Moonee Ponds in the market for some high-rise activity

Subsequent to an earlier article which highlighted the first phase of the massive and long overdue redevelopment of the former Readings site in Moonee Ponds, further plans are now available which detail the second and more substantial portion, of what will constitute stage one of the overall development.

While 34-36 Margaret Street is well advanced with preliminary marketing material circulating throughout the industry, the wraps can be taken off 40 Hall Street which envisages two apartment towers with the tallest reaching 22 levels.

Stage one of the development has the capacity to deliver 626 apartments on the site which sits between multiple transport nodes.

34-36 Margaret Street and 40 Hall Street

• Site area: 7,979.6sqm (60% of the Readings site)
• 6, 13, 16 and 22 level residential buildings
• Heights ranging between 18.6 and 67.9 metres
• 626 apartments: 385 x 1BR, 240 x 2BR, 1 x 3BR
• 1,044sqm of retail space over six double height tenancies
• 3 basement levels holding 551 vehicles and 226 bicycles
• Extensive landscaping includes a new civic plaza, green podium treatment and rooftop gardens

The graphic above demonstrates the sections of the site that will be split over the staged development. Margaret Street and Hall Street will be activated via Stage1, with the balance of the site which fronts both Homer Street and Everage Street set for future attention.

A civic plaza is slated for the mid regions of the site, acting as a linking space to surrounding streets.

The plaza will be characterised by strong spatial containment punctuated by advanced tree planting. The paving design provides a way to transition between the language of Hal Street paving (by Council) and the language of the plaza, which will be made from sampling the diverse and textured materials that can be seen within the Moonee Ponds site.

Oculus statement, landscape report

Glass, timber, metal, concrete and brick finishes will define the building exteriors.

The overall layout depicted above is generally in line with a Plus Architecture-conceived masterplan for the entire site. While indicative heights have been given for three of the four future buildings, it remains to be seen what will materialise at the north east corner of the site, with previous concept plans indicating 30 levels of apartments living is not out of the question.

Caydon have rapidly advanced plans for the prime site after revealing they were the buyer of the 1.34­ha parcel during April of this year. Leighton Properties and project partner Qualitas had held the site until the sale, submitting plans for a Plus Architecture-designed 16 level residential tower (above right) that subsequently gained planning approval.

Caydon have of late used Fender Katsalidis to design their upcoming batch of projects, with the Margaret Street and Hall Street designs no exception.

Hall and Margaret Street planning application team

• Developer: Caydon
• Architecture: Caydon (with Fender Katsalidis)
• Planning: Urbis
• Landscaping: Oculus
• Traffic: GTA Consultants
• Wind: Vipac
• Waste: Leigh Design