Paphos, Cyprus
Brisbane, Australia
London, United Kingdom
Sydney, Australia
Shenzhen, China
Melbourne, Australia
New York, New York
Tokyo, Japan
Masdar City, Abu Dhabi
Beijing, China
Umbria, Italy
Woods Bagot and SHoP Architects’ city-shaping mixed-use Collins Arch in Melbourne’s CBD has been selected from over 1,000 entries for the long-list of the sought-after International High-Rise Award.
Since 2004, the International High-Rise Award has been held every two years jointly by the City of Frankfurt, Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM), and DekaBank.
The program recognises high-rise developments that innovatively combine exemplary sustainability, outer shape, and internal use of space and take full consideration of social and urban planning-related aspects to create an exemplary design.
This year, no fewer than 34 projects from 13 different countries made the long list, with Collins Arch one of three Australian projects to proceed to this stage.
Occupying a full city block within Melbourne’s Hoddle grid, Collins Arch presented a rare opportunity to rethink the formal relationship of cityscale buildings to the typical hierarchy of streets and lanes.
In response, Woods Bagot and SHoP eschewed both the expected podium/tower and the modernist plaza typology for a hybrid that successfully adapts to differing conditions and orientations.
The project’s design – two towers connected by a skybridge – deliberately addresses the challenge of not overshadowing Melbourne’s Yarra River. With the dual towers’ combined footprint affording approximately 45% of the site area to the public realm, the development does not turn its back on the public, but instead ensures for permeation, recreation, and moments of gathering.
The recognition from the International High-Rise Award is another notch on the belt for the so-called “pantscraper”, winning the top prize for commercial architecture, The Sir Osborn McCutcheon Award, and a commendation for urban design at the 2021 Australian Institute of Architects Awards.
Woods Bagot followed this up in 2022, winning The Sir Osborn McCutcheon Award for 405 Bourke Street, extending a track record for workplace design that honours its context with enhanced amenity to entice workers back.
The winner for the International High-Rise Award will be announced on November 8, 2022.
See the full long-list here
Read more about the project
Media enquiries Tili Bensley-Nettheim Content and Communications Specialist (Australia & New Zealand)
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