Benoy Releases Proposal for "Family of Towers" in Melbourne, Australia

Courtesy of Benoy

International firm Benoy has unveiled Kavanagh Street, its competition proposal for a mixed-use tower development in Melbourne, Australia.

Set back on the banks of the Yarra River in the Southbank precinct, Benoy’s design is a five-building set or a “family of towers” on a shared nine-story mixed-use podium, all of which would host 315,000 square meters of residential, hospitality, commercial and retail space.

Courtesy of Benoy

Bringing together corporate offices, lifestyle showrooms, premium high-rise living, a hotel, serviced apartments, shopping, dining, green spaces, facilities and public transportation; the concept creates a vertical urban community.

Courtesy of Benoy

In order to achieve flexibility and meet the changing market’s demands, the proposal additionally incorporates modularity. Each of the towers retains its own identity, and features sky gardens and winter gardens to create “a necklace of green vertical spaces which connect to the ground level landscape.” 

Courtesy of Benoy

In Singapore, humanising developments is a real priority and introducing landscape into vertical design is a great way to achieve this. We have taken some of these principles and applied them to the Australian setting; working with the wind and solar paths to make these spaces viable. Our design also connects to the surrounding green areas and integrates with the character of the riverfront to create a strong and green public realm element, explained Javier de Santiago, Senior Architect at Benoy.

Courtesy of Benoy

Each of the buildings in the proposal is oriented to optimize both sun and wind paths, in order to maximize benefits from natural cooling and sunlight. Furthermore, the residential and hotel towers are positioned to channel cross-flow wind into the central garden courtyard.

The competition was not won by Benoy’s proposal, but rather, by Australian firm, Cox Architects.

News via Benoy.