[U/C] 145-159 King William Street (GPO) | 61m | 16 Levels | Hotel

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Ben
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[U/C] 145-159 King William Street (GPO) | 61m | 16 Levels | Hotel

#1 Post by Ben » Mon Jun 29, 2015 2:39 pm

This is the first stage of the GPO redevelopment. The 21 level tower is stage 2.

Description of Proposed Development:
Partial redevelopment of the existing GPO and Telephone exchange buildings and the construction of a 15-storey office building with associated retail tenancies, basement car park (including loading dock and bicycle parking), ground level piazza and site works. Exchange Place will redeveloped as a pedestrian link. Note: Works to be undertaken on land owned by Australia Post (including the GPO building) are exempt from state legislation under the APC Act 1989.

Detailed Land Uses:
Commercial - Office

Application Type:
DAC - Adelaide ($10m)

Application Status:
CATEGORISED


Land Use/Building Consent:
Yes

Lodgement Date:
18 Jun 2015

Address:
145-159 King William Street, Adelaide

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[U/C] Re: 145-159 King William Street (GPO) | 60m~ | 15 Levels | M

#2 Post by wll6568 » Fri Jul 10, 2015 8:48 am

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A $300 million development of the Adelaide GPO precinct will create 500 construction jobs by transforming the landmark heritage building and its surrounds into a food and retail hub flanked by office towers.

Major property group Charter Hall has lodged plans for the development which it describes as a “game changer” for the Adelaide CBD and, pending approval, construction is expected to start in the first half of next year.

The proposal features two office towers for up to 3800 workers, eateries and shops within a refurbished GPO and, around an adjoining plaza, laneways enlivened with retail outlets and a makeover of the old Telephone Exchange building.

Charter Hall state manager Matthew Lane said the project would “restore the former glory of the GPO” and even reactivate its basement level.

“We think it will be a game changer. There’s nothing like it in the city,” he said.

“The whole site’s been neglected for years now.

“We are excited by turning that around and reinforcing this property as the heart of the commercial precinct.”

Mr Lane said the development, to be known as Precinct GPO, would activate the area from early morning to night time and complement Adelaide City Council’s overhaul of Victoria Square.

“The success of this project is based on what we can deliver to the public and that means interesting piazzas and laneways,” he said.

The 21-storey GPO Tower will face Franklin St while the 15-storey GPO Plaza building will “look like it’s floating above the GPO” from Victoria Square, though in reality it will only slightly overlap two edges of the 19th century building.

More than 3000sq m of retail space will be spread among the main and basement levels of the GPO, around the plaza, at the base of the new GPO Tower and face onto a reopened lane between the GPO and Telephone Exchange.

Mr Lane said the focus would be on food and drink and he was hoping for a quirky mix of offerings to rival those on Leigh and Peel streets.

A post office will be retained within the complex, though not necessarily within the GPO itself.

The upper levels of both the GPO and Telephone Exchange buildings will be refurbished as boutique office space.

The plaza will connect to the existing one behind ANZ House.

Last year Charter Hall paid Aspen Group $29.5 million for a half stake in the Franklin St Property Trust, owner of the neighbouring Australian Tax Office Building. As part of the deal the trust bought the GPO and surrounding land for $12 million.

The Charter Hall proposal will effectively complete the broader development formerly known as City Central, which saw the rise of the ATO Building, ANZ House and the Ernst & Young Building.

“This is essentially the icing on the cake for the larger development,” Mr Lane said.

Major tenants will need to be secured before construction begins, but Mr Lane was confident that would not be a problem given the prime position of the site.

“We have had early meetings with (potential) tenants and we have had a lot of interest. There is a wow factor to it,” Mr Lane said.

“We’d be looking to start in the first half of next year.” Completion is scheduled for 2018.

Mr Lane praised the State Government’s Budget announcement to phase out stamp duty on non-residential property transfers, saying it would be a driver for investment and jobs.

“(It) will provide the state a significant competitive advantage nationally, especially where retail and wholesale investors are seeking exposure to investment grade property investments,” he said.
Am a bit disappointed that it's so low rise. That site is so right for another tallest in the cbd.

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[U/C] Re: 145-159 King William Street (GPO) | 60m~ | 15 Levels | M

#3 Post by Jaymz » Fri Jul 10, 2015 8:52 am

Very underwhelming, a couple of new glass boxes. In the second pic, it's difficult to even distinguish which
are the new building amongst the old ones.

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[U/C] Re: 145-159 King William Street (GPO) | 60m~ | 15 Levels | M

#4 Post by Nathan » Fri Jul 10, 2015 9:42 am

Echoing everyone else. Great that the block will be "complete", but such a missed opportunity. They don't need to be tall, but they should be of exceptional quality to frame the GPO and address Victoria Square — and we're just not seeing that in the renders.

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[U/C] Re: 145-159 King William Street (GPO) | 60m~ | 15 Levels | M

#5 Post by mshagg » Fri Jul 10, 2015 11:20 am

Jaymz wrote:Very underwhelming, a couple of new glass boxes. In the second pic, it's difficult to even distinguish which
are the new building amongst the old ones.
Agreed. Almost had to double take to see if there were actually new buildings in that render.

Don't see why they pitch two mediocre buildings when they could go for one spectacular high rise and develop the second stage as needed. Too many eggs in the one basket I guess.

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[U/C] Re: 145-159 King William Street (GPO) | 60m~ | 15 Levels | M

#6 Post by Vee » Fri Jul 10, 2015 12:52 pm

No!!!!!!
Excellent, high visibility central site in the Post Office precinct and this dull and unimaginative, underwhelming to say the least, proposal is floated.

Reminds me somewhat of the design proposed originally for the Vue site, but fortunately was replaced by the current Vue building under construction.
Rethink?

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[U/C] 145-159 King William Street (GPO) | 60m~ | 15 Levels | Mixed

#7 Post by Matt » Fri Jul 10, 2015 3:03 pm

I was hopeful that with SAHMRI, Vue, etc, we'd turned a corner and managed to move past glass boxes of mediocrity, but perhaps not.

Particularly THIS site - smack bang in the centre of the city, Vic Square facing, and framing the GPO building. It deserves better.


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[U/C] Re: 145-159 King William Street (GPO) | 60m~ | 15 Levels | M

#8 Post by Ben » Fri Jul 10, 2015 3:29 pm

The GPO building could be ok

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[U/C] Re: 145-159 King William Street (GPO) | 60m~ | 15 Levels | M

#9 Post by Ben » Fri Jul 10, 2015 4:01 pm

Ben wrote:The GPO building could be ok

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I also think its a bit embarrassing the advertiser is so lazy they talking about "Towers of Strength" (cringe) but they have listed buildings already completed and infrastructure projects like Adelaide Oval and the footbridge "to be completed by 2018"... really. That's the best you can do? :lol:

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[U/C] Re: 145-159 King William Street (GPO) | 60m~ | 15 Levels | M

#10 Post by [Shuz] » Fri Jul 10, 2015 5:16 pm

Its the Advertiser. I expect poor journalism. Anything else would be surprise.
Any views and opinions expressed are of my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of any organisation of which I have an affiliation with.

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[U/C] Re: 145-159 King William Street (GPO) | 60m~ | 15 Levels | M

#11 Post by rev » Fri Jul 10, 2015 7:23 pm

Jaymz wrote:Very underwhelming, a couple of new glass boxes. In the second pic, it's difficult to even distinguish which
are the new building amongst the old ones.
My sentiments exactly while looking at the renders.

Do architects even have any creative bones in them anymore?
This is rubbish. Give a 5yo a box of Lego an they'd come up with something more interesting.

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[U/C] Re: 145-159 King William Street (GPO) | 60m~ | 15 Levels | M

#12 Post by Patrick_27 » Fri Jul 10, 2015 9:31 pm

Based on the level of complaint on this thread, am I to understand that the majority of you are professional architects? If so, where are your ground-breaking concepts?

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[U/C] Re: 145-159 King William Street (GPO) | 60m~ | 15 Levels | M

#13 Post by slenderman » Fri Jul 10, 2015 10:27 pm

Patrick_27 wrote:Based on the level of complaint on this thread, am I to understand that the majority of you are professional architects? If so, where are your ground-breaking concepts?
Where did that assumption come from? Is what you're saying that this design is acceptable because none of us are paid big bucks to be architects?

That's akin to not being allowed to dislike a movie because I couldn't produce a better one, criticise a sportsman's poor performance because I couldn't play better or send back a terrible restaurant meal because I couldn't cook that meal myself?

With all due respect, you seem to be alone in liking these buildings, so maybe you could elaborate more on what we're all missing? Just because Adelaide doesn't have excellent architectural standards, that does not mean that we should not demand these higher standards. This is a development forum where we evaluate the positives and negatives of urban planning/design, rather than just blindly accept whatever is built/implemented/proposed. We care about how our built environment looks. We take pride in the place where we work, rest and play, and want to build things that enhance the urban environment, rather than detract from it/do nothing. We are not being negative for the sake of it, but because we care and want the absolute best for our city.

A site as prominent as this, in the heart of the city and next to one of our most beautiful heritage buildings deserves a top-notch building standing next to it to complement our inner city and the GPO building. While we like the ground-level amenities, the tower design is bland, boxy and unoriginal. As some have said, throw in some curves or angles to these buildings for example, something that sets it apart from other buildings in the city. Maybe not everyone is the best at coming up with ideas, but we know good ones when we see them.

A lot of people loved that Hames Sharley design for the Balfours/Precinct buildings with the upwards twist and connection at the top because it was audacious and unique, something we don't have in Adelaide, not some dime-a-dozen Lego box you can find on any street like these two buildings are. We've seen those before. They're mediocre. Examples: Coglin Place, Urbanest. Perhaps it's time we start learning from the mistakes of some other buildings in this city, rather than repeating them?

I appreciate the fact that not every building in our city can be an architectural masterpiece and that's absolutely fine, but surely you can see the difference between this site and some random site on say Currie Street?

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[U/C] Re: 145-159 King William Street (GPO) | 60m~ | 15 Levels | M

#14 Post by Adelarch » Sat Jul 11, 2015 12:06 am

Although I appreciate the frustration of more 'boxes' and not getting a new tallest here I don't thing these designs are completely bereft of merit. Previously, a key design consideration for the block and most particularly the tower immediately behind the GPO building was that it act as a kind of aesthetic foil to the GPO tower when viewed from the square and provide a relatively neutral backdrop to it rather than visually competing with it. Personally I tend to agree with this design philosophy and I think that these designs don't do a bad job from that perspective, although they certainly aren't overly imaginative in how they achieve it. In any event I really hope that the ground level is activated with eateries and retail as they suggest and this activation can then spill out into the square.
Just my :2cents:

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[U/C] Re: 145-159 King William Street (GPO) | 60m~ | 15 Levels | M

#15 Post by ynotsfables » Sat Jul 11, 2015 12:12 am

Is it possible these renders are merely a concept at this stage as mentioned on the news article as an artists impression? may be there are other designs possibly coming?

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