Empire Melbourne tops out, but is it Melbourne's Empire rose?
Another of the squadron of tall residential towers dotting the CBD's northern expanses has topped out. Empire Melbourne is a predominantly precast monolith highlighted by vertical gold fins set at different angles.
Head contractor Probuild last week took Empire Melbourne to its high point, topping out the tower with the final level completed. The rapid work of Caelli in erecting the concrete structure coupled with the Probuild Construction Systems program has allowed the 62-storey tower to reach structural completion well ahead of schedule.
Empire Melbourne now stands on the south-east corner of A'Beckett and Elizabeth Streets, directly opposite MY80, which was the first collaboration between Probuild, Malaysian-based developer Mammoth Empire, PDS Group and architecture firm Hayball.
Combined, MY80 and Empire Melbourne have added 968 apartments to the intersection.
Delivered under a design and construct contract, Probuild's accelerated delivery of Empire Melbourne has the project on course to be delivered months ahead of its intended completion.
The innovation at Empire has accelerated usual fitout timelines achieved with traditional building techniques. By implementing Probuild Construction Systems we’ve been able to make the most of every opportunity and exceed our client’s expectations.
I’m extremely proud of our people working at Empire. At Probuild we hire the industry’s best and they’ve delivered the best for our client, Mammoth Empire.
Probuild Managing Director Luke Stambolis
We’re delighted to have reached this milestone and thank our partners, particularly Probuild, for getting us to this stage 3 months ahead of schedule. Mammoth and PDS Group have partnered successfully in the past, with MY80 (across the road) finishing in 2014 and we look forward to Empire receiving its first residents later this year.
Mammoth and PDS Group wish to thank our partners for their innovation and hard work to date.
CEO of PDS Group, Andrew Fortey
348 apartments with Empire Melbourne along with all common areas are scheduled to be handed over on 31 July 2017. Thereafter settlements will take place, with the balance of apartments nominated for a September 2017 handover; well in advance of the initially nominated completion date of December 2017.
In addition to the 487 apartments in total, Empire Melbourne also includes 2 retail spaces, 8 motorbike and 173 bicycle spaces. Project amenities include a gym, yoga/multi-purpose room, pool, sauna, lounge and dining spaces.
Project specifics aside, Empire Melbourne joins a growing cast of towers along Elizabeth Street's eastern flank that present as vertical 'walls' from street level, with only token podiums and/or setbacks.
A product of previous planning laws, the flourish of tall towers in this stretch defined by their sheer vertical form has markedly changed the Elizabeth Street streetscape. Five of six substantial residential towers facing Elizabeth Street have either been or are close to completion.
In discussion with one of Melbourne's leading architects last week, comment was passed on this new stretch of towers along Elizabeth Street; "What will we make of these towers in 20 years time? What sort of legacy will they leave?"
