Eureka Tower

Architecture, Interior Design, Urban Design

Residential

Southbank

Photographer: John Gollings

Defining the Melbourne skyline, the ninety-storey Eureka Tower was the tallest residential building in the world at the time of its completion in 2006.

Location

Melbourne, Australia

Client

Eureka Tower Pty Ltd

Cost

$500 million

GFA

123,000 sqm

Completion

2006

Traditional Custodians

Wurundjeri people

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

Photographer: John Gollings

The tower reached new heights in popularity with the majority of the 583 apartments purchased within six months of sales commencing.

Located across the Yarra River and occupying an entire block in the city’s arts and cultural precinct, its five-level podium features a hotel, boutique office space, additional apartments, commercial car parking, hospitality facilities and retail tenancies, while a north-south arcade and adjoining garden plaza connect pedestrians to the river and the Melbourne CBD.

Photographer: John Gollings

Photographer: Fender Katsalidis

Public art is infused into the building fabric, including a monumental Richard Stringer sculpture above the north-facing forecourt and boldly executed place-making graphics.

Its asymmetric shoulders relate to the scale of urban forms to the east and west, providing a pair of orthogonal counterpoints to the bold angularity, recesses and rakes of the building’s towering, gold crowned centrepiece.

Its slender profile suppresses adverse wind effects, releases light to the bounding street and buildings to its south, and casts a pencil shadow that moves quickly across the cityscape.

Creating engagement with the broader community was another design imperative; realised by incorporating a public observation deck on the building’s 88th floor. The ever-changing sculptural marker has become a magnet for Melburnians and tourists alike.