Designed in collaboration with Seventh Wave, UN Studio and Jouin Manku, the ambitious, 35-story development is comprised of commercial office space, a retail and food and beverage podium and a boutique hotel. Spanning 43,000 square meters of office space, it will also be home to Macquarie Group’s Melbourne headquarters, McKinsey and DLA Piper.

It’s been nearly two decades since Melbourne integrated a new office tower at the top end of Collins Street. Principal and Regional Design Leader – Australia Peter Miglis said the project introduces a contemporary architectural form to a historic part of Collins Street.

“The expressive nature of the façade makes a sculptural addition to the city’s skyline, characterized by the interplay of light and shade during the day, transitioning to a shimmering jewel at night,” said Miglis. “Referencing the facetted street lanterns of Collins Street, the new tower’s structural expression is evident in the cantilevered loft above the smaller retail tenancies at street level.”

The existing North Tower is also receiving a new street entry and roughly 4,700 square meters of retail space via a new podium. This linking will provide a clear path from the hotel the North and South Towers as well as three surrounding streets with a series of laneways.

The development integrates the base of the existing tower with the retail component of the new tower to create vibrancy and a lifestyle hub at ground level. Woods Bagot Principal and Design Leader Hazel Porter said that by designing continuous pedestrian connections through the complex and with existing surrounding laneways, the design creates activated nodes of interest and activity.

“The ability to connect the ground plane throughout the development meant we could unlock opportunities for the site to be more integrated with what’s around it. It’s important that pedestrian pathways are subtle and intuitive, and that people are provided with a choice of more than one – the benefits are both social and economical,” Porter said.

A new boutique hotel—with interiors also designed by Woods Bagot and to be branded Next—will breathe life into the precinct day and night, providing through-site connections and enhanced pedestrian access. By drawing retail through the laneways over several levels, the podium maximizes the retail capacity of the site, delivering a communal lifestyle space that will knit the podium into the fabric of the city.

The project is due for completion in 2020.