Surfers Paradise’s 103-storey Orion Towers to be Southern Hemisphere’s tallest building

THE SOUTHERN Hemisphere’s tallest building is set to tower over Surfers Paradise at an astonishing 103 storeys. WATCH THE VIDEO.

ANDREW POTTS

3 min read

November 12, 2016 - 1:00AM

Gold Coast Bulletin

Gold Coast

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THE Southern Hemisphere’s tallest building is set to tower over Surfers Paradise at an astonishing 103 storeys.

The proposed $1.2 billion Orion Towers would reach up 328m and is planned for a Surfers Paradise Boulevard site between Enderley and Markwell avenues.

Put forward by Melbourne-based developer Orion International Group, the two-supertower mixed-use project would feature two skyscrapers, of 103 and 76-storeys respectively and contain 1127 units.

The 78-storey Q1 will fall in the shadow of the proposed Orion Towers.

The proposed development is so tall it would top out just metres below the Civil Aviation Safety Authority’s height limit mandated for buildings within the flight path.

Its top level would beat out the peak of the iconic Q1’s spire by around six metres and would be taller than the under-construction 89-level, $1.2 billion Spirit tower on the former Iluka site in central Surfers Paradise.

It would also beat out Victoria’s 100-storey Australia 108 tower which is under construction, as well as the same state’s proposed 90-storey, 323m One Queensbridge development.

Orion Group submitted its development application to the Gold Coast City Council yesterday (NOVEMBER 11)) morning.

If built, Orion Towers will become the Southern Hemisphere’s tallest building.

Development manager Chris Alston said it was hoped the project, if realised, would be become a major centre of the Gold Coast, as the city continues its development boom.

He said it would inject more than $540 million into the Coast’s economy, create around 1300 jobs during construction and a further 450 direct, and indirect jobs, once completed.

“Orion Towers will be an iconic, distinctive and memorable building, providing a new destination for Surfers Paradise that will influence the skyline and lead the way in a new era of Gold Coast urbanism,” he said.

“The vision is for it to become a new ‘meeting place’, with the centrepiece a modern interpretation of a town square clock-tower with an interactive ring displaying information such as weather, light rail timetable and events.

Orion Towers proposed interactive clock looking over Surfers Paradise Boulevard.

“We want the project to become a vibrant, active streetscape along Surfers Paradise Boulevard that will complement the light rail corridor and provide dining and retail facilities for the benefit of occupants and visitors alike.”

The proposed site, bordering the light rail, is occupied by a 1960s-era two-level motel and a handful of ageing low-rise buildings.

According to documents filed with the council, Orion’s features will include:

• A 680sq m full-floor penthouse on level 100 with ground floor concierge and private lift,

• A “signature” restaurant on level 101

• A 165-room, five-star hotel.

• A dedicated bike ramp into the carpark, with space for 600 bikes.

• A five-level, mixed-use podium including ground floor retail designed around a sculptural ‘urban canyon’.

• A “lush” garden deck and recreation area with five pools, including an indoor pool, an eastern pool to catch morning sun and a western pool for afternoon bathing.

• Twin indoor and outdoor residents’ lounges on level 49 of both towers.

• A private club on level 74 of the smaller tower for owners of the penthouse and sub-penthouses.

• Australia’s highest observation restaurant on level 101 of the tallest tower, offering 360-degree views.

Orion Towers is proposed to feature a five-storey mixed-use podium.

It was designed by Brisbane-based architecture firm Woods Bagot which won a national design competition for the commission.

A hotel operator is yet to be appointed, but Mr Alston said an international expression of interest campaign for the hotel’s management would begin shortly.

“The views on offer from both towers will be iconic in themselves, from the Hinterland to the Broadwater, out across the Pacific Ocean and stretching down to Coolangatta,” he said.

The Q1 has held the title of the nation’s tallest tower since it was completed in 2005. Picture: Regi Varghese

The Developer

ORION International Group is a Melbourne-based developer understood to be backed by Asian investors and the Orion Towers marks its first Queensland project.

It is one of nine projects the company is working on, including mixed-use medium-rise buildings in Melbourne.

In recent years it has bought up some of the Victorian capital’s most desired CBD parcels of land.