Building the Southern Hemisphere's Highest Residences

[Music] while skyscrapers were home to commercial office space for much of the 20th century the pressures of our ever-expanding urban populations have driven a rise in residential towers over recent decades in Melbourne a skyscraper boom has transformed the skyline and 2/3 of the city's skyscrapers now serve residential purposes the largest of these Australia 108 is set to become the tallest building in the city and will feature the highest residences in the southern hemisphere when completed [Music] originally approved as a mixed-use hotel and residential tower in 2013 Australia 108 was set to rise 388 meters and 108 storeys above Melbourne making it the country's tallest building however the project was shelved just four months after approval when it was discovered that the structure would breach the flight path of a nearby airport retaining many elements of the original design architects Fender Cats elitists reduced the height of the structure to 317 meters and redesigned its 100 stories for residential use regaining approval for the development in 2014 designed by the same architect Australia 108 shares a number of key features with the city's current tallest building the Eureka Tower both towers feature a stepped profile distinctive bands across their facades and prominent gold features that pay homage to the Victorian Gold Rush of the 19th century the cemented Melbourne as one of Australia's most important cities [Music] breaking ground in 2015 the foundations of Australia one awaits are some of the most substantial ever constructed in the city with the site located in the historically swampy area of Melbourne a South Bank engineers initially spent nine months boring piles to a depth of 46 metres the building's superstructure is supported internally by two metre thick concrete core walls and a series of mega columns which extend the height of the structure while being cleverly integrated into each apartment so as to go unnoticed by residents externally the towers form is a response to the extreme wind loads acting on the structure instead of hard corners much of the towers perimeter is rounded with large curves that help to disrupt the powerful winds blowing off the bay additionally Australia one awaits 98th floor level is dedicated to a liquid column damping system much like a tuned mass damper this system shifts the towers center of gravity by using large volumes of liquid to counteract lateral loads acting on the structure and minimize movement for occupants due to the project scale the tower was in fact a split into five distinct phases of development with completed floors handed over early rather than being left vacant in June 2018 277 of the 1105 apartments available in the tower were released for occupation with more than 50 stories still to be constructed above them to ensure resident comforts the lobby of the tower and some of its elevator systems have been completed early while construction teams continue to enter the site from alternative access points additionally a 20-story buffer space has been created between the occupied floors and those still under construction to ensure that residents are shielded from any noise or vibration this method of staged release will continue roughly every six months until the building is fully completed in 2020 [Music] perhaps the most unique feature of Australia 108 is its striking facade and distinct starburst element inspired by the Commonwealth star on the Australian flag the gold starburst covers three storeys of the tower two of which are habitable and cantilevers up to six meters beyond the building footprint containing two levels of amenities across the 70th and 71st floors the starburst contains a sky garden dining rooms and a gym as well as two infinity pools located 210 metres above street level while level 69 acts as a supporting outrigger floor to the cantilevered structure above and required extensive amounts of concrete to construct most of the starburst consists of a steel truss structure that was lifted into place after being largely preassembled on the ground in addition to these amenities residents will also have access to a podium Terrace theater and a spa within the tower while less obvious than the starburst the building's facade hides a unique visual feature of its own while appearing as distinct white bands during the day as night approaches LED lights within these bands illuminates offering a striking visual display on the skyline [Music] while Australia 108 will not officially take the title of Australia's tallest skyscraper away from q1 on the Gold Coast it will lay claim to the title of the southern hemisphere's highest residence with its record-breaking penthouse on the 100th floor the penthouse which occupies the entirety of the floor plates features four bedrooms five bathrooms a library theatre private sky courtyard and dedicated elevator access when it's sold to a Chinese businessman for 25 million Australian dollars around seventeen point four million u.s. dollars it became the most expensive apartment purchased in Australia at the time [Music] though Australia 108 is on its way to becoming the city's tallest skyscraper plans are already underway for future schemes that would dwarf this impressive structure melbourne made headlines in 2018 when architects from around the world competed in a high-profile competition to design a landmark tower on the site opposite australia 108 un studio and cox architecture were declared the winners with their green spine scheme which would rise to a height of 356 meters taking advantage of recent changes to the aviation restrictions which limited the height of australia 108 back in 2013 however with a start date not expected before 2022 and the construction landscape continually shifting australia 108 looks set to hold on to its title for some years to come if you enjoyed this video and would like to get more from the definitive video channel for construction 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Channel: The B1M

Views: 306,151

Rating: 4.9413562 out of 5

Keywords: B1M, TheB1M, Construction, architecture, engineering, skyscraper, supertall, Fred Mills, The B1M, southbank, melbourne, australia, tallest building, highest residence, highest home, a108, australia 108, fender katsalidid, eureka tower, multiplex, quay quarter tower, sydney, continents rising, billionaires row, 53W53, 111W57, 432 Park Avenue, Central Park Tower

Id: Fmw9hVPwDIU

Length: 8min 47sec (527 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 26 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/[deleted]]

Cool, I live in that.

Ask me anything if you like.

[u/anosnibor]

Ah the Penthouse purchased by a Chinese businessman.. not surprised

[u/jaimex2]

Let's hope this one doesn't crack after a few years.

[u/iduggabighole]

I was lucky enough to be invited to the Buela International symposium where they presented the 10 designs for the next tallest skyscraper. It was amazing. The Cox 'Green Spine' building was very deserving as the winner. Hoping I'll be part of the design team!

[u/Gregas_]

Love this channel, the design of this building, not so much..