Goldfields Group

The Melbourne-based developer, Goldfields, are expanding in to Brisbane.

Their first project, a joint venture with Icon Development Australia, will be in Milton, the riverside suburb in the inner western ring of the city. They&#39;ve submitted plans for a 20-level tower designed by Rothelowman at&nbsp;29-35 Manning Street, a combination of the two lots totalling 3,511 sqm.

Goldfields Chief Executive, Lachlan Thompson, told Urban that the time was right to go in to the Brisbane apartment market.

&ldquo;As a national property developer, we are constantly looking for areas that offer strong development potential and we were impressed with Milton&rsquo;s amenity and connectivity to all things lifestyle related,&quot; Thompson said.

&quot;We are of the strong opinion that Milton, as a suburb, is on the cusp of significant capital value growth due to limited supply and its proximity to the bustling Park Street retail strip.

<img alt="" height="818" src="https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/29-35_manning_st_milton_4.jpg" width="1200" /> 
The 20-level tower draped in landscaping. Image credit: Rothelowman

Rothelowman say the proposed 131-apartment building is a&nbsp;homage to the vernacular intelligence of the traditional Queensland Home.

&quot;The Queensland Home, with its wide verandahs and eaves, is a perfectly adapted architectural response to the local climate,&quot; Rothelowman advised in their plans submitted to the Brisbane City Council.

&quot;Our approach aims to capture the open friendliness of the traditional Queensland Home, a characteristic born of the warmer regions of Australia.

&quot;It is aiming to reflect and acknowledge the semi-outdoor lifestyle, a unique expression of the way people have adapted to their environment.&quot;

<img alt="" height="737" src="https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/29-35_manning_st_milton_5.jpg" width="1200" /> 
The apartments are oriented to take advantage of river and city views. Image credit: Rothelowman

Oriented to maximise the eastern aspect and minimise north-west exposure, the building responds&nbsp;directly to its immediate urban context, while also celebrating the views of Brisbane CBD and the Brisbane River.

There will be 14 one-bedroom apartments, 91 two-beds, 16 with a multipurpose room, 18 three-bedroom apartments and eight four-bedders, located across the top two levels.

The tower&rsquo;s floor plate maximises both the eastern and southern aspect, river and city views from the apartments.

The building will be crowned with Sky Terrace, a generous recreational space for&nbsp;residents featuring a swimming pool, outdoor kitchen and&nbsp;dining area.

<img alt="" height="734" src="https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/29-35_manning_st_milton_3.jpg" width="1200" /> 
The proposed rooftop Sky Terrace. Image credit: Rothelowman

Landscaping is a big feature, with FORM&nbsp;Landscape Architects installing&nbsp;vertical greenery on the podium and on the rooftop.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Thompson says the apartments will appeal to young professional in particular.

&quot;This includes the &ldquo;three day a week owner occupiers&rdquo; that split their time between the Sunshine Coast and inner-city Brisbane, but don&rsquo;t want to compromise on quality or safety, as well as strategic investors,&quot; Thompson said.

<img alt="" height="732" src="https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/29-35_manning_st_milton_roof.jpg" width="1200" />

Goldfields entered the Queensland market four years ago with a $350 million, 1,000 lot master-planned community in Ripley, in Ipswich.

Next the company will be announcing a&nbsp;mixed-use acquisition in East Elimbah that will, in time, deliver over a billion-dollar multi sector development.

&quot;We have been hungry to grow and further diversify our presence here with built-form opportunities within the inner suburbs of Brisbane,&quot; Thompson said.

As we continue to build our Queensland portfolio, we are considering a number of development opportunities from Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast and look forward to making further announcements in the near future.&rdquo;

Goldfields also have a presence in Sydney, having recently launched The Livingstone, a collection of townhouses in Sydney&#39;s affluent Pymble.

[smartcode_project_cta: project_id=108736]

Rothelowman say the new 131 apartment building is a homage to the vernacular intelligence of the traditional Queensland Home.

Joel Robinson

Melbourne developer Goldfields take first step in to Brisbane

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The new owners of 627 Chapel Street South Yarra, Goldfields, are progressing with plans for a 24-storey commercial building on the site, after previous owners' Fridcorp's plans to develop an Elenberg Fraser-designed residential tower were quashed at VCAT.

<a href="https://www.urban.com.au/news/street-to-stalk-627-chapel-street-walks-the-walk">First covered on Urban.com.au in 2016</a>, the 37-storey residential tower was proposed to rise to a height of 127.5m (including roof plant) and provide space for cafes, offices and 372 apartments.

Goldfields, who acquired the site in December 2017, have since engaged COX Architecture to design the 89m building, which would replace the existing office building of 5,600 sqm and provide the City of Stonnington with a benchmark commercial office development.

The brief that Goldfields gave to their consultant team was concise; 

<blockquote>
We wanted to respond positively and sympathetically to the reasons why Stonnington and the tribunal members at VCAT had rejected the previous proposal.

We identified the site's commercial and retail capabilities and ultimately realised we had a unique opportunity to deliver a building that could realistically be classified as the best office building outside the Melbourne CBD.

Together we then set the team a challenge to create a beautifully designed building that will encourage interaction with the streetscape at pedestrian level whilst still looking, feeling and functioning like a premium grade office building.

- Lachlan Thompson, Goldfields COO
</blockquote>

Speaking with COX Architecture, the design team made it clear that flexible commercial office accommodation above a strong active street edge was paramount in delivering a building which would not only add to the streetscape but also provide the Forrest Hill precinct with the diversity of programme expected. 

In attempting to achieve as much active frontage as possible, COX employed a different approach to where an entry lobby would typically be located. Instead of locating it along the Chapel Street frontage, the design team located the entry lobby off Daly Street, freeing up Chapel Street with more active and engaging uses for pedestrians meandering along the busy high street.

This also gives the building greater prominence as a "gateway site" linking back to South Yarra Station and improving the permeability of the surrounding street network.

This first 12m of street wall, emphasises COX, was one of the most critical aspirations for the project in how it responded to and enriched the pedestrian environment. This resulted in what the team termed a "3D ground plaza" whereby the end-of-trip facilities were elevated to level 1 alongside further retail opportunities, extending the activity from the street vertically not just horizontally to the street. 

Moving up, the design of the tower responds to Goldfield Group's brief for a pure office building that responds and challenges to the nature of workplace design, creating an office environment based on the ideas of amenity and lifestyle.

The office tower employs a side core configuration providing an ideal floor plate for tenants that allows them flexibility in how they fit-out and occupy the space(s).

To reduce the mass of the tower, the architects have provided the form with strong vertically articulated breaks across its height, complemented by vertical glazed fins which provide solar shading not too dissimilar to COX's Conservatory project in the CBD. 

This is further supported by landscaping voids which not only provide the built form with further articulation but extend the arbour screen from the ground up the building.

According to the design team, these "breaks" provide dynamic spaces which make a positive contribution of the amenity of the workplace, allowing workers to better connect with nature.

<blockquote>
The design proposal for 627 Chapel Street takes the opportunity to make the most of this unique island site in Forrest Hill.

A 3m setback pushes the building back from Chapel Street, this allows for greater public space at street level and ensures that the Capitol remains visible on approach. The podium is defined by the green landscaped arbor - a permeable screen that wraps the building and connects through to the Daly Street landscaped street.

Each elevation has been split by a vertical break, providing a series of slender volumes, breaking down the building mass. Further interest on the facade is generated through the implementation of fins for solar shading (East, North and West facades).

Terraced gardens provide natural setbacks at 50m and towards the top of the building a series of roof terraces and a green roof that provide new workplace amenity.

- COX Architecture Design Response
</blockquote>

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public//pictures/article-images/27_-_hero_chapel_and_daly.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="627 Chapel Street in-situ. Planning Image: COX Architecture"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="692" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files//styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/27_-_hero_chapel_and_daly.jpg?itok=NPPiv8Ti" title="627 Chapel Street in-situ. Planning Image: COX Architecture" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>627 Chapel Street in-situ. Planning Image: COX Architecture</figcaption></figure>Alongside end-of-trip facilities which provide above and beyond the number of bikes required under local policy, the 1,510 square metre island site benefits from its close proximity to South Yarra Station and tram corridors along Chapel Street and Toorak Road.

This is not dissimilar to other emerging commercial precincts in Cremorne, Collingwood and Richmond which benefit from strong public transport links and good walkability.
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