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A proposal for a multi-tower project in Gold Coast, Australia could boast a supertall skyscraper with a triple-digit floor count. Developer Azzura Corporation recently unveiled their plans for a 108-storey tower in the Southport neighbourhood, the city's unofficial business district, with renderings showcasing the spire's impressive height. If built as planned, the Imperial Square project would handily take the crown from Q1, also located in Gold Coast, to become the tallest building in Australia.
The sprawling megaproject would be located on the corner of Ferry Road and Meron Street, remaking the intersection into a campus for education and accommodations, taking advantage of the country's two largest non-resource export sectors. Imperial Square will host its own university, a 200-key hotel, 200 student residences, and an additional 2,200 residential units. A six-floor podium will house the post-secondary institution and the requisite administrative facilities, library, cafeteria, and food outlets.
Two skyscrapers of 68 and 48 storeys in height, largely designed in deference to the 108-storey tower, will also sprout from the podium. Construction of these latter stages of the development will follow stage one, which features a 210-room hotel and a 420-room student accommodation complex. This first phase was approved in December 2016 and work is expected to begin later this year.
Designed by Kris Kowalski Architects, the complex incorporates a number of architectural traits common in the skyscrapers of Gold Coast. The facade is heavily punctuated by multicoloured glass and vertical fins, with balconies bursting out of the elevations to catch the best angles of the city. An undulating podium anchors the development to the public realm, which is enhanced by a perimeter landscaping program.
The project's mixed-use function draws some parallels to the recently proposed Orion Towers development, which has also sought to usurp Q1 as Australia's tallest building. Under the current plans, Imperial Square's tallest tower would hold five more floors than the highest building in the Orion Towers complex.
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