First look: Sekisui rejig Callista on Park, final stage at $1.2 billion West Village precinct

After nearly a decade of transforming West End’s iconic Peter's Ice Cream Factory site into a thriving community known as West Village, Sekisui House Australia is soon to unveil the final stage.

Currently building the Allere Collection, Sekisui has re-jigged its plans for the last building of the West End masterplan.

Dubbed Callista on Park, Sekisui had planned a 74-apartment tower with just three and four-bedroom apartments when Urban first revealed the plans back in late 2022.

But now they're looking to increase the density, and change the mix. 

Now proposing 96 apartments in the same building envelope, they're introducing two-bedroom apartments, of which there will be 33. Three-bedroom apartments will still dominate the makeup of the building (48). There will also be 15 four-bedroom apartments.

They said in the planning documentation submitted to Brisbane City Council this week that the shift is aimed at "accommodating a broader demographic in response to the evolving housing and economic landscape."

Rothelowman, who was in charge of the first plans, has tweaked the designs of the facade of the 15-level building.

"Whilst striving to improve upon the approved design, this minor change proposal maintains the key elements of the approved scheme in regards to car parking, childcare offering, building separation, built form articulation and variation, and building stories," Rothelowman noted in their report submitted to council.

"Apartment mix has been diversified to reflect the current housing market, catering to a wider demographic of end users".

The plans maintain the rooftop garden concept, where residents will enjoy expanded recreational and landscaped spaces, replacing the previously planned recreational amenities on the podium level. 

A childcare centre, integrated within the first level of the podium, remains part of the design.

The architectural adjustments to Callista’s design reflect a modern response to the site’s unique heritage context, the documents suggest.

Drawing on the area’s natural stone palette and utilizing contrasting materials, the new plans add dimension to the northern and southern volumes of the building, balancing the heritage-listed 1928-built Ice Cream Factory. 

The refinements to Callista mark the concluding phase of Sekisui’s redevelopment of the iconic Peter's Ice Cream Factory site, which has evolved into a celebrated precinct with over 40 awards for its design and integration of heritage elements into a modern urban village.