Mirvac have celebrated the start of construction at its latest Premium-Grade office building in Melbourne, Olderfleet at 477 Collins Street, with a sod turning event on site.
Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Robert Doyle; Deloitte Chairman and Victorian Managing Partner, Tom Imbesi; Deloitte CEO, Cindy Hook; Mirvac CEO and Managing Director, Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz; and development partners attended the event marking the significant milestone for Mirvac’s Melbourne portfolio.
Olderfleet will be one of Mirvac’s largest commercial developments in Australia once complete and is on track to be delivered in 2020, with demolition and concrete piling already well underway. The 40-storey office tower is designed by Grimshaw Architects, rising from the unique 1880s facades of the heritage buildings along Collins Street.
Deloitte will be the anchor tenant for the building, taking 22,000 sq m of office space for 12 years starting in June 2020. There is 30,000 sq m of lettable premium office space across 18 floors remaining, with strong interest from a number of prospective tenants.
Grimshaw’s design incorporates a vertical village concept where the tower has been split into three separate modules to express key internal workings of the building and make strong connections with the heritage context.
Deloitte has committed to the middle village within the tower, leaving the top and lower villages available. The top village, or sky rise, will have stunning views of the Melbourne CBD, with a rooftop terrace perfect for entertaining.
CEO and Managing Director at Mirvac, Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz said, “This spectacular and ambitious development will become an exemplar of modern day office space and working environments.
“The sensitivity of the Olderfleet development incorporating the heritage façade with a modern tower was a challenge and one that has produced a great connection between the two buildings. This will become one of Mirvac’s largest commercial developments in Australia, encompassing 58,000 square metres of premium office and retail space, one that will push the boundaries of workplace innovation, sustainability and heritage integration and interpretation.
“At Mirvac we take a unique approach to developing office spaces, one of co-creation with our tenants and partners, which is true for Olderfleet. Our partnership with Deloitte from the initial phases of this development has allowed a dynamic and world leading design to come to fruition.”
The building uses large floor plates for flexibility with doors to the terrace looking onto spacious outdoor spaces. This design allows for outdoor terraces on each village, a rare advantage for an office building in Melbourne. Deloitte’s terrace wraps 270 degrees around the top floor of their village, making it the perfect place for meetings and their reception area.
Deloitte Chairman and Victorian Managing Partner, Tom Imbesi said, “We are excited that construction has begun on our future Melbourne home. This premium property in the heart of the CBD reflects how our people want to work: it’s inspiring, sustainable, and connected, a building that will encourage collaboration and innovation, while enabling the wellbeing of our staff.
“Its flexible building design will enable us to have a best-in-class, technology-enabled workplace that encourages greater collaboration between both our people and clients. Mirvac has shown strong commitment to creating a market leading office space for our people, and we look forward to working together over the next few years to bring this to life.”
Partner at Grimshaw, Neil Stonell said, “Olderfleet presents an exciting opportunity to integrate a very modern commercial tower and forward thinking workplace technology with one of Collins Street’s most important pieces of heritage fabric.
“The building brings together the latest thinking from our studios around the globe, with an internal design competition held with our London, New York, Melbourne and Sydney studios, each contributing a design for the new building. A single coherent response was developed providing the ideal site-specific design, which celebrates Olderfleet’s significant historic context while supporting Mirvac’s ambition to deliver a leading-edge workplace.”
The office tower will rise from the heritage buildings, which will remain intact with an extensive refurbishment and modernisation of the interiors to create boutique office and retail space. These buildings were built between 1887 and 1889 and were designed by a number of architects resulting in varying Gothic and Romanesque Victorian architecture.
End-of-trip facilities will be located in the basement while a gym, childcare centre and 410 car parking spaces will be located on the lower levels of the new office tower.
Olderfleet is committed to a 5 Star Green Star rating, a 5 Star NABERS energy rating and is a targeting Platinum WELL certification.
This milestone is one of many for Mirvac’s office portfolio in Melbourne, including the topping out at 664 Collins Street next week and the completion of Riverside Quay ahead of schedule in December last year.
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Nick Myall
News editor
