[COM] Festival Plaza Tower 1 | 115m | 27 Levels | Office

[CDJ]

Obviously the basement engineers have considered ground water.
The water table is at around B4 level, so one storey up from the base.
The perimeter wall is relatively watertight and keyed into sandstone.
Underslab drainage at B5 relieves pressure from any water which does manage to seep under the wall.
All of this is business as usual for basements around Australia and around the world.

[ChillyPhilly]

Now this is one mean machine.

[Uncle Monty]

Plenty of action on site. Three piling machines in operation 14/2/19 (only two visible in this pic).

[ChillyPhilly]

Now, this is not Adelaide - but if we think a few levels is a big excavation...

.

[crawf]

That could fit Westpac House

[gnrc_louis]

There is an article on Adelaidenow about this site, could someone with subscriber access please post here? Sadly de-tiser no longer works

[timtam20292]

PROPOSED FESTIVAL PLAZA HOTEL REJECTED
Proposals for a hotel and another office tower on the $600 million Festival Plaza redevelopment have been rejected by the State Government during another revision of long-awaited final plans for the prime CBD site

This is all I could post.

[Mpol03]

They reject these proposals yet allow half the crap we’ve seen be built, through?
Bitch

[Goodsy]

Proposals for a hotel and second office tower at the $600 million Festival Plaza redevelopment have been rejected by the State Government during another revision of long-awaited final plans for the prime CBD site.


In drawn-out negotiations, former Liberal major projects tsar Roger Cook has quit a State Government-appointed role spearheading development in the Riverbank precinct, after Plaza designs he considered superior were also rebuffed by the Government.

Infrastructure Minister Stephan Knoll confirmed the plans were being revised, declaring the Government’s job was to “stick up for all South Australians who should be able to come and enjoy the Festival Plaza as a free public space”.

Sydney property tycoon Lang Walker’s approved plan includes a 23-storey office tower between the Adelaide Casino and Parliament House, an underground carpark and a 4000sq m premium retail and entertainment precinct — the latter within a three-level complex fronting the Plaza.


But The Advertiser has been told his company, Walker Corporation, also proposed a hotel on the Plaza’s eastern edge, fronting King William Rd and just to the north of Parliament House.

Both the hotel and a proposed second office tower were rejected because the Government believed this would have triggered a renegotiation of the deal and blown out timelines.

The Liberals are insisting on adhering to the schedule approved in mid-2016 by the previous Labor government, so the carpark’s opening late next year coincides with that of the Casino’s $330 million expansion. The Casino will lease 750 of the 1560 spaces, while the Government will lease 400 for $30 million.

Walker Corporation, which in 2012 won exclusive rights to develop the Festival Plaza, has told The Advertiser the “inferior and more expensive concept” instigated by Labor was being revised and this was expected to save taxpayers “tens of millions of dollars”.

Mr Cook, a co-founder of commercial property giant Colliers International and the major projects chief in former premier John Olsen’s Liberal government, quit last December as chairman of the Riverbank Entertainment Precinct Advisory Committee — set up by Mr Knoll just three months beforehand.

Contacted by The Advertiser to comment on the Festival Plaza project, Mr Cook said he believed there was a better design than the current proposal but decided not to remain involved when changes were not supported.

Asked for comment, a Walker Corporation spokesman said the company had been working closely and productively with the Government, adjoining landowners and stakeholders to identify “areas of improvement relating to the functionality and the amenity of Festival Plaza”.

The Advertiser has been told there also have been disputes over the amount of open space for events versus the public amenity at other times, including discussion over the number of jacaranda trees. Plans do not yet include escalators linking the upper-level Plaza with the Riverbank Footbridge.

Mr Knoll said the Government wanted the Festival Plaza to be the state’s “premier public and events space — Adelaide’s answer to Melbourne’s Federation Square”.

“We are currently refining the design to make that vision become a reality,” he said.

[SRW]

It's hard to comment without knowing the details or visuals of what's proposed, but it does sound to me like a cash grab by private interests on public land. If so, it ought to be rejected out of hand on the basis of unseemly greed not on wimpish procedural grounds.

Also, at this juncture, I'd like to repeat my suggestion that if this deal ultimately falls over, this remains the best place for a contemporary art gallery (à la Centre Pompidou) now that the ORAH site is otherwise obligated. The combination of the festival centre and contemporary gallery would be a nation-leading art Mecca.

[Patrick_27]

Also, at this juncture, I'd like to repeat my suggestion that if this deal ultimately falls over, this remains the best place for a contemporary art gallery (à la Centre Pompidou) now that the ORAH site is otherwise obligated. The combination of the festival centre and contemporary gallery would be a nation-leading art Mecca.

Disagree. If the deal falls apart, this site remainders the best place for a new concert hall with incorporated retail and food hospitality. There are plenty of better suited places for a contemporary gallery, like Hamer Hall is adjacent to the Arts Centre in Melbourne; any concert hall built in Adelaide should be adjacent to our main Arts precinct.

[rev]

Also, at this juncture, I'd like to repeat my suggestion that if this deal ultimately falls over, this remains the best place for a contemporary art gallery (à la Centre Pompidou) now that the ORAH site is otherwise obligated. The combination of the festival centre and contemporary gallery would be a nation-leading art Mecca.

Disagree. If the deal falls apart, this site remainders the best place for a new concert hall with incorporated retail and food hospitality. There are plenty of better suited places for a contemporary gallery, like Hamer Hall is adjacent to the Arts Centre in Melbourne; any concert hall built in Adelaide should be adjacent to our main Arts precinct.

Disagree with both. Build a giant pond for recreational fishing.

[SRW]

Also, at this juncture, I'd like to repeat my suggestion that if this deal ultimately falls over, this remains the best place for a contemporary art gallery (à la Centre Pompidou) now that the ORAH site is otherwise obligated. The combination of the festival centre and contemporary gallery would be a nation-leading art Mecca.

Disagree. If the deal falls apart, this site remainders the best place for a new concert hall with incorporated retail and food hospitality. There are plenty of better suited places for a contemporary gallery, like Hamer Hall is adjacent to the Arts Centre in Melbourne; any concert hall built in Adelaide should be adjacent to our main Arts precinct.

My view of the concert hall is that a third 'shell' could be added to the festival centre over the current banquet room, overlooking Elder Park and abutting King William Rd.

[Stryker]

Looks like this is going awfully slow to me..

[Mpol03]

Is this the office tower or the full development of the plaza?