Mirvac Towers Docklands

Mirvac Towers Docklands
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LOCATION: Yarra River Melbourne, Australia
DATE COMPLETED: 2005
CLIENT: Mirvac Development
ARCHITECT: HPA (Mirvac Design)

The brief for these two major building podiums, built on the edge of the Yarra River in Melbourne’s Docklands, was twofold: create a visually interesting outlook for the two residential towers and reduce the impact of the 120 km an hour downdraft associated with the height of the buildings. The “fifth elevation” or bland rooftop areas above the parking garages and building podiums created an opportunity for a new landscape type. The solution was to utilize new polymer technology and glue inorganic mulches together to form a permeable mulch layer. All drainage was designed to be sub-surface and associated with the podiums main membrane and slab layer. Recycled glass aggregate was used as mulch due to cost, availability and performance. Different colored glass could be used to create bold rooftop patterns. The project design also created useable roof gardens, incorporating wind and salt air loving low vegetation that would grow well in these extreme conditions. The night view of the podiums was a key part of the design. At dusk and through the night, with low-level lighting, the ground plane quietly hovers above the busy waterfront promenade and the city freeway that encircles the two buildings.