Walker Corporation says its second office tower in Adelaide’s Festival Plaza will soar to heights of luxury
Work has started on the second tower that will rise above Festival Plaza and become one of Australia’s most spectacular commercial buildings. See the flythough video
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Latest designs are being revealed for Adelaide’s largest commercial building as early works are well under way for Walker Corporation’s second iconic tower in the $2bn Festival Plaza precinct redevelopment.
Walker managing director David Gallant said the festival plaza’s new 38-storey tower two will rival the best commercial buildings in Australia with room for 5000 office staff and another 100 retail jobs in its lower floor restaurants, cafes and bars.
Plans including a rooftop bar and restaurant with uninterrupted views of the Adelaide Hills topping the building just behind Parliament House on North Terrace, are being welcomed by the State Government.
“This will be the largest commercial tower in Adelaide, spanning 50,000m2 over 38 levels, to become a prime employment generator for global corporate and government services,” Mr Gallant, who is also Walker Corporation’s chief executive officer, said.
Built, the construction partners for Walker Corporation’s tower one, has been appointed to begin work on tower two as the plan goes through final consent with the housing and urban development department during March, with plans to have tenants move in by 2027.
Mr Gallant said innovative approaches including 3D technology and prefabrication of key construction elements would be “revolutionising the construction process” and the second tower would exceed latest Commonwealth Government sustainability benchmarks.
It would be the first commercial building in the city designed to six star NABERS Energy and a five star green star rating, he claimed.
“Already we have seen strong interest in the leasing program as tenants look to expand their South Australian footprint into modern, flexible and technologically advanced buildings,” Mr Gallant said.
“Walker are proud to continue our investment in South Australia to help the state grow and prosper and we are passionate about delivering the premium quality which Adelaide deserves as it competes to attract the best companies and jobs to a city brimming with university talent.”
Leading blue-chip companies now call Festival Tower home including Mott MacDonald, Sparke Helmore, Allianz, Origin, NBN and Westpac.
Flinders University is an anchor tenant at Walker Corporation’s award-winning first tower where it has opened its innovative first city-based campus, and senior deputy vice-chancellor Professor Romy Lawson welcomed the second building.
She said the university’s new city campus was launched in Festival Tower during February last year and has been a “tremendous success” with almost 2000 students choosing courses on site across 2024 and 2025.
“As the anchor tenant, Flinders established its city campus to provide students from all suburbs with the opportunity to experience and benefit from our education in a vibrant and accessible central location enhancing their learning experience,” Prof Lawson said.
“Festival Plaza is a landmark location within our ever-growing city, and we look forward to seeing the details on nearby future developments.”
Premier Peter Malinauskas praised the development, saying the existing Festival Tower already makes a significant addition to the skyline as it draws people to Festival Plaza and the broader Riverbank precinct.
“Our state is growing up,” Mr Malinauskas said.
“And increasingly private capital investment is showing its confidence in South Australia by moving here.
“But there’s still more work to be done. The second tower is expected to draw a further 9,500 workers to the Riverbank, bringing with it $1.3 billion in economic activity each year.”
He also said the newly created tower two plan “delivers a greatly improved outcome than the previously approved option for the site which would have obliterated views of Parliament’s heritage facade and balcony entirely, and resulted in poorer public spaces”.
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Originally published as Walker Corporation says its second office tower in Adelaide’s Festival Plaza will soar to heights of luxury
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