- The $2 billion dual skyscraper Southbank development will include Australia's tallest building
- The development was fast-tracked last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic
- The distinctive curved towers will allow for an immense external garden, spanning 5.5 kilometres
The $2 billion dual skyscraper Southbank development will now also have the world’s tallest vertical garden, as well as Australia’s tallest building.
Approved for development in March last year, the ‘Southbank by Beulah’ project will feature two twisting towers, one 251 metres and 56 floors high, the other 366 metres with 102 floors.
When completed, Tower 1 will be the tallest building in the southern hemisphere.
At the moment, the location is the site of a BMW dealership.
Two architects collaborated on the designs, Dutch-based UNStudio and Australian firm Cox Architecture.
The development was fast-tracked last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Work is expected to commence on the site this year and be completed in 2027.
Melbourne has 61 skyscrapers (buildings of at least 150 metres tall), more than any other city in Australia.
Currently, the tallest building in Australia is the Q1 in Surfer’s Paradise, Queensland, at 322.5 metres, which opened in 2005. The second tallest is the Eureka Skydeck, in Southbank, Melbourne at 297.3 metres.
The distinctive curved design of the Beulah towers will allow for an immense external garden, spanning 5.5 kilometres.
An intricate system of water collection and irrigation will feed the greenery, with the plants being chosen to survive their location, being grown offsite for years before being transplanted into place.
