After a six-month global search, Green Spine by Dutch architecture firm UNStudio and Melbourne-based Cox Architecture has been announced as the long-awaited winning design for the $2 billion plus Southbank site to be developed by Beulah International.

Conceived as a conceptual extension of the Southbank Boulevard, the Green Spine will be home to a vertical city of green spaces with a strong focus on culture, paying homage to Melbourne’s diverse population.

Reaching 356.20m high, the residential tower will be crowned by the Future Botanic Garden, a stunning publicly accessible garden in the sky.

Competing against six other groundbreaking designs, Beulah International Executive Director Adelene Teh said Green Spine showed work by a strong, multidisciplinary collaborative team that is a bold, yet thoroughly considered approach to creating a context driven landmark as an addition to Melbourne's skyline.

“In its details, the scheme displays a strong intent for well considered public and private amenity, and at street level, the proposal displays qualities that will truly transform the public realm by eroding the hard edges that is prevalent in Southbank,” says Teh.

Providing a pedestrian connection at street level through a series of stairs and stepped terraces, the precinct is extended vertically, offering open platforms, a marketplace, meeting places and art installations in a world-class entertainment facility.

The lower levels of the towers will also make space for a vertical school, daycare, library, cinema, auditorium and an Australian-first BMW experience centre.

Opposite will sit a smaller tower, at 252.20m high, that is set to house commercial offices, a hotel, specialty restaurants and bars.

On the win, co-founder of Dutch architecture firm UNStudio Caroline Bos, said “all we can say now is a big thank you for the trust placed in us and we will do our utmost to contribute to a healthier and future-proof Southbank and wider Melbourne with our Green Spine .”

Aligning with Beulah International’s strong values of collaboration, UNStudio co-founder and Principal Architect Ben van Berkel called the Melbourne developer forward-focused outlining just how many parties were involved in the design process.

“We are truly delighted that our design has been selected as the winning proposal for this very exciting project! We worked with a fantastic team of cultural placemakers, sustainability consultants, landscape designers, artists and engineers to achieve a fully integrated design,” said van Berkel.

Melbourne property developers Beulah International purchased the prominent 6,061sqm BMW Southbank site in 2017, with a vision to create a state-of-the-art, integrated mixed-use environment that would include retail, hotel, residential, commercial, cultural and public spaces.

In order to achieve this vision, an international architectural competition was launched with six of the world’s most innovative firms - BIG, Coop Himmelb(l)au , MAD Architects, MVRDV, OMA and the winning team UNStudio - partnering with local firms to propose groundbreaking designs.

Designs for Australia's highest hotel at Beulah's Southbank Melbourne BMW site

The competition was part of a six-month long process with the shortlisted designs judged by seven highly regarded jury members including Victorian government architect and key figures from Australia’s architectural community.

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