Gold Coast gets the Southern Hemisphere’s tallest tower
Surfers Paradise will soon have the Southern Hemisphere’s tallest building.
The proposed $1.2 billion Orion Towers will be a mind-boggling 103 storeys, reaching up to 328 metres.
It will be just metres below the Civil Aviation Safety Authority’s height limit mandated for buildings within the flight path. It will be taller than 100-storey Australia 108 tower now under construction in Victoria. It will also beat Victoria’s proposed 90-storey, 323m One Queensbridge development.
Melbourne-based developer Orion International Group is planning a two-supertower mixed-use project.
Sitting on the Surfers Paradise Boulevard site between Enderley and Markwell Avenues, the 165-room, five-star hotel will feature two skyscrapers, of 103 and 76-storeys respectively and contain 1127 units.
It will feature a 680 square metre full-floor penthouse on level 100 with ground floor concierge and private lift, a “signature” restaurant on level 101, a dedicated bike ramp into the carpark, with space for 600 bikes, a garden deck and recreation area with five pools, including an indoor pool, an eastern pool to catch morning sun and a western pool for afternoon bathing, twin indoor and outdoor residents’ lounges on level 49 of both towers, a private club on level 74 of the smaller tower for owners of the penthouse and sub-penthouses and Australia’s highest observation restaurant on level 101 of the tallest tower, offering 360-degree views.
Orion’s development application was lodged with the Gold Coast City Council early this week.
Development manager Chris Alston said the project would deliver more than $540 million into the Coast’s economy.
He said it would also create around 1300 jobs during construction and a further 450 direct, and indirect jobs, when it’s completed.
“Orion Towers will be an iconic, distinctive and memorable building, providing a new destination for Surfers Paradise that will influence the skyline and lead the way in a new era of Gold Coast urbanism,” Mr Alston told the Gold Coast Bulletin.
“The vision is for it to become a new ‘meeting place’, with the centrepiece a modern interpretation of a town square clock-tower with an interactive ring displaying information such as weather, light rail timetable and events.
“We want the project to become a vibrant, active streetscape along Surfers Paradise Boulevard that will complement the light rail corridor and provide dining and retail facilities for the benefit of occupants and visitors alike.
by Leon Gettler, November 17th 2016
