.
The Sport & Entertainment Precinct tour explored sites such as Margaret Court, the Melbourne Olympic Park, and the Melbourne Cricket Ground (pictured).
Delegates learned about the growth of the precinct and its subsequent impact on the city.
The commercial office building at 480 Queen Street hosted the first presentations of the Brisbane program and was itself the subject of a building tour.
The 32nd-floor meeting space at 480 Queen Street has commanding views of the river valley and CBD.
A public right-of-way passes through the base of 480 Queen St., connecting Queen and Adelaide Streets and negotiating a level change. It is lined by retail and restaurants.
One of the functions of the public space at the foot of 480 Queen St. is to frame the St. John’s Cathedral.
“The Ravine,” a slice cut through the base of 480 Queen St., features a dramatic multistory space with escalator taking the public past mural art.
“The Ravine,” a slice cut through the base of 480 Queen St., features a dramatic multistory space with escalator taking the public past mural art.
A public plaza on the 2nd floor of 480 Queen St. provides a breezy spot to enjoy cafes and views of the Brisbane River.
Attendees of the 480 Queen Street tour visit the End-of-Trip bicycle facility, which has space for both the public and building tenants to store their bikes and shower.
111 Eagle Street, a commercial office building, occupies an extremely tight site adjacent to Riparian Plaza and Riverside Centre. Its exterior column pattern is meant to resemble the branches of a fig tree.
A dramatic staircase, made of steel and clad in Corian, marks the lobby at 111 Eagle St.
The Y-shaped columns define the lobby and street presence of 111 Eagle St.
The group tours the mechanical floor at level 49, 111 Eagle St.
Visiting the roof of 111 Eagle shows the termination of the “fig branch” pattern in detail.
The escalator takes visitors to the main lift lobby on the mezzanine in a dramatic 17-meter-tall space.
The Brisbane program tour group descends the main escalator at 111 Eagle St.
Brisbane’s next-tallest building, Brisbane Skytower, is about halfway to its final height of 90 stories and 270 meters.
The Brisbane Skytower tour group waits for the exterior hoist to take them to the top finished floor at level 55.
The tour inspects the top of the moving “jump form” concrete pouring platform, with a number of the jacks that will be used to propel it upwards are visible in the background.
The group goes inside the moving formwork for a look at the sleeves that will cast the radial concrete outrigger walls.
A forest of jacks supports the temporary formwork above the recently finished concrete slab.
A set of windows awaits installation on a recently finished floor.
The Brisbane Skytower tower visits the double-height 40th-floor amenity space, where the concrete of the swimming pool has been cast.
Delegates enjoyed a networking reception, kindly sponsored by Monash University, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground Stadium, which can accommodate up to 100,000 people at capacity.
Refreshments were particularly welcome after an afternoon of walking tours.
The reception was kindly sponsored by Monash University.
The Handbook for the Design of Modular Structures is commemorated by (left to right) CTBUH Chairman, Steve Watts, Partner, alinea Consulting; James Murray-Parkes, Science & Engineering Director, Multiplex Engineering Innovations Group; Yu Bai, Associate Professor, Monash University; and CTBUH Executive Director Antony Wood.
CTBUH Chairman Steve Watts, Partner, alinea Consulting welcomes delegates to the reception and voices his delight in the fantastic venue.
James Murray-Parkes, Science & Engineering Director, Multiplex Engineering Innovations Group and Yu Bai, Associate Professor, Monash University discuss the release of the Handbook for the Design of Modular Structures.
Phil Gardiner, Managing Director, Irwinconsult, rounds off the night with some closing remarks.
The 32nd-floor conference space boasts an outdoor deck, site of the networking reception for the Brisbane regional program.
After an afternoon of trekking around downtown Brisbane, delegates relax with drinks and appetizers at the 480 Queen Street reception.
As dusk fell, the lights of Story Bridge and the city twinkled below the 32nd-floor outdoor reception at 480 Queen Street.
Craig Gibbons, CTBUH Brisbane City Representative and Brisbane Buildings Group Leader at Arup, thanks the hosts and attendees of the Brisbane program.
