Inside Koichi Takada's designs for one of Brisbane's tallest apartment towers

The Brisbane CBD is set for one of its largest ever residential towers.

Legendary Japanese architect Koichi Takada is set to put his stamp on the CBD with the recent plans for 25 Mary Street, a 71-level residential tower.

At 264 metres, the new tower will be up there with the 270m Brisbane Sky Tower and the 264m The One Residences by Shayher Group.

The plans by developers James and John Kaias's development company KS Property are for 527 one, two, three and four bedroom apartments, set above eight basement levels and five podium levels which will home 469 car parking spaces and 508 bicycle spaces.

Takada says in the Urban Design Report submitted to the Brisbane City Council that the building is intended to become a landmark unique built form with several curved elevated urban parks.

"The tower will contribute positively to the rapidly evolving Brisbane city skyline as an examplar of subtropical tower design."

The Site

The new project will sits on a 2,736 sqm block across 25 Mary Street and 98 and 98A Margaret Street, two streets away from the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens and a street away from Queens Wharf Brisbane.

It directly adjoins the Unilodge campus apartment building, as well as the Metro 21 apartment building and the 23-level commercial office building Mineral House.

The Apartments

The 527 apartments will be broken down as follows:

• 187 one beds (35%)
• 154 two beds (29%)
• 168 three beds (32%)
• 18 four beds (3%)

The Recreation

There will be over 4,000 sqm of communal recreational area throughout the building.

Level six and seven will cater for the whole building, with facilities such as a pet spa, yoga rooms, float therapy, sauna, spa, gym, basketball court, climbing wall, barbecue area, semi outdoor terrace, lap pool and private dining space.

Level 23 will feature a business centre with an open air lawn space with barbecues, golf simulator, library with two lounges and two landscaped terraces, two dining rooms with kitchens, a multi purpose room.

Exclusive to the sky-rise collection of apartments, level 39 will hav a swimming pool and spa, a full wall of barbecues, another lounge and library space, a dining room and a personal training room.

The penthouse collection apartments also get their own level of amenity. Level 66 will home the sky wellness hub, with hot and cold plunge pools, a lap pool and spa, more lounge and library space and dining rooms, another private personal training room, and a meeting room.

"The design provides high quality and considered public open space for residents at multiple levels staggered vertically through the building," Koichi Takada Architects noted in their submission.

"The recreation levels incorporate a variety of sheltered and shaded seating areas and communal open spaces. These spaces have all been carefully designed with consideration of visual impact from the street, including lighting and feature artwork to the soffits. The recreation levels edges are sculptural in plan, projecting further past the typical tower facade align to create special spaces."

The Design

Koichi Takada Architects said the design of the tower draws inspiration from nature.

"The height of the proposal naturally invokes the impression of a tree trunk extending up into the sky, with the recreation levels as ‘nests’ that are inserted vertically throughout the height of the building," the report noted.

"The materiality of the building seeks to emphasise this connection by making use of warm timber tones to the slab soffits. The rippling organic forms of the recreation level ‘nests’ serve the dual purpose of providing visual breaks to the massing and bulk of the proposal while also clearly defining and giving an identity to each of these spaces. Feature artwork to the soffits of the recreation levels provide further visual interest that can be seen both from street level and from afar.

"The feature roof canopy not only provides shade but also acts as an architectural crown to create an interesting visual form in the skyline that can also be lit up at night. The sculptural forms of the recreational floors create a rhythmic interplay and provide large, sheltered gardens in the sky."

The Balconies

Takada says the proposal introduces a unique offering to Brisbane - truly breathable balconies at high level, comparing the breathable balconies to those found in Greenland's Greenland Centre on Sydney's Bathurst Street.

"The ‘breathable’ balconies provide the ability for occupants to control and regulate conditions in their balconies to suit their own preferences and comfort levels. The balconies incorporate a ventilation opening at high level that remains open at all times, with protection from rain etc. provided by the overhang of the slab/eaves above. A second ventilation pathway is provided by a louvered opening at low level which is able to be closed off in adverse conditions."

Major view lines from the apartments open across the city in every direction. Windows and balconies are designed to frame the views and capture desirable sunlight and breezes whilst providing protection to internal living spaces.

The Podium and Ground Level

The podium design references the horizontality of the tower above at a more fine-grained scale, incorporating organic forms and lush green planting, Takada says.

"Cascading plants spill over the feature awning, softening hard built form edges and providing an enhanced pedestrian experience. The timber ‘waterfall’ is populated by living greenery, carefully selected to ensure some species are always flowering at all times of the year. The retail tenancy in the corner provides activation to the street edge, while the high-ceilinged lobby creates an inviting entrance space for all occupants."

They said the ground level streetscape is activated by an abundance of planting and tactile, layered materials.

"Existing street trees are to be retained where possible. Green walls are located to the left and right of the feature podium, softening the edges of the building. The new landscaped awning continues the existing rhythm of awnings along the street, following the slope of the site. The driveway crossover has been designed to be as unobtrusive as possible, with all turnaround and servicing spaces located to the rear of the site."

The lobby is a double height space with a glazed entrance, creating a generously proportioned space for residents to mingle. The open nature of the lobby also provides the opportunity for passive surveillance of the street.