SWANSTON CENTRAL

Swanston Central, a 1030-apartment project on the heritage Carlton United Brewery site in Melbourne, Australia, is a distinctive addition to Melbourne’s inner-city skyline. Designed by Elenberg Fraser architects, the 70-level tower sits on the corner of Carlton’s Victoria and Bouverie streets, rising 235m into the sky above the intersection of the city’s Hoddle (CBD) and Carlton grids. Vertical fingers of descending pink glass and rising green glass, separated by a dividing silver hue, create a shimmering effect through the height of the façade.

The tower façade is connected to the mixed-use podium by a series of glazed “Hero Columns” which geometrically splay over their length ranging from 4 to 6 storeys. Recessed beyond these features sits a blanketed wall of Glass Reinforced Concrete (GRC) blade louvres, used to intelligently conceal the fully automatic car stacker providing resident parking over these levels.

Michael Crowley“With the splicing of the three different glass types of the building, whilst not a difficult concept, it was a challenge to achieve the result in a way that was both pragmatic and functional for high-rise construction. In addition, the fanned glazed hero columns and glass-bladed wind mitigation zone atop the podium which prevent down drafts striking the roof of the heritage Carlton and United Breweries building, required intelligent design solutions in order to achieve a seamless aesthetic with the tower façade.”
Michael Crowley, Associate, Melbourne

The podium includes 2,700 square metres of mezzanine retail space with a food and beverage offering fronting Bouverie Street with bluestone cladding and large span glazing to assimiliate with the refurbished Carlton United Brewery building.

Inhabit provided full façade consultancy services for Hengyi and Multiplex as well as engineering and certification services for a number of the façade contractors.

  • Scope
    FAÇADE CONSULTING + FAÇADE ENGINEERING
  • Location
    MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
  • Client
    HENGYI | MULTIPLEX
  • Developer
    HENGYI
  • Builder
    MULTIPLEX
  • Architect
    ELENBERG FRASER