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

[Pikey]

I for one am interested to see where this second tower will sit. Hopefully it's closer to the King William St side of the site, to allow some space from the bulk that is Festival Tower. I'd also like to see a tower that uses a curved facade on a smaller footprint (think Souther Cross Arcade) but taller, again to balance out the bulk of its neighbour and to compliment or bookend the curved facade on Skycity.

I think the opportunity here with the plaza is its activation space. Currently it is all about aesthetics, but if this had a balance between hospitality/restaurant spaces, but also clever integration of screens, this could become the premier outdoor event space in Adelaide. Think Adelaide Oval southern entry but more suitable for greater capacity when the moment requires it (Fringe, WOMAD, Olympic live sites, World Cups etc). Above all, the whole space needs to feel integrated, hopefully that is the end outcome.

[Nort]

From public pools to a concrete plaza to office towers. What an upgrade in public space!

[AG]

I for one am interested to see where this second tower will sit. Hopefully it's closer to the King William St side of the site, to allow some space from the bulk that is Festival Tower. I'd also like to see a tower that uses a curved facade on a smaller footprint (think Souther Cross Arcade) but taller, again to balance out the bulk of its neighbour and to compliment or bookend the curved facade on Skycity.

I think the opportunity here with the plaza is its activation space. Currently it is all about aesthetics, but if this had a balance between hospitality/restaurant spaces, but also clever integration of screens, this could become the premier outdoor event space in Adelaide. Think Adelaide Oval southern entry but more suitable for greater capacity when the moment requires it (Fringe, WOMAD, Olympic live sites, World Cups etc). Above all, the whole space needs to feel integrated, hopefully that is the end outcome.

It's interesting to see how much opposition there already is to a plan we know almost no details around (which in itself I can understand the criticism around due to the lack of transparency in the planning process though).

The immediate assumption is that because a tower is being constructed instead of a retail building, it's going to totally block out Parliament House from the north. We haven't seen the design yet, for all we know a large chunk of the ground level plane has been cut out to create a really high but small foyer at the ground level to open up the plaza and then having the tower cantilevered from the core/columns to support the upper floors. It's been done before in other cities to protect existing heritage buildings (examples include 405 Bourke Street in Melbourne, or the Citicorp Building in New York), but we have yet to see a tower in Adelaide do this.

[Pikey]

I agree AG, I guess as soon as we see a plan for the site we can start to really analyse it.

Personally, something along the design lines similar to the new under construction Capital Square office tower (originally hotel) in Perth with a taller podium allowing line of site to Parliament house would be great. It could end up being a change to make a bold/striking addition to the northern view of the Adelaide skyline.

[SRW]

The immediate assumption is that because a tower is being constructed instead of a retail building, it's going to totally block out Parliament House from the north. We haven't seen the design yet, for all we know a large chunk of the ground level plane has been cut out to create a really high but small foyer at the ground level to open up the plaza and then having the tower cantilevered from the core/columns to support the upper floors. It's been done before in other cities to protect existing heritage buildings (examples include 405 Bourke Street in Melbourne, or the Citicorp Building in New York), but we have yet to see a tower in Adelaide do this.

This approach may be relevant to the old State Bank redevelopment on Pirie Street, but does nothing to allay the real concerns here. It's a good bit of misdirection by the Minister. I think everyone has conceded that Parliament House will be obscured, but what remains to prevent is it and the plaza being diminished by an overbearing edifice with little public benefit.

Height, purpose and benefit are key. I could be persuaded by a 6-10 storey well-designed building that: lets Parliament stand proud from North Tce; fulfils a public function (i.e. gallery or Parliamentary Annex) and activates plaza frontage; and, forces Walker Corp to pay.

The First Nations Voice event the other weekend showed how inadequate the steps of Parliament and North Terrace are now for public ceremonies (and protests) due to traffic and tram. If we are to revisit the 'retail building', providing a state monument should be the ambition.

[Cryptic]

https://indaily.com.au/news/2023/03/31/ ... up-in-air/

Substantially smaller footprint compared to the currently planned retail building.

[rev]

I for one am interested to see where this second tower will sit. Hopefully it's closer to the King William St side of the site, to allow some space from the bulk that is Festival Tower. I'd also like to see a tower that uses a curved facade on a smaller footprint (think Souther Cross Arcade) but taller, again to balance out the bulk of its neighbour and to compliment or bookend the curved facade on Skycity.

I think the opportunity here with the plaza is its activation space. Currently it is all about aesthetics, but if this had a balance between hospitality/restaurant spaces, but also clever integration of screens, this could become the premier outdoor event space in Adelaide. Think Adelaide Oval southern entry but more suitable for greater capacity when the moment requires it (Fringe, WOMAD, Olympic live sites, World Cups etc). Above all, the whole space needs to feel integrated, hopefully that is the end outcome.

I only ever remember one event of significance being held in the plaza, nearly 10 years ago something for the festivals similar to what the RCC used to be.

Couldn't a second tower not only have an elevated podium to maintain views of Parliament (not sure what the need for that is?), but also couldn't it provide an undercover area of the plaza? Does the plaza necessarily need to be entirely open air.

[SBD]

I tend to agree - I visited Fed Square on my first ever trip to Melbourne and have never felt the need to return on subsequent visits. I'd be surprised if any visitor this saw it as the premier experience of their trip. If that's what we're aiming for with Festival Plaza then that's a very low bar.

As bad as Fed Square looks, at least there is foot traffic and engagement with the area. Same with Brisbane's riverbank.

This area has never been a people-centred precicnt. The location is too disconnected from pedestrian routes. Nobody has or will utilize cutting through Festival Plaza to catch the train, or go to uni or go to the riverbank when there is North Terrace and the Railway station more streamlined to all mentioned connections. At least Fed Square is better connected with pedestrian access. I understand they are relying on Flinders uni and office workers to create the foot traffic but people will always gravitate toward the ease of access and services offered on North Terrace. A good example of this dilenma is the plaza next to Grenfell Centre. Although it's slightly improved its utilization in recent years with food outlets, it never really leads anywhere and people will always gravitate toward Grenfell streetside pedestrian paths, City Cross and James Place.

I used to use the Festival Plaza between the railway station and Adelaide Uni (pedestrian traffic lights then the path between Government House and the parade ground).

I like Brisbane's Riverbank precinct as a tourist. If Adelaide has tried to match it, it's either failed or I haven't noticed (or both).

[abc]

Imagine how good a second tower would look if we got the architecture right.

The river bank is south Australias cultural and identity boulevard, make this right and we'll be the talk of the country

that stretch between Festival Centre and Morphett St bridge is a ghost town

I think the fact its not actually a river but a shallow smelly lake means there's little to attract people to the area other than when special events are held in the park

[[Shuz]]

Could there be a possibility of Walker wanting to do a land swap and they build Festival Tower 2 to the north of the existing tower and the plaza space extended to the back of Parliament House instead.

[ml69]

Could there be a possibility of Walker wanting to do a land swap and they build Festival Tower 2 to the north of the existing tower and the plaza space extended to the back of Parliament House instead.

I doubt it as it will block the best view out of Tower 1.

[Plasmatron]

Lighting up the skyline, just after the showdown on Sat night. (1/4/2023)

[VinyTapestry849]

Lighting up the skyline, just after the showdown on Sat night. (1/4/2023)


FestivalTower-April2023-1.jpg

God I wish it was taller, looks like such a stump

[Llessur2002]

I think it looks much taller than it actually is from most angles and is already surprisingly prominent from many routes into the city. I've said before that I'll take quality over height any day and I think overall this looks pretty good from that perspective.

[HiTouch]

Like the Perth developments showed above. Curved edges would have been a major win. Why are the attractive designs always smaller than the larger developments