[COM] Festival Plaza Tower 1 | 115m | 27 Levels | Office

[Mr Smith]

Too short and too bulky IMO.

If the site behind Old Parliament House is to be rezoned, go as high as allowable and make it slim and curved. The short, bulky block in front of Parliament House looks ugly and unnecessary IMO.

[Nathan]

Walker building could fund Festival Centre revamp
LIAM MANNIX | 19 JULY 2013
http://indaily.com.au/news/2013/07/19/w ... al-centre/

Developer Lang Walker’s proposed commercial tower on the Festival Plaza may be used to fund the Adelaide Festival Centre’s long-awaited redevelopment.

The centre hopes to recoup rent from commercial developments on the plaza which could be used to fund the overhaul.

Walker has submitted a plan to develop the plaza – which The Advertiser has reported includes a large office block and new car park – which the State Government is currently considering.

A development plan amendment released by the State Government on Monday removes height limits in the area making a large development possible.

Walker’s proposal came after the Adelaide Festival Centre released its own $414 million redevelopment plans in 2011 which included a full refit of ageing theatres, a new media gallery, new theatre, playground and commercial office block. The masterplan proposed funding would be raised from government and the private sector.

While he refused to comment on the specifics of Walker’s proposal, Festival Centre head Douglas Gautier told InDaily his organisation saw a need for commercial development on the plaza to fund the centre’s artistic activities.

“Centres like this need to be developed for the greatest public good and access and usage and therefore the agency that runs them should be allowed to developed their commercial assets to the best possible advantage to make sure that there is funding for that activity – and that means car parks, and concessions for food and beverage, and restaurants,” he said.

“That’s very much in evidence for developments elsewhere, because the drip in terms of pure grant money from governments for organisations like this is diminishing across the world.

“So it’s much more a commercial responsibility on the agency like this one to really develop all its assets in the public interest, so you’ve got that commercial revenue supporting all the non-profit work that we are clearly responsible for.”

The Festival Centre was the attraction that brought people to the area and made commercial developments viable.

“Centres like this actually put the programming on, and we market it and ticket it. So the large percentage of the car parking clientele and custom is generated by the centre.”

In many public space developments around the world revenue earned from private tenants flowed to the cultural agency which acted as the landlord, Gautier said.

However, he said the South Australian Arts Minister was the landlord for the Festival Plaza.

“These are things to be worked out,” Gautier said.

“But all I can say is the commercial operating model and best use of public asset model is there for all to see. So some variant of that is certainly on our minds.”

So far the full Festival Centre redevelopment has not been funded by the State Government.

At the development plan amendment launch on Monday, the State Government compared the development of the Festival Plaza to Melbourne’s Federation Square.

Fed Square was built using government funds, but was designed so its continued operation was funded via private tenants.

Last year the square earned more than $15 million from tenancy rents, plus another $3.7 million from car parking charges.

[rev]

...
Between the train station and parliament house, is old parliament house.
As there is no mention of old parliament house, which I think is probably heritage listed(even if it wasn't it shouldn't be demolished), I believe this sits behind Parliament house in the plaza that is located between parliament and the festival center.
You can even see where it sits in the second image..which still has old parliament house still intact.

The Old Parliament House is indeed heritage listed. The tower component sits between Parliament House and the Train Station north of Old Parliament House. Yes it does extend into the existing plaza, but North of the Parliament House is actually the low rise component, as you can see from the images.

Let me repost that image a second time for you..



The artists impression of what a tower could look like in that area, quite clearly does NOT go between the parliament and train station.
It is in the vicinity behind the parliament(north). The train station is to the west(or right in this image).
If it was between the two, it would be located on the old parliament, which in that image is also clearly visible.

[Ho Really]

I think the tower component of this proposal will be a good thing for the Riverbank precinct and the City as a whole. However, The fact that the proposed Eastern annexe takes over the festival plaza area and removes the option to setup a 'Federation Square' type events space is wrong wrong wrong. This is purely a cash grab by the Government and has the potential to further alienate this space from the Riverbank precinct and City as a whole.

Although I would rather see this built elsewhere in the CBD, I do agree about the tower. If built it would complement Parliament House and the Old Railway Station. However the annexe is plain ugly. It just not only removes the option you mentioned by destroying the plaza, it would also blot out Parliament House. My worth...bah!

Cheers

[adam73837]

Someone mentioned earlier that the ground floor could become an information centre, while the top floor could become a restaurant/observation deck. That's quite a good idea. Even though this building will reduce the size of the open space adjacent to the Festival Theatre, if done right, the building could become a destination in its own right that complements the area.
Think about it, with office workers from the building, commuters from the nearby railway station, and tourists going to the central information centre on the ground floor, there'll be lots of people around the place.
Plus, the building design itself isn't half bad. That's my anyway.

[Paulns]

I agree it'd be great to have an observation deck and restaurant up the top! The views from there once the Riverbank Precinct, the Convention Centre and the Adelaide Oval's complete will be awesome and a real draw card for Adelaide!

[Will]

I don't like the low-rise annexe that blocks the view to Parliament House. They should reconsider, as it totally dominates the space.

Furthermore I'm disappointed the state government has decided not to rent space in the new tower. Considering they are using old Parliament House as office space and apparently are in great need for extra office space in the current building, the state should reconsider. Indeed, by vacating old Parliament House, the building could serve a more exciting use - i.e. the City of Adelaide Museum.

[adam73837]

+1

[rev]

Billionaire property developer Lang Walker has $800m plan to redevelop Festival Centre precinct
Michael McGuire
The Advertiser
May 12, 2014 10:17PM

BILLIONAIRE property developer Lang Walker has an $800 million plan to redevelop the Adelaide Festival Centre precinct and says it will revitalise the underused city space.

Mr Walker and the State Government announced a $46.5 million deal in February to build a new carpark and to give the Festival Centre plaza a facelift, but he has now completed a more comprehensive plan, which is expected to soon be considered by Cabinet.

The Government last year rezoned the area to allow development, including office blocks more than 20 storeys high, but Premier Jay Weatherill later ruled out such high-rise buildings.

“It’s an $800 million project that is going to be good for Adelaide, the people of Adelaide and it’s going to activate that whole area,’’ Mr Walker said.

Mr Walker, who through his company Walker Corp has donated thousands of dollars to state Labor, visited the new Adelaide Oval for the first time at the weekend and said his plan would “build on Adelaide’s national and international identity”...

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sout ... 6915181773

[Howie]

Another article about Festival Plaza with big numbers and complete absence of technical details.

[Waewick]

and subtly bagging the whole state.

[Jaymz]

and subtly bagging the whole state.

Just telling us what most people in this forum already know. The vocal minority often seem to prevail in S.A when anything exciting is proposed, while the
silent majority are thinking just hurry up and build it!

[rev]

$800 million seems like a hell of a lot.
I do wonder when, or if, we will see at least some renders of what his plan involves for the area.

Given it is the advertiser reporting it, it could really be just another massive beat up by them because they've got nothing better to do, like you know actual real journalistic work.

[pushbutton]

Going by past experience, whenever anything of this scale is announced by the Advertiser, you can generally expect no further news for a couple of years. Then they'll say they've commissioned a very overpriced study on it (at our expense of course). Then over the next decade or so there are usually between 5 and 10 further very expensive studies, each of which results in the plans being significantly scaled down in an effort to please the NIMBYs.

If after all of that the developer hasn't taken their money and their plans somewhere more progressive, we might then hear that planning approval has been given by one body and then only requires the approval of another body, and maybe if we're lucky after another couple of years there'll be a few false starts and then finally they'll actually build something pretty boring.

But I say this partly as a bit of a joke at my own expense, since some on here think I'm always negative! I actually hope that above sequence of events is something Adelaide USED TO DO in the past. I therefore actually have cautiously high hopes for this project, although as others have said we've been given no real information on what it would include so its hard to get very excited about it just yet.

Interesting though.

[obituary resider]

800 million... what a load of S**t. Good old advertiser