Project of the Year Brisbane Skytower is an awe-inspiring

PROJECT OF THE YEAR Sky-high urban village gets Hutchies the win

Sky is the limit for the nation’s largest vertical village

BOASTING 1141 residential apartments, Brisbane Skytower is the awe-inspiring 90-storey building soaring an impressive 274.3m above the city’s streetscape. It has the highest roof in Queensland and is the largest residential building in Australasia.

Completed by Hutchinson Builders, its sheer scale has created a new urban vitality for Brisbane’s city centre, increasing CBD apartment living by 22 per cent and adding a resident population of over 3000 people in a thriving vertical village community. Skytower’s triangular design, with its curved corners, curtain wall façade and central core, is articulated in three distinct sections that sit one on top of the other to break up the building’s overall mass. Its unique architectural shape has been designed to reduce wind loading and vortex shedding, negating the need for any mass dampening devices at the top of the building to reduce sway. The internal configuration is designed with four separate residential zones, each with its own independent lifts, lobbies and recreational deck incorporating gyms, pools, BBQ areas and steam rooms. Residents in the tower’s highest levels are afforded exclusive access to the world’s highest ‘infinity edge’ pool and enjoy views to Moreton Bay, Stradbroke Island, and as far south as the Gold Coast.

Creating a striking addition to the city skyline, Skytower also sets a benchmark for innovative construction.

Hutchinson Builders completed the project over four stages. It’s one of the first residential buildings of its scale to allow occupancy whilst construction is still under way, creating a more economically viable project.

Through careful planning, experience constructing in live environments and open and transparent communication, minimal disruption to residents was ensured.

The tower’s height was a significant challenge during construction. Hutchies needed to develop a solution to construct the last remaining part of the tower to its final height of 274m – the maximum allowable height in Brisbane. Anything above is classified as restricted airspace and is heavily regulated by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC).

The Hutchies team was permitted to enter up to 12 metres into airspace during the day, which meant anything above the height of the building would have to be put up and pulled down each day, including all scaffold and the crane. Hutchies overcame this by designing a first-of-its kind hydraulic lifting system, to raise one of their flat-top cranes up in the day and down at night, during bad weather or when told to do so by CASA or BAC. Hutchies patented this system in 2019 based on its success. Brisbane Skytower has quickly become a symbol of the city’s growing international reputation as a contemporary new-world metropolis, offering residents world-class amenities in a bustling city destination.