The 67-storey development planned for the old Stork Hotel site in Melbourne’s CBD that gained planning permission earlier this week will front a slatted façade that will act as an optical illusion, the developer has said.
The veil-like façade will hide the building from certain angles and change with the differing lights of day, the Brady Property Group’s Darren Rogers said.
“It’s unusual and it can’t quite be appreciated by looking at the rendering,” Rogers told Architecture & Design. “It will look different from different angles and the slatted veil façade will reveal itself to you as you walk up the street.”
The 471-apartment slender tower designed by Peddle Throp Architects will be built on the site of the 150-year-old Stork Hotel that has been approved for demolition.
The tall, slim tower was a reaction to the 1970s city projects where developers bought half a block and built “a monstrosity that would take three days to walk around”, Rogers said. Small blocks of land are also much easier to come by, he said.
Construction could start as early as mid 2010 on the project which, at a predicted end value of $300 million, will be the Brady Property Group’s largest so far.
