‘Giving the city a new street’: Forrests’ $400m Carillon City revamp approved

Permission for two digital billboards – both more than 100 square metres in size and much larger than those usually allowed – has been granted as part of an approval for Fiveight’s $400 million plan to transform Perth’s derelict Carillon City.

The multi-level arcade between the Hay and Murray Street malls provides a direct pedestrian connection from Perth Train Station and Forrest Place to the CBD.

Artists’ impressions of the new plans for Carillon City in Perth’s CBD. Credit: Fiveight

The revamp of the vast and currently mostly boarded-up site, one of the city’s largest landholdings, will involve a four-storey retail and food precinct on a podium whose central walkway will be open to daylight. It also features a 22-storey tower with a 238-room hotel and a 35-storey tower to accommodate 803 students.

The joint development assessment panel followed a City of Perth staff recommendation to approve the development on Tuesday morning, subject to conditions including that public pedestrian access be kept open 6am to midnight, 363 days a year and that the digital billboards devote 10 per cent of the screen time to community and entertainment material.

The panel had sought assurances from the developer’s representatives during the meeting that the 113.5-square-metre signs represented enough public benefit to justify their exceeding city policy, and representatives had conceded they had no detail or plan for community-related advertising as they had not yet engaged with an operator, only saying “[there] will be opportunity for non-commercial elements.”

A 17-storey tower is at the heart of the $400 million plan.Credit: Fiveight

They struggled at some points to explain to the entire panel’s satisfaction how the signage represented public good, at some point saying it would be a “beacon for people to be attracted” to and drawn through the site.

“This is one of the only places this type of sign would be appropriate,” a project representative said.

“It is not visible to vehicles or traffic … [it is] not unusual for a major tourism spot to have this type of activity.

“[It] provides a general sense of ground zero … that this is where the activity is.”

The panel asked whether this was a character the city was comfortable with.

“Is that the sort of city we want to proceed with? Or is this specific to this area and doesn’t [have implications for] anywhere else?” one expert member asked.

“Yes it’s a change, yes they’re big signs, but it’s commensurate with other cities,” a City of Perth representative said.

“There’s a lot of pressure on the city to allow more and more of these types of signs and many have been rejected.

“We have been more lenient with these types of signs in the Northbridge area … but they’re not at the same scale.”

Another City representative noted that city policy did identify areas such as Northbridge and the Murray Street Mall as more appropriate for digital signage rather than Hay Street Mall with its more heritage character.

Other elements of the project were less contentious, with the panel applauding its design as skilful and elegant.

Expert panellist John Symes said it would give the city “a new street” as a counterpoint to the long malls.

He added wryly that he hoped the required community advertising would not happen at 3am.

The city’s design review panel described the design as elegant and the pedestrian walkways as generous.

Staff considered the mix of land uses (student accommodation, retail, dining and hotel) appropriate and concluded the development could inject significant activity and life into the centre of Perth.

“The multi-level retail and dining is a positive contemporary refresh for the site and will provide greater interest for pedestrians,” they said.

“Hotel and student accommodation will also greatly improve activity within the city centre … and will [provide] active and passive surveillance across different times of the day,” they said.

The Student Accommodation Council executive director Torie Brown welcomed the approval, saying Perth historically had the lowest amount of dedicated student accommodation beds in the country with 27 tertiary students to every student bed.

“New purpose-built student accommodation developments add much-needed student housing to the city,” she said.

“Perth is a fantastic destination for international students, but availability of appropriate rental stock has previously been a handbrake on growing the education sector.

“The private sector has recognised the opportunity that Perth presents for developing high-quality, bespoke, student-only beds, with a number of exciting developments now in the pipeline.”

Further conditions include the development having at least 185 bicycle parking bays, commercial end of trip facilities and a bicycle share scheme for students.

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