A design tour de force beckons for Beulah International's BMW Southbank site
Southbank's premier development site will be subject to an elite level design competition as Beulah International pushes ahead with the rebirth of 58 Southbank Boulevard.
After paying $101 million for the prominent 6,191 square metre site which also fronts City Road, the developer has today released a design shortlist which includes a handful of acclaimed international firms. The international contingent will partner will Australian-based architecture practices for the competition.
The BMW Southbank site is expected to have an end value in excess of $2 billion, elevating it to one of the city's largest developments based upon value and invariably size.
Under Beulah International's intended process, the six invited partnerships will during the next stage of the selection process make their designs public. According to the developer, initial concepts will be presented to a jury "comprising of seven highly regarded individuals from academia, architecture and design, property and government on Thursday 17 May."
July will see the winning design announced. The shortlisted design partnerships are:
- Bjarke Ingels Group with Fender Katsalidis Architects
- Coop Himmelb(l)au with Architectus
- MAD Architects with Elenberg Fraser
- MVRDV with Woods Bagot
- Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) with Conrad Gargett
- UNStudio with Cox Architecture
With the aim of delivering a development of genuine distinction, Beulah International Executive Director Adelene Teh touched upon the calibre of entrants and their vision for the site.
These architects are known to push boundaries and have worked on progressive large scale projects across the globe that have redefined architecture.
Our vision for the site is to create a landmark that innovates and redefines the way the built environment responds to how Melburnians and visitors live, work and interact, and each of the shortlisted architects have adopted this vision in their own way.
Fender Katsalidis created a concept plan for the site during its sales campaign, seeing dual towers incorporating 800 plus apartments, 600 hotel rooms and 10,000 square metres of retail space.
Although not a binding design, the below concept render does provide readers with an indicative scale of what Beulah international intend to deliver across the site.
Lead image: FM Digital