[COM] 52-66 King William Street | 65m | 15 Levels | Southern Cross Arcade

[WGG]

Awesome photos, cheers Ursus!

Very minor point but I'm in two minds as to whether the S&McD building should have been painted a slightly different shade to more closely match the rest of the podium facade. Or is it better that it stands out? I can't decide.

Is it even painted? Perhaps that's the original render...

I believe it is a painted finish.
In my opinion if it matched the new insertion it would be lost amongst the sea of beige.
I think they've done very well with it!

[Ursus Maritimus]

Thanks Llessur. I couldn't tell whether the S&D part is painted. I suspect that it's unpainted sandstone though, and of course there are many shades of sandstone.

I think I tried to upload too many attachments in my last post and that's why it stuffed up.

[Ursus Maritimus]

[Ursus Maritimus]

I think the King William St frontage blends in perfectly with the heritage element and the overall look and feel of the street. It's more than just a door.

[SRW]

Thanks Llessur. I couldn't tell whether the S&D part is painted. I suspect that it's unpainted sandstone though, and of course there are many shades of sandstone.

I think I tried to upload too many attachments in my last post and that's why it stuffed up.

20230523_124721.jpg

Thanks for the photos!

Sands & McDougall is coloured Portland cement (remembering that it's a 1930s remodelling of an 1880s building), and I believe this may be part of its heritage listing so cannot be painted. I think the aesthetic trouble is that the old façade is warm toned and the new façade looks cold. I'm unsure if it's a light sandstone or limestone, but I think they should have chosen a creamier finish for a complementary contrast.

Still, a remarkable improvement on what came before:

[Ursus Maritimus]

From my observation today, the Sands and McDougall facade is not painted, but appears to be very clean sandstone. Edit: my bad - it's not sandstone as noted above and below.

[SRW]

From my observation today, the Sands and McDougall facade is not painted, but appears to be very clean sandstone.

Screenshot_20230524-121941_Video Player.jpg

It's coloured cement not sandstone. And it would likely not be permissible to paint per statement of significance from SA Heritage Council: https://d31atr86jnqrq2.cloudfront.net/h ... 003442.pdf

[Pikey]

For what it's worth I like the contrast between the facade and the new sandstone. It's similar, but allows the heritage facade to sand out.

It's a brilliant result and has given that end of KWS a welcome uplift.

[NTRabbit]

A shame that it wasn't a few extra levels so it could fit all of Services Australia in, but a fantastic looking building nevertheless.

They already did build it bigger than they needed, it just turned out they woefully underestimated how much they'd need.

[Algernon]

SA isn't the only tenant of the building, right? People making it out like the developers didn't build big enough. Maybe up to the tenant to rent what they need...?

[Ursus Maritimus]

Today we were advised that workstations have started to be installed and Services Australia will occupy Levels 2 to 10. There is still no comment on how everyone will fit, or the extent of any shortfall in space. We have until 30 June to get rid of all the old crap we don't want.

[Patrick_27]

Today we were advised that workstations have started to be installed and Services Australia will occupy Levels 2 to 10. There is still no comment on how everyone will fit, or the extent of any shortfall in space. We have until 30 June to get rid of all the old crap we don't want.

Yikes. To what extent are Telstra and NAB downsizing their operations in SA? Five floors for two businesses previously the anchor tenants of their current premises…

[Ursus Maritimus]

Surely businesses like banks and telcos have embraced working from home and automation a lot more than government.

[Algernon]

Surely businesses like banks and telcos have embraced working from home and automation a lot more than government.

CBA just capped HO at 50%. Takes balls for a company to do that but it's necessary. The balance went far in the wrong direction and it has made managing teams a nightmare where the employees have this level of entitlement. WFH has become "i have no manager"

[rev]

Surely businesses like banks and telcos have embraced working from home and automation a lot more than government.

You'd think so, especially with a cost of living crisis, flexible arrangements like WFH should be the go to, but even NAB has told senior staff they have to work from the office 5 days a week.

Hybrid WFH/Office should be the standard these days.

Bet CBA and NAB and others will still be churning out their internal climate change net zero propaganda to staff though, all the while taking steps that will increase traffic, increase the footprint of their business overall...