‘Innovative and high quality’ tower approved for Brisbane

Brisbane’s development sector powers forward with approval given to Sunland’s Carrington development which will rise to 44 floors.

The Brisbane City Council has approved the city’s newest residential development – Carrington, which rises 44 levels from the corner of Alice and Albert street.

After the devastating floods which inundated large parts of Brisbane in January and saw numerous apartment towers lose essencial services due to flooded basements, the council has given the tower the green light subject to the condition that the six level basement carpark is water tight and has back-up pumping systems.

The systems would be installed to avoid scenes of flooded basement carparks and damaged electrical substations which were seen in many buildings throughout the inner city last month.

Developed by Sunland, the 44 floor (153m) residential tower is located on 140 Alice Street. The tower is for now being called ‘Carrington Tower’ and is to be built on the site of Devine’s former French Quarter proposal which was impacted by the global financial crisis in 2008. Recently, Sunland acquired a small slice of land which currently houses a small apartment building.

Architectual Statement – High quality renders of Carrington can be downloaded here. 

Designed by Wood / March Pty Ltd Architecture, the tower will be encased with a pewter glass wall which is said to have a subtle gold tint. The continuous skin was chosen to give a 3D perspective of the building while also changing tones and colours depending on time of the day. At the lower levels, the facade will flow down to create a canopy over the lobby and access areas.

The Botanic Garden-facing apartments of the total 233 apartments will have one key advantage over other residential towers in the city, that is that this tower will never be built out. They will always retain views of the Botanic Gardens and Southern Suburbs.

The tower which is a revolutionary design in Queensland and quite possibly Australia has a futuristic yet elegant charm about it and is easy on the eyes.

Environmental Design

Carrington Tower could potentially have an unprecedented amount of high tech, innovative sustainable design principals unlike any tower in Australia. Some of the initiatives listed in the proposal are below:

• Solar panels incorporated into the louvers/blinds to capture energy and reuse for internal electrical supplies.
• Solar collector system used for hot water systems to be placed on the rooftop
• Roof mounted micro roof turbines – Designed by Philippe Starck will be vertical access wind turbines
• Co-generation and peak demand energy reduction
• Grey Water Reuse
• Japanese style waste recycling split into (glass, cardboard, paper, organics, plastics, metals)

These initiatives would no doubt award this tower one of the most environmentally sustainable in the world.

The tower has been approved with six water tight basement levels and plans to have a grand lobby around 4 floors high. It is unknown when construction is due to start. More information will come available.