Probuild tops out at 271 Spring Street

Probuild tops out at 271 Spring Street
Laurence DragomirSeptember 3, 2018

Urban.com.au was in attendance yesterday as ISPT Property's $150 million mixed-use tower at 271 Spring Street achieved a key milestone, with a topping out ceremony held on the roof to celebrate the occasion.

Probuild broke ground on the 16-storey tower in mid-2017, with the topping out of the core occurring in an impressive 14 months, and completion slated for mid-2019.

The development has been designed by John Wardle Architects in collaboration with heritage architect Bruce Trethowan to ensure the careful integration of two historical buildings as part of the 15,600 sqm A-Grade office development for Australian Unity.

According to ISPT CEO Daryl Browning, the addition of 271 Spring Street will complete ISPT’s long-term vision for the Lonsdale precinct. 

271 Spring Street adjoins ISPT's other office towers - Casselden Place and The Urban Workshop -  which are located in one of Melbourne’s most historical precincts.

An onsite four month archaeological dig prior to construction unearthed 40,000 artefacts. 

Probuild tops out at 271 Spring Street
Photos taken by Urban.com.au during the topping out ceremony at 271 Spring Street.

It’s been a fantastic construction period at 271 Spring Street to date. We’ve managed 10 weeks of archaeology works, built between two Citipower HV easements – we’ve also built over two live underground rail tunnels that form part of Melbourne’s city loop.

There’s not many buildings in Melbourne on top of an underground rail system. This location meant we needed to deliver a highly complex light-weight steel structure, consisting of raked feature elements and significant transfer structures to achieve the architectural vision for the project. It’s a very robust structure but light enough to not disturb the city loop below.

Probuild will now be focusing on completing an intricate façade that features 7m x 3.7m fins, and the internal fitout works for anchor tenant Australian Unity.

- Luke Stambolis, Probuild’s Victorian Managing Director

The topping out of 271 Spring Street follows hot on the heels of Probuild's handover of 456 apartments within the Avant development for World Class Global, a milestone achieved three months ahead of schedule.

Probuild's delivery team for Avant was led by a young female project manager, Lorien Dalmau, who has amassed more than a decade’s experience in construction under her belt.  

Probuild’s Victorian Managing Director, Luke Stambolis expressed how proud he was of Lorien's efforts in her first stint as a project manager, and noted that she was "the only woman in Melbourne managing a 50+ storey apartment tower in the CBD right now and to top it off she’s only in her mid-30s."

Designed by Elenberg Fraser, the 167m high tower features 18,500 sqm of distinctive façade comprising custom coloured glazing and feature fins, directly procured by Probuild from premium suppliers in China.

Probuild tops out at 271 Spring Street
Probuild has also recently handed over Avant to World Class Global. Image: Probuild

Probuild's other big build in the northern reaches of the Melbourne CBD is the 270m high Aurora Melbourne Central. The 90-storey tower's floor plate and safety screening has recently been reconfigured from a 'butterfly' geometry to a 'heart' shape for its final ascent. 

Meanwhile, the core has reached the nominal height of 260m above street level, with a further three rises before it tops out in the next month.

Looking west and Probuild's two key Spencer Street builds - West Side Place and 311 Spencer Street progress - are also making rapid progress as highlighted in the supplied aerial below. Further, Probuild notes the achievement of a key milestone for Tower 1's core, while Tower 2 edges ahead.

We recently achieved a key milestone at Melbourne's West Side Place, with the successful assembly of both parts of the split core system for Tower 1. The upper portion of the core is now making its way above the boundary hoarding line, currently sitting at ground level. The floor slabs have also progressed at a rapid rate with ground level currently being being constructed. 

The jump form on Tower 2 is currently sitting at Level 6 and floor slabs are complete up to Level 1 with the first set of perimeter protection screens now installed. The structure team is now focused on design and planning for the upcoming challenges involving the multi-strand post tension transfer slabs on Level 4 and 5, and the core changeover works on Level 8.

The latest progress at West Side Place demonstrates our capabilities managing sophisticated designs and complex major projects. 

- Probuild

Probuild tops out at 271 Spring Street
Two sites, three towers, eight cranes. Image: Probuild

Laurence Dragomir

Laurence Dragomir is one of the co-founders of Urban Melbourne. Laurence has developed a wealth of knowledge and experience working in both the private and public sector specialising in architecture, urban design and planning. He also has a keen interest in the built environment, cities and Star Wars.

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