State Government raises major concerns with designs of a 19-storey Dennys Lascelles tower development

Developers are set to seek a please explain from the state government over “perplexing” feedback on a design to rejuvenate a historic city woolstore.

The state government has raised a series of concerns with plans to build a 19-storey, $300m hotel and apartment project on top of the heritage Dennys Lascelles building, planning documents have revealed.

Proponents of the five-star hotel and luxury apartment building have lodged plans with the City of Greater Geelong, outlining their hopes to build the 78m-high tower on top of the 20-28 Brougham St former wool store.

Artist's impression of the Dennys Lascelles tower

But a letter from the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) sent to developers outlined “concerns” raised by the Office of the Victorian Government Architect’s review of the proposal.

The key concerns include the use of the heritage Dennys Lascelles brick building for three-levels of above ground carparking, the design of the “peanut-shaped” tower and the height of the tower – which is almost triple the current preferred height for the CBD site.

“The existing building seems to be treated as a constraint on site rather than being celebrated for its contribution to Geelong’s history of valuable reinvention of woolstores, both in terms of mass/scale and the land use (as a carpark),” the letter noted.

Artist's impression of the Dennys Lascelles tower

“You are strongly suggested to reconsider the use of the brick building, from a carpark to active land uses such as retail, community spaces and offices.”

“We consider the current/amended concept of a three-tiered composition, comprising a brick base (existing building), orthogonal midsection with minimal setbacks, and a peanut-shaped tower is non-cohesive. The peanut-shaped tower is a generic response with minimal relevance to this site or Geelong context and should be deleted

“ … We continue to have concerns with a number of design elements of the amended proposal, particularly the further increase in the height of the building from the already approved building envelope, given the preferred height for the site is 28 metres both under the existing controls and the Central Geelong Framework Plan.”

Artist's impression of the Dennys Lascelles tower

The letter “strongly advised” developers to meet with the Department to thrash out solutions to the concerns.

Developer Tim Gurner said a “detailed response” had been sent to DELWP on March 11 including reports from specialists responding to the concerns.

“This updated package of documents is currently with the department for review,” Mr Gurner said.

“We have requested a meeting to go through the response to go through the full package and will continue to work with them to respond to items as they are raised throughout the assessment process.”

“Prior to us acquiring the site, an existing permit was already in place for a commercial tower of similar height, which included approval for the heritage building to be used for carparking.

“We are not seeking amendments to the heritage building outside of what is currently approved, therefore DELWP’s feedback is perplexing given the Minister has previously approved this use for the building.”

Plans lodged for the site include the use of the ground floor for a hotel lobby, residents’ entry, cafe and retail hospitality venue, four levels of carparking including the basement, 231 hotel suites and 16 apartments.

The 77.8m-high tower is planned to include 19-storeys, with the proposal including the restoration of the building’s heritage facade.

The woolstore site currently has an existing permit for a 12-storey commercial building.

Originally published as State Government raises major concerns with designs of a 19-storey Dennys Lascelles tower development