Lang Walker seeks planning approval for final changes to $600m Festival Plaza tower
New designs for billionaire property developer Lang Walker’s$600m tower behind Parliament House have been lodged as he seeks approval for late changes.
SA News
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Property developer Lang Walker has sought planning approval for final changes to his $600m office tower behind Parliament House.
The State Commission Assessment Panel (SCAP) discussed the variations at its meeting on Thursday before reserving its decision.
The development of the prized Festival Plaza site has been an ongoing saga, with approvals for a 27-storey tower and three-level retail complex first granted in 2016.
The tower will be built on top of a five-level 1646-space underground carpark and feature a plaza around the Festival Centre and new SkyCity Adelaide casino extension.
Regarded as a key component in the development of the Riverbank Precinct, the project has attracted criticism because it will block public views of the rear of Parliament House and occupy what traditionally has been public space.
Architects for Mr Walker’s company, Walker Corporation, submitted a report to SCAP which “refines key aspects of the current approval” for the project.
In their report, Ekistics, said the new “design initiatives” will:
IMPROVE pedestrian movement around the office tower.
CREATE a “more welcoming and flexible foyer space” for the tower.
FOCUS retail spaces on its northern and eastern facades.
ENABLE a “cohesive relationship” behind the “mixed-use tower, retail pavilion, Parliament House and the public realm”.
CO-ORDINATE the building with the “multi-level basement carpark currently under construction”.
MOVE the retail complex closer to King William Rd.
Ekistics said the proposed “variation” would maintain the tower “within the current building envelope, does not increase floorspace over the current approval, creates more space at ground level for active uses and retains or improves important key sight lines”.
“These include visual connections from King William Road to the Adelaide Railway Station via Parliament Lane and a four to five storey high-framed lobby space within the mixed used tower,” it said.
There also would be a “historic view corridor on a 45 degree axis from King William Road to the primary frontage of the Festival Plaza” and “views to the Parliament House balcony from Festival Square”.
Ekistics said the “proposed variation” also created “a new public and accessible through site link connecting Station Road to King William Road”.
This involved converting land which previously had been set aside for a private “courtyard garden” for parliamentarians into a 7.1m wide public laneway separated from Parliament House by a fence.
The width of the retail precinct had been narrowed to accommodate the new accessway, to be known as Parliament Lane.
The other change involved an avenue of jacarandas, which originally was going to be planted in two rows. It will now be a single row.
The changes were largely supported by government planners apart from moving the retail complex closer to King William Rd by 3m.
In a 30-page report to SCAP, Inner Metropolitan Development Assessment acting team leader Gabrielle McMahon said Heritage SA believed this could impact the heritage setting of Parliament House.
“The position of the building is misaligned with important visual connections for Parliament House, will further obscure views to its north eastern corner and is considered to have an impact on the context and setting of the heritage place and is at odds with the heritage provisions for its contextual setting,” she wrote.
“Heritage SA do not support this new alignment, although are supportive of all other aspects of the proposal.”
Ms McMahon said while heritage matters “are one matter for consideration”, the application “needs to be balanced against the existing approval and the proposal as a whole”.
“The proposed new alignment does have a number of worthwhile benefits which includes; an expanded and active retail frontage to this important eastern elevation to King William Road; a more permeable and welcoming arrival to the precinct; a more pedestrian friendly space which better manages the transition between levels and more direct desire lines for pedestrians to enter the Plaza,” said her report.
“This change is strongly supported as it will improve pedestrian amenity, activation and connectivity throughout the site, as well as improved views to the Adelaide Railway Station and the northern setting of Parliament House from that of the original approval.”
