JOIN USBrisbane Airport gets high ‘green’ rating
Australia’s first Green Star – Communities rating has been awarded to Brisbane Airport Corporation by the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA), elevating the airport’s sustainability to new heights.
Comprising over 2,700 hectares of land, which will eventually house more than 50 commercial office, mixed-use, retail and industrial buildings, the Brisbane Airport site in the state of Queensland has achieved a 4-Star Green Star – Communities rating under the PILOT version of the rating tool. Green Star – Communities is designed to assess and certify the sustainability of large-scale master-planned development projects.
GBCA’s chief executive officer, Romilly Madew, said the 4-Star rating represents “best practice” for a master-planned development in Australia. The Green Star – Communities rating provides Brisbane Airport Corporation with independent verification and global recognition for its vision and commitment to sustainable development.
Romilly said the rating is “an enormous achievement not just for BAC, but for the people of Brisbane, who now have independent proof that the airport precinct is being planned and designed to deliver environmental, economic and social sustainability.” Brisbane Airport’s entire site has been assessed against benchmarks for livability, economic prosperity, environmental sustainability, design excellence, governance and innovation.
Brisbane Airport Corporation is the operator of Brisbane Airport, the premier gateway to Queensland and the third largest airport in Australia by passenger numbers. The airport has two major terminals servicing 26 airlines flying to 40 national and 28
international destinations. More than 21.8 million passengers travelled through the airport in 2013-14.
Geetha Balachandran
A piece of Mumbai
LondonersLuxury apartments in Mumbai’s tallest skyscraper have gone on sale in London as the developers target wealthy Mayfair residents. The tower’s lavish apartments and penthouses, with interiors designed by fashion brand Giorgio Armani and spread over 117 floors, will start at $2.2 million.
The penthouse at the top of the 442-m skyscraper, devised by architects Pei Cobb Freed & Partners (responsible for the Palazzo Lombardia in Milan, Italy), will overlook the Arabian Sea.
World One at Upper Worli, in South Mumbai, is the tallest of three towers in the World Towers scheme that also includes a gym, spa and cricket pitch, and is expected to be completed in 2016. The other two towers are World View and World Crest. Uniquely curvilinear in shape, the World Towers form a stunning sculpture in glass and steel, soaring into the Mumbai skyline.
Mumbai-based real estate developer Lodha Group, established in 1980, announced its arrival in London in 2013 with the purchase of the former Canadian High Commission building in Mayfair for $471 million.The Group has since acquired a second property in central London for $138 million.
Achal Narayanan
Iconic Tower project unveiled in Sri Lanka
A novel mixed-use tower project in Colombo, Sri Lanka, has been unveiled by Reza Kabul Architects. Named ‘96 Iconic Tower’, it is dedicated to the Sri Lankan cricketers who won the 1996 World Cup (by defeating Australia in the final at Lahore), and is composed of four cricket-bat-shaped structures with a cricket ball balanced between the handles.
The mixed-use form blends residential units with retail outlets and public space, rising to 96 storeys. Public parking and vehicular drop-off can be found on the lower ground floor, with lifts leading to the ticket counter for the Observatory on the 92nd level and the Sri Lanka Cricket Legends Museum on the 93rd floor.
There will be four levels of retail outlets totalling 8,366 sq m. Levels four and five host a cinema with seating for 1,420 viewers. A separate entryway on the ground floor leads to the residential lobby, where there are four lifts for residents and two for
domestic staff.
There are two entertainment decks within the tower’s levels 14 and 66,
including a library, indoor gaming centre, business centre, jogging track, children’s playarea, lounge and coffee shop, gym, outdoor yoga area and sky decks.
Levels 15-49, 51-64 and 67-90 are dedicated to residential units, and there are seven service floors in total. There is also a revolving restaurant on levels 94 and 95, plus an indoor cricket training academy on the top storey (level 96).
Achal Narayanan