[COM] Rundle Place | 76m | 15lvls | Retail & Office

[Ho Really]

Yes, it certainly is an improvement from this Currie Street perspective. I would have liked to see if a section of the original Harris Scarfe facade retained (either from Rundle Mall or Currie St, or both!), possibly worked into a portion of the arcade or something. It would be a referral to the sites past.

in addition, the GHD building isn't the most modern or glassy building in our skyline. but it's from the funky 60's era, and in my opinion, if renovated properly could be very retro / new york city / bohemian style warehouse apartments. let's not forget people, some of these older buildings really add a lot of integrity to our city. otherwise, it would all be City Central over the entire squre mile, not just one block... not that exciting if you ask me...

I say, let us move forward with new construction but with embracing the past character and era of Adelaide's social and economic development.

I agree, the GHD (ex-Da Costa) building has its place and should be retained in some kind of way. The internals should get a makeover and the building go green (as much as possible).

Cheers

[Ho Really]

The rendering above clearly shows the Grenfell Street facade (in between GHD on the left and the car park on the right). Hopefully the western facade facing GHD (Da Costa Arcade) and the eastern facade facing the car park are set back enough to allow them to have windows (at a certain height) or else they'll be completely in cement due to fire regulations. I like the diagonal zig-zag (looks like steel) going up the glass curtain wall. Also like the glass in the podium section facing Grenfell Street which I assume is Harris Scarfe. To give a full judgment need to see other elevations. My opinion, it ain't bad.

Cheers

[Wayno]

unfortunately just another rectangular building...more curves and abstract shapes for Adelaide please!

[skyliner]

If this is the Grenfell Street side I hope the veranda is more substantial than it looks as there will be a lot of wet bus users.

CRITICAL - it looks a little inadequate - the higher cantilever awnings are the less effective concerning cover and protection for pedestrians - very impt in retail areas to attract and hold all passers by as potential customers. (Bus stops in particular).

The building itself - much more interesting than C Central - quite an imposing presence.

ADELAIDE - TOWARDS A GREATER CITY SKYLINE.

[Hippodamus]

i forgot to mention that although i am welcoming to this proposal, i am dissapointed with the height... what is it, like 19 levels..?

this sort of reminds me of 20-22 Currie Street, and considering that it is on the same site of Grenfell / Currie St and probably a fairly equal distance from King William St - it would have been nice to see a complementary balance in height and 'free form' urban design (maybe another crazy angle or curve but in a differnet way) to complement and connect with the wider city's skyline.

Who are the developers again..? This really should be raised with them. and also, does anybody know what the maximum building height is in this area, and if this development is at the cusp..?

MAKE IT BLOODY TALLER!!!

[Jim]

While in Melbourne for some sustainable Architecture seminars there was a lot of talk about Melbourne’s revitalised CBD and how they have opened up many new and old arcades and lanes. They have also managed to retain an interesting streetscape for new developments. One of the ways they make this to happen is to use several different architectural firms to work on the ground levels to than the rest of building and also retain as many (worthy) historical elements as possible. As a result they have diversified the streetscape and increased the amount of public building access with great success. I wonder if this development could benefit from some of the same. This is a great site, I personally would have liked something taller and slender with views from windows all round above the retail. The Mall also needs some after hours life and another 20 floors of hotel /apartments and an observation deck would have given the site some 24 hour life. The Grenfell streetscape defiantly needs a veranda for wet nights for bus commuters. Some retail roof green space would be better than a roof top car park.

[Matt]

Wow... that looks great.
Anything that freshens up Rundle Mall and Grenfell Street is a plus.

Still hoping for some more high-end retail in Grenfell Street to complement Hugo Boss and Bang and Olufssen

[Cirocz]

Wow... that looks great.
Still hoping for some more high-end retail in Grenfell Street to complement Hugo Boss and Bang and Olufssen

Agreed. I think high-end retail is excellent because it carries with it a certain sense of prestige, and I think the new Hugo Boss store looks great. Hopefully if the Regent Arcade second floor goes ahead some high-end stores may open there.

IMO the building looks fantastic, with no green glass in sight . A bit taller would be nice, but 19 stories is fairly high, and certainly won't look out of place in Grenfell St.

Still don't get the rooftop carpark?

[monotonehell]

Wow... that looks great.
Still hoping for some more high-end retail in Grenfell Street to complement Hugo Boss and Bang and Olufssen

Agreed. I think high-end retail is excellent because it carries with it a certain sense of prestige, and I think the new Hugo Boss store looks great. Hopefully if the Regent Arcade second floor goes ahead some high-end stores may open there.

IMO the building looks fantastic, with no green glass in sight . A bit taller would be nice, but 19 stories is fairly high, and certainly won't look out of place in Grenfell St.

Still don't get the rooftop carpark?

Hope no longer - that second floor is about 75% complete.

[Omicron]

Here's hoping that when Harris Scarfe takes up residence in the new building that it distances itself from the 'let's throw stock in the door and stick a pricetag on it wherever it lands!' approach that currently exists.

[Omicron]

Wow... that looks great.
Still hoping for some more high-end retail in Grenfell Street to complement Hugo Boss and Bang and Olufssen

Agreed. I think high-end retail is excellent because it carries with it a certain sense of prestige, and I think the new Hugo Boss store looks great. Hopefully if the Regent Arcade second floor goes ahead some high-end stores may open there.

IMO the building looks fantastic, with no green glass in sight . A bit taller would be nice, but 19 stories is fairly high, and certainly won't look out of place in Grenfell St.

Still don't get the rooftop carpark?

Hope no longer - that second floor is about 75% complete.

I'm intrigued by this approach - the second level of Adelaide Arcade is about as well-patronised as Pripyat Town Centre, and the last time I was up there I feared molestation of some kind lurked in every nook and cranny. I must say, though, that the tiniest glimpse I managed through the ground-floor roof of wonderfully high ceilings and some kind of chandelier hanging down whetted my appetite no end.

[monotonehell]

Hope no longer - that second floor is about 75% complete.

I'm intrigued by this approach - the second level of Adelaide Arcade is about as well-patronised as Pripyat Town Centre, and the last time I was up there I feared molestation of some kind lurked in every nook and cranny. I must say, though, that the tiniest glimpse I managed through the ground-floor roof of wonderfully high ceilings and some kind of chandelier hanging down whetted my appetite no end.

They seem to be working on the escalator in but no way out principle. There's an escalator down to the mens' wear shop in the basement, and one up to the 'chandelier room' but only stairs to get back up from the basement and I only caught a glimpse of the up one, not sure if there was a down as well.

Still don't get the rooftop carpark?

Looking at the render, I guess the car park will be on top of the 4 levels of retail, leaving the tower part with just a roof top ...roof. If you look the UPark is still represented (drat!) and it would be child's play to knock a hole in its side to feed a ramp to the roof.

[Tyler_Durden]

I'm intrigued by this approach - the second level of Adelaide Arcade is about as well-patronised as Pripyat Town Centre

I agree. Out of the way retail areas rarely seem to get enough foot traffic to make them viable. Upper Adelaide Arcade is a great example. The upper levels of the Myer Centre is another. It seems to work best when those spaces are taken up by large chains or department type stores, stores that don't rely on foot traffic because they are well known and draw people to their out the way location. Examples of what I mean are A-Mart in both Regent Arcade and City Cross, Harvey Norman, to a lesser extent JB Hi-Fi. Put some tiny little boutique stores up there and I can't see it working all that effectively.

[Omicron]

I'm intrigued by this approach - the second level of Adelaide Arcade is about as well-patronised as Pripyat Town Centre

I agree. Out of the way retail areas rarely seem to get enough foot traffic to make them viable. Upper Adelaide Arcade is a great example. The upper levels of the Myer Centre is another. It seems to work best when those spaces are taken up by large chains or department type stores, stores that don't rely on foot traffic because they are well known and draw people to their out the way location. Examples of what I mean are A-Mart in both Regent Arcade and City Cross, Harvey Norman, to a lesser extent JB Hi-Fi. Put some tiny little boutique stores up there and I can't see it working all that effectively.

Given a particularly grand entrance to the second level facing Rundle Mall with a sufficiently-large double-storey void to open it all up, I think they'd have better success - more able to attract the casual shopper with a more gradual transition from one floor to another. As it stands, I just don't see how anyone is going to get up there (or want to, for that matter) without making a concerted effort to find the access points and consciously leave the main shopping thoroughfare.

We shall see, of course - there is still much promise for such a tremendous location.

[AtD]

Hope no longer - that second floor is about 75% complete.

Free pie for photos.