This Garden-Topped Melbourne Skyscraper Could Soon Be Australia's Tallest Building

If it goes ahead, it'll feature apartments, offices, a hotel, retail spaces, an entertainment centre, restaurants, bars, a BMW showroom, a school and even a cinema.
Sarah Ward
August 18, 2018

Just months after one Melbourne proposal claimed to be constructing the country's tallest building, another towering skyscraper has popped up to snatch its lofty crown.

The latest super-tall contender is the $2 billion Green Spine, with UN Studio and Cox Architecture emerging victorious in the international competition to design the new addition to Southbank, all for developer Beulah International.

Winning out over five other shortlisted proposals, the 356.2-metre-high Green Spine is actually two cantilevered towers that sport a noticeable twist — that is, the structures both physically twist in their geometric design. Terracing and glass also feature prominently, as does greenery. Indeed, as well as plant-filled public spaces along the ground and stepped lower levels, the building will include a 'future botanic garden' at its peak, which will basically be a garden in the sky that's accessible to everyone.

Before you start looking up, however, The Age reports that a building application hasn't yet been submitted for the mixed-use development, which plans to feature apartments, offices, a hotel, retail spaces, an entertainment centre, restaurants, bars, a BMW showroom, a school and even a cinema.

If it does come to fruition, Green Spine could possibly eclipse the previously announced Magic, also in Melbourne, which will span between 330 and 362 metres. The city's current tallest building is the 297.3-metre tall Eureka Tower, however the 319-metre Australia 108 residential tower at Southbank is in progress, and the 323-metre-tall One Queensbridge tower is also slated for the Crown precinct.

Around the rest of the country, the Gold Coast's Q1 presently reaches 332.5 metres, with the new 328m Orion Towers in Surfers Paradise in development.

Published on August 18, 2018 by Sarah Ward
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