Australia 108 (previously 70 Southbank Boulevard) is a residential supertall skyscraper in the Southbank precinct of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Having officially topped out in June 2020, it became the tallest building in Australia by roof height, surpassing the Eureka Tower, and the second-tallest building in Australia by full height, surpassed by Q1 Tower.
The World Class Land development project consists of a apartment building with 1,105 apartments over 100 floors. Construction of the revised Fender Katsalidis Architects–design by Brookfield Multiplex commenced in 2015 and was completed in 2020.
Prior to its current form, plans were initially for a 72–level residential building with a height of . In 2012, these plans were revised and resubmitted in favour of mixed–use residential and hotel skyscraper, reaching and comprising 108 levels. This proposal was approved by the Government of Victoria in March 2013; however, it was shelved four months later after it struggled to meet conditions imposed by state and federal government authorities including VicRoads and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
Site
The 70 Southbank Boulevard site is situated on the corner of City Road and Southbank Boulevard in the Southbank precinct of Melbourne. The land comprised two separately titled buildings, both of which had two levels. The buildings had a total net lettable area of , on a land area of .
The site was purchased by architecture firm Fender Katsalidis Architects in April 2008, for 14.2 million, after the original tenancies ran an expression of interest campaign.
Previous proposals
First proposal at 70 Southbank Boulevard (2009–2012) In 2009, plans were submitted by Fender Katsalidis Architects to the City of Melbourne for an 400 million residential building to be built on the 70 Southbank Boulevard site. In its original proposal, the building, 70 Southbank Boulevard, was planned to be in height and consist of 532 residential apartments, six levels of office space, a fresh food market and other retail amenities, spanning 72 floors. The building was designed to replicate the nearby Eureka Tower, also a Fender Katsalidis development. Nonda Katsalidis noted that his firm "wanted to re-create elements of what we had achieved at Eureka and apply it to 70 Southbank Boulevard" with the Eureka Tower.
The building development was approved by then–Victorian Planning Minister Justin Madden on 21 April 2010, a decision which received backlash from the City of Melbourne council, dubbing the development as "excessively high" and "at odds with the City of Melbourne's height guidelines for the area". In May 2010, the council lodged an appeal to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) to have the building permit overturned, asserting that the building surpassed the height limit in the area's planning scheme. VCAT rejected the appeal and noted that the planning scheme did not specify a maximum height.
Nonetheless, in July 2012, the site was put up for sale through an international public expression of interest campaign and was listed at A$25 million. This was to allow the Fender Katsalidis partners time to "go in different directions".
Second proposal with 'Australia 108' moniker (2012–2013) In November 2012, Katsalidis revealed revised plans for the building which would have seen it "super-sized" to in height, with 108 floors. The new proposal integrated the previous plans, but went on to include more residential apartments, a six-star hotel, and a two-storey star-shaped sky lobby with restaurants and bars.
The residential section of the skyscraper would have comprised 646 apartments, throughout levels 13 to 81. This included a penthouse apartment on levels 80 and 81. Meanwhile, the hotel aspect of the skyscraper would have occupied levels 83 to 102 and feature 288 rooms. A prominent component of this proposal was its star-shaped sky lobby on the 83rd and 84th floors, which would have protruded outside of the building, in similar vein to the Eureka Tower's Edge experience, only larger. The Commonwealth Star on the Flag of Australia was used as inspiration for the "starburst". Another design feature was the use of two metal-cladded beacon towers atop the skyscraper's roof. Whilst Australia 108's main roof would have terminated at level 104, the two beacons of varying heights –the taller rising to above ground– would have comprised levels 105 to 108. A cantilevered 'skybar' forming level 108, was to be hoisted between the beacons at approximately above ground.