19 July 2013
Brookfield Place occupied by BHP Billiton and developed by Brookfield has been declared the Development of the Year by the Urban Taskforce Australia.
Our jury chaired by NSW Government Architect, Peter Poulet assessed a range of projects from around Australia and unanimously declared Brookfield Place as the outright winner of the 2013 Urban Taskforce Development of the Year, said Urban Taskforce CEO, Chris Johnson. The jury found a high standard of development and was able to make11 awards for development excellence.
Jury Chair, Peter Poulet said Brookfield Place works at multiple levels. It is an elegant addition to Perths skyline. It has restored heritage buildings at street level and created a series of bustling urban spaces. It innovates in providing flexible working spaces for high quality tenants. It achieves a 5 star Green Star rating and has 86,000 square metres fully let making the project a commercial success.
The Commercial Development Award went to the Eclipse Tower in Parramatta by Leighton Properties with Grosvenor Australia. Eclipse is a demonstration of the importance of delivering jobs to Western Sydney and to Parramatta, says Peter Poulet. Leighton have developed a top quality 19 level office building that came through the Global Financial Crisis with full financing and has now been sold at a Parramatta record value to Retail Employees Superannuation Trust. The commitment of the developer to driving design quality as well as commercial outcomes for a commercial office building has added great confidence to Parramatta as a location for more buildings like this.
The Residential Development Award went to Meriton for its 74 level residential tower, Soleil, in Brisbanes city centre. Soleil demonstrates that very tall residential towers can be well designed and be commercially successful, said Peter Poulet. Amazingly this project was approved under the Code Assessable process that the White Paper proposes for NSW.
The Innovative Development Award went to Lend Lease for the development of the worlds tallest timber apartment building, Forte at Melbournes Victoria Harbour. Lend Lease have taken a very innovative approach to the construction of a 10 storey apartment building using Cross Laminated Timber construction to be leading the world in this application, says Peter Poulet The use of timber has excellent sustainability qualities and reduced construction time considerably as the laminated timber panels are made in a factory and assembled on site. To manage commercial risk sales only occurred when the building was completed and it is now fully occupied.
Urban Taskforce CEO, Chris Johnson said, This years Development Excellence Awards demonstrates that the development industry is doing its bit to lift Australias prosperity. Across the country developers are producing buildings for people to live in, work in or shop in at a high level of quality. Importantly all these projects must be commercially successful by tailoring the project to the customers who will buy apartments or the superannuation funds who invest into commercial buildings. Developers are part of the service industry providing products that communities need at prices they can afford.
The full list of award winners is:
1. Residential Development
Winner Meriton
For Soleil, Brisbane (QLD)
2. Commercial Development
Winner Leighton Properties and Grosvenor Australia
For Eclipse Tower, Parramatta
3. Retail Development
Winner Goodman
For Masters Home Improvement, Chullora
4. Industrial Development
Winner Holdmark Property Group
For Knorr Bremse Headquarters, Granville
5. Retirement Living
Winner Kresner Group
For Advantage Care at Barden Lodge, Sutherland
6. Mixed Use Development
Winner Fabcot Pty Ltd- Woolworths Retail Property Development
For Woolworths, Highett (Vic)
7. Adaptive Re Use
Winner Ablin Pty Ltd Abacus Group and Linear Property Group
For Powerhouse Apartments Rosebery
8. Medium Density
Winner I.P.M. Pty Ltd
For The Masters Residences, Bayview
9. Sustainable Development
Winner DEXUS Property Group
For 1 Bligh St, Sydney
10. Innovative Development
Winner Lend Lease
For Forte, Victoria Harbour (Vic)
11. Development of the Year
Winner Brookfield
For Brookfield Place, Perth (WA)
The Urban Taskforce Development Excellence Award jury for 2013 was:
Peter Poulet– NSW Government Architect
Carolyn Cummins– Commercial Property Editor, Sydney Morning Herald
John Wynne– Managing Director, Urbis
John Ferrarin– Director, WT Partnership
David Tanevski– Managing Director, KWC Capital Partners
