Three years on, Eq. Tower tops out
Almost three years to the day of Urban.com.au covering Eq. Tower's planning application, ICD Property's 62-storey tower at 127-141 A'Beckett Street has held its topping out ceremony. The event held onsite yesterday coincided with the first round of residents settling on apartments within the Elenberg Fraser designed scraper.
According to ICD, the build is on track with the balance of apartments due to settle in April 2017.
Urban.com.au was on hand to witness this significant project milestone. Eq. Tower is the latest in a string of 200 metre towers that have sprouted in the northern zone of Melbourne's CBD.
Major attendees to yesterday's ceremony were key project figures Michael Mai (Managing Director at ICD Property) and Callum Fraser (Principal at Elenberg Fraser). Lord Mayor Robert Doyle spoke, with representatives from Sinclair Brook and head contractor Multiplex also on hand.
Eq. Tower follows hot on the heels of Vision Tower in joining CBD North's 200 metre club, soon to be followed by a host of other towers designed by Elenberg Fraser.
The distinctly shaped tower, which tapers from its mid-section as it transitions to the high-rise segment, responds to key setback and planning requirements. Despite the result being a varied floorplate for a significant portion of the tower, Eq. Tower has still reached structural completion in what has been described by the team as "record time."
Eq. Tower also presents a number of firsts for the project team, with the topping out ceremony marking the completion of Elenberg Fraser's first 200 metre-plus tower on the Melbourne skyline. Callum Fraser remarked that he's going to have to get used to attending topping out ceremonies, with a number on the horizon over the course of the next year.
For developer ICD Property, it marks their first foray into the realm's of high-rise development in Melbourne, following previous project success with the mid-rise You & I on Smith Street, Collingwood.
Looking ahead, ICD's next project lies north of the border in the harbour city, while they scour the Melbourne landscape for their next significant development opportunity. Meanwhile Elenberg Fraser is occupied with five towers in the city's northern reaches, plus a sixth which received approval last month on the adjoining site at 111-125 A'Beckett Street.
