A large-scale project will reimagine New Corp Australia’s four-hectare site in the Brisbane suburb of Bowen Hills. The $2-billion development has been envisioned as the “new knowledge media hub” of Queensland and dubbed as “one of Australia’s largest rail-oriented urban redevelopments”.
Designed by Archipelago in association with Fairweather Architecture, the precinct – to be called Millennium Square – will comprise a commercial tower, a number of residential towers, a retail centre, dining and entertainment facilities, and public green space. A new public plaza will connect the project with a redeveloped Bowen Hills railway station.
According to Courier Mail, the first stage of the project will see the construction of the 44,000-square-metre commercial tower. Forming part of a media hub, this tower will accommodate News Corp publications such as Courier Mail, The Australian and Sky News. Construction for this stage could potentially start by the end of 2018.
The second stage of the development will incorporate a 187-room hotel, seven apartment towers, a retail centre of up to 42,000-square-metre, along with a cinema and restaurants. Construction is expected to commence at some point in 2021 or 2022.
Archipelago says that the precinct’s “new people-oriented streets, generous public realm, and a [one-hectare] garden square [will] set up the remaking of this space into an active retail, leisure and living precinct that supports an important new knowledge employment centre”.
While only preliminary designs have been released, more detail is expected in the weeks to come.
Images: Archipelago
