Plans have been approved for a nine-story commercial tower designed by Fender Katsalidis at 95 Robertson Street, Fortitude Valley, for Empirica Developments.

Budgeted at nominally $20 million, the project includes a ground floor retail and wellness space, six levels of commercial office with 595 square metre floorplates, a podium-level childcare centre and three levels of basement car parking. The new tower will transform the site, currently occupied by a two-storey commercial building, and supersedes previously approved plans for a residential development.

The project, known as Bureau, is defined by its concrete façade which varies in lightness of form as it transitions between podium and tower, creating contrasting elements of solid and void.

Fender Katsalidis director, Nicky Drobis highlights the importance of designing considered workplace buildings for the city fringe of Brisbane.

“The building aims to enhance the diversity of Robertson street, through its uses and design outcomes, while remaining appropriate for the site. In this instance, the relatively small block will have a generous green edge setback, activated ground floor and elegant presence in the skyline,” she says.

“We designed the mixed mode and open-air terraces to promote physical and mental wellbeing, ease of connection to the outdoors and to take advantage of the sweeping city views.

“People now expect more from their office building. They want to feel comfortable, relaxed and inspired to work productively and so commercial building design today needs to have wellness and amenity elements,” Drobis adds.

The entrance is identified by its curved form and integrated dining courtyard while the tower proper provides outdoor mixed mode areas on each floor and an open rooftop terrace. Additional features include an internal landscaped courtyard and wellness centre.

Bureau is located in close proximity to the James Street precinct and Howard Smith Wharves, with views of the Brisbane CBD and unobstructed views of Teneriffe Hill and New Farm.

Intentionally separated façade forms allow for habitable green edges to reflect the tropical climate and meet the Brisbane City Council’s New World Design Guide: Buildings that Breathe.

“Brisbane’s tropical climate can be challenging for our community, hence our vision to create a building that captures both the city’s beauty and climatic uniqueness while withstanding some of its harsher conditions,” says Megan Rodgers, principal at Fender Katsalidis.

“We have created a timeless design that focuses on providing workplace flexibility for the building occupants while establishing the framework for a vertically integrated community.

“We have been fortunate to work with such a forward-thinking client in Empirica, whose vision for the development focuses on the wellbeing of the building’s occupants through the integration of wellness, food and beverage, childcare and workplace. This has allowed us to design a building that fills a gap in the current market.”

Chris Volk, director at Empirica Developments, says, “The approved design leverages off the site’s mixed-use planning intent and combines several uses in a complimentary manner. The tower predominately comprises boutique office accommodation, with indoor and outdoor communal areas that provide a pleasant and interesting environment for occupiers and visitors.”

The project has experienced strong private leasing demand during the development application with a Sydney based boutique childcare operator committing to an initial term of 20 years. Various office tenants have also committed with remaining office space being offered to the leasing market by July 2021.

The ground floor café dining is committed to a known local operator who intends to provide a room service style offering to office tenants while bringing a new coffee destination to the local community.

Fender Katsalidis is also behind the design of the soon-to-be completed Midtown Centre in Brisbane’s CBD. Midtown is a landmark project that involves the reimagination of two end- of-life office buildings to form a single commercial 26-storey tower.

Bureau is expected to commence construction in Q3 2021 with completion slated for early 2023.

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