[CAN] The Peak on Andrew | 37m | 11lvls | Residential

[stumpjumper]

Bugger. That's the site of J W Lawrence Auto Electrical, about the only place in town that can fix a magneto or re-bush a generator if your taste runs to older cars.

However, there's nothing wrong with good quality development. My concerns with this one are that under the fancy finishes it's a pre-cast box, and sometimes (not always) pre-cast buildings are built as cheaply as possible. The fact that the Andrew St site is not exactly gilt-edged suggests that this development could be one of the built to a price ones - minimum size rooms and corridors, minimum ceiling heights, cheapest fittings etc.

I hope I'm wrong, but if I'm not, it's too bad that the development approval process doesn't give a high priority to an assessment of 'building quality'; not just the level of finish, but other factors which make the difference in 20 years between the building becoming a shabby, low rent dive or retaining its ability to attract good tenants at decent rents, or owner occupiers.

Still, it looks ok, and the 'garden' system looks interesting.

[Will]

I was having a read of the information on the ACC website and here is a summary of the building's specifications:

The building will be 11 levels and contain 4 underground levels featuring 52 carparks. The underground carparks will be reached by a fully automatic car-lift which dispenses the need for ramps in what is essentially a small site.

The building will contain 32 apartments.

The height of the building is actually 37m; 35m refers to the height to the uppermost ceiling.

The building will be 18.7m long and 28.22m wide.

The height to ceiling will be 2.6m, with the height between floors 3.15m

The building will contain 3 lifts and 2 stairs

The building will have a gross floor area of 5530sqm2

The building will feature a mural on it seastern façade to break up waht otherwise would be a blank wall.

A rooftop garden will be included, as will a coffee lounge on the ground floor to increase interaction with Andrew Street. In addition, a commercial tenancy is planned to front the proposed plaza that will feature in the Precinct development.

[Omicron]

Coffee lounge? Can we make it a Spats/Elephant Walk-style overstuffed-chairs-and-hidden-niches-lit-by-cute-light-fittings coffee lounge, please?

[stumpjumper]

Phew! The auto electrical guys are next door and the shithouse electrics on my personal transport will live on with their help.

The Peak on Andrew development is pretty clever. I've just downloaded the DA. It's a residential highrise in miniature, and it looks quite good. It's a pity they couldn't at least jack up the ceiling height of the penthouse apartments a few cms in return for knocking off two floors. 2600 is fairly low.

Ah, the Elephant Walk - one of Adelaide's unsung little gems. Like Checkmates, best experienced at night when the dim lighting gives the slightly worn and daggy decor a bit of charm.

Unfortunately, the idea of a 'coffee lounge' is optimistic, and it's a concern from the point of view of being realistic that the words coffee lounge . were even put n the drawings. The space for it is about 5m x 5m, with no kitchen or toilets. If the building turns out to work best as short term rental accommodation, I think a dual purpose building office/public access business support facility (fast internet, copying, printing etc) would be a better use of the little space.

All that's left is to discuss the merits for the CBD of a built up core with lower frame districts, based on commonly applied principles of urban design, or Adelaide's newer regime allowing higher buildings over almost all of the square mile, a policy which has delivered windfall gains in land value for owners. Just joking - it's a done deal.

[AtD]

"Coffee Lounge" is just marketing speak for a waiting area in the lobby.

[Mants]

Coffee lounge? Can we make it a Spats/Elephant Walk-style overstuffed-chairs-and-hidden-niches-lit-by-cute-light-fittings coffee lounge, please?

spats = worst service you've ever had
elephant walk is probably the best thing about adelaide

[peas_and_corn]

Anyone got some good pics? I googled it, but couldn't find much...

[stumpjumper]

So 'Coffee 'Lounge' is development-speak for waiting area? Ho ho. I didn't know that. That would make 'pot plant' equal to 'landscaped area', then.

peas and corn, if you mean pics of Elephant Walk, you might be out of luck. The joint is at its best when the inside is dark and gloomy.

[Norman]

So which one of these will go? Or possibly both?

[UrbanSG]

The white building (Coulthard Welding) is proposed to be demolished for this development. The blue building (J. W. Lawrence Auto Electrical) is being retained.

[Will]

At its upcoming meeting, the ACC DAP is expected to grant planning APPROVAL to this building.

[AtD]

Yes, but scaled back how far?

[Will]

Yes, but scaled back how far?

The building has not been scaled back. the building coming before the panel has the same specifications as those which I posted on April 11.

[AtD]

Fantastic. Thanks Will.

[Prince George]

The building has not been scaled back. the building coming before the panel has the same specifications as those which I posted on April 11.

And speaking of which:

The building will be 11 levels and contain 4 underground levels featuring 52 carparks. ... The building will contain 32 apartments.

1.5 carparks per apartment, eh? That's twice the maximum amount that's allowed in San Francisco. Bring on peak-oil, I say.