Woodside Plaza

Woodside Plaza is a 29-storey skyscraper in Perth, Western Australia. The 137-metre (449 ft) tower serves as the headquarters for Woodside Petroleum and incorporates several energy-efficient design features. When completed in 2004, the building was the first premium-grade skyscraper completed in Perth since Central Park in 1992. It is currently the sixth tallest skyscraper in Perth.

Woodside Plaza
Woodside Plaza
General information
TypeOffice tower
Location240 St Georges Terrace,
Perth, Western Australia
Coordinates31°57′10″S 115°51′7″E
Construction started27 February 2001
Completed2004
OpeningMarch 2004
CostA$250 million
ManagementCBRE
Height
Antenna spire137 m (449 ft)
Roof127 m (417 ft)
Technical details
Floor count27 over ground (including plant)
2 basement
Floor area46,000 m2 (500,000 sq ft) (lettable)
77,000 m2 (830,000 sq ft) (total)
Design and construction
ArchitectKann Finch & Partners
DeveloperDeutsche Asset Management
Structural engineerKellogg Brown & Root
Main contractorBaulderstone Hornibrook
References
[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Planning and construction

Woodside Petroleum experienced strong growth in its business during the 1990s. However, there had been no major expansion in office space in the Perth central business district since the opening of Exchange Plaza and Central Park in 1992. As a result, by 1998 Woodside had its Perth staff spread across six sites,[7] including Central Park and the headquarters at 1 Adelaide Terrace.

Woodside Petroleum called for tenders for a tower to be constructed for the company. Perron Group put forward a proposal to leave Woodside in its existing headquarters on Adelaide Terrace and build a tower beside it to house the other staff.[7] Meanwhile, Consolidated Press Holdings and Multiplex proposed to build a tower on CPH's Westralia Square site.[7] Jones Lang Wootton proposed a new tower on the Bishop's See site.[7]

However, it was announced in April 1999 that the winning tenderer was Hai Sun Hup Group subsidiary Knoxville Group.[8] This proposal was to develop Hai Sun Hup's site at the corner of St Georges Terrace and Milligan Street into an office tower and hotel project.[7] This 9,000-square-metre (97,000 sq ft) site stretches all the way from St Georges Terrace to Hay Street, and had been bought by Alistair McAlpine for $100 million, before later being sold to Hai Sun Hup[8] in 1996 for just $20 million.[9][10] The mostly vacant site[11] was occupied by small buildings fronting Hay Street and vacant land fronting all three streets.[8] The corner of Milligan Street and St Georges Terrace also featured the eight-storey AWA Computer House.[11] The development also necessitated the demolition of the building on Hay Street which housed the Matsuri Japanese Restaurant, which moved to new premises in QV.1.[12]

Approval of the office tower was delayed due to a dispute with the Department of Transport about the number of car parking bays which could be included in the development,[13] and it was rumoured that the building may not proceed due to difficulties in Hai Sun Hup securing financing.[14] However, the construction was made viable by the booming resources industry in Western Australia.[15]

Planning approval was received from the City of Perth in December 2000,[13] with plot ratio concessions awarded to the development in return for allowing pedestrian thoroughfare and providing a public square at the base of the tower similar to that at the base of the Central Park tower.[13][16] The $250 million[17] development contract was signed on 30 January 2001.[4] Under this deal, Deutsche Asset Management paid Hai Sun Hup $23 million for the building site and development contract, and Woodside agreed to lease 32,500 square metres (350,000 sq ft) of the tower for 15 years, with two five-year options to extend.[4] Hai Sun Hup retained ownership of the Hay Street side of the site.[10]

Site works began on 31 January 2001,[4] with a groundbreaking ceremony held on 27 February 2001.[1] Construction on the tower by builder Baulderstone Hornibrook[1] began in March 2001.[18]

Although the building would add 46,000 square metres (500,000 sq ft) of office space to the central business district[19] and raise the premium-grade office floor space in the central business district by 24 per cent, Woodside was to occupy so much of it that only 13,500 square metres (145,000 sq ft) would be available to other tenants.[20] By October 2003, building manager CB Richard Ellis[5] had leased all but three floors of the building, after securing law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth and the joint venture alliance between Transfield, Worley Limited and Woodside.[21] This was reduced to less than two floors unleased in April 2004 when accounting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu signed on as tenant, vacating its office in Central Park.[22]

The building was effectively completed in early 2004,[23] and was officially opened in March 2004.[24] It became Perth's third largest building by total floor area,[25] and was the city's first new high-rise office building in eight years[26] and the first premium-grade tower since the completion of Central Park in 1992.[4] It was thought that the move of Woodside to the western end of the central business district would draw other resources companies to the area.[20]

The plans originally included the construction of a hotel adjacent to the new office tower on the Hay Street side of the site. The 13-storey hotel was to be a 220-room 5-star Stamford Hotel.[19][27] The hotel, which was expected to cost $50 million, was put on hold by Stamford Land Corporation (the new name for Hai Sun Hup) in 2001[28] and construction would only proceed if the local hotel market became strong enough.[29] A 13-level, 13,000-square-metre (140,000 sq ft) A-grade office tower was proposed for the site by Stamford Land Corporation in 2008.[10]

Design

The tower was designed by architects Kann Finch Group.[30] It features 251 basement car parking bays, a bar on the ground floor, shops, a 120-seat auditorium on the mezzanine level[1] and a fully equipped gym.[31]

The structure is of concrete frame, with a conventionally reinforced jump-formed core containing all of the lifts, stairs and service risers.[6] The office floors are formed from post-tensioned band beams supporting conventional reinforced slabs.[6] The perimeter of the building has columns spaced 8.2 metres (27 ft) apart and supporting post-tensioned edge beams.[6] The support columns were formed from 80 MPa (12,000 psi) concrete to minimise the column size at ground level.[6]

Woodside Plaza has two basement levels, two plant floor levels, 23 office floor levels, a mezzanine and the ground floor, giving a total of 29 floors.[3] The building has a total floor area of 77,000 m2 (830,000 sq ft), of which 46,000 m2 (500,000 sq ft) is lettable.[3] The building is divided into three elevator zones: low-rise, mid-rise and high-rise.[32] Four generators and a 60,000-litre (78 cu yd) fuel tank allow the tower to operate without any external electricity for up to four days.[33]

The tower is noted for its efforts towards efficient energy use. For instance, the building's air conditioning plant utilises variable-speed fans to consume less energy when extra cooling is unnecessary,[33] and the floors are divided into several air conditioning zones.[34] Internal lighting dims when natural ambient light is brighter,[33] and the heat load of the building is reduced through the use of "low emissivity" glass on the building's facade.[34] The building also implements water-saving measures through the installation in early 2008 of waterless urinals, saving an estimated 9,000,000 litres (12,000 cu yd) of water each year.[35]

References
  1. Gibson, Dawn (28 February 2001). "Woodside Tower Proves A Magnet". The West Australian. p. 51.
  2. "Woodside Plaza". Emporis. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
  3. "Project: Woodside Plaza". Page Kirkland Group. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
  4. Gibson, Dawn (31 January 2001). "Work Begins On Woodside's HQ". The West Australian. p. 52.
  5. Low, Catie (11 June 2003). "Woodside nod to CB Richard Ellis". The West Australian.
  6. "Perth's largest office building in a decade framed in concrete" (PDF). Concrete Concepts 4. Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
  7. Minchin, Dan (3 June 1998). "Woodside Joins Space Race". The West Australian. p. 56.
  8. Spencer, Fran (1 April 1999). "Asian Firm Wins Woodside Tower". The West Australian. p. 50.
  9. Saunders, Cathy (9 July 2008). "City hotel plan reworked: Stamford hotel still on". The West Australian. p. 65.
  10. "New Office Tower For Perth's West End". Colliers International. 1 July 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
  11. Spencer, Fran (7 April 1999). "Woodside Sets Sights On Terrace But Doubts Arise". The West Australian. p. 57.
  12. Spencer, Fran (29 September 1999). "QV1's Matsuri Finally Ready To Serve Up Sushi". The West Australian. p. 62.
  13. Gibson, Dawn (3 January 2001). "new Year A Promising Growth Time For Property". The West Australian. p. 50.
  14. Gibson, Dawn (11 October 2000). "Commit To New Space, Tenants Told". The West Australian. p. 65.
  15. Low, Catie (1 October 2003). "Worley trims city options back to three". The West Australian. WA's booming resource industry has already underpinned the construction of several major office projects in recent years, including the Woodside building at 240 St Georges Terrace and the Phillips Petroleum offices in West Perth.
  16. Banks, Amanda. "brewery site opponents sought council favours". The West Australian.
  17. Phaceas, John (5 June 2004). "Separate tables for big event". The West Australian. p. 75.
  18. Joynson, Tracey (4 July 2001). "Falling Vacancies Lift Building Hopes". The West Australian. p. 51.
  19. Egerton-Warburton, Virginia (5 July 2000). "Top 10 Sales for 1999–2000". The West Australian. p. 52.
  20. Egerton-Warburton, Virginia (21 June 2000). "Office Construction Tipped To Take Off". The West Australian. p. 61.
  21. Spencer, Fran (15 October 2003). "Corrs moves to Woodside headquarters". The West Australian.
  22. Low, Catie (28 April 2004). "Deloitte moves on to Woodside Plaza". The West Australian. p. 56.
  23. Dunlevy, Maurice; Florence Chong; Paddy Manning (12 February 2004). "Hope back on hold as rebound falls flat". The Australian. p. 42. Mr Lenzo said the latest office figures were a snapshot of vacancy as at 1 January 2004. But the Woodside Building at 240 St Georges Terrace was not effectively completed at that date and was excluded from the PCA figures.
  24. Prior, Neal (28 February 2004). "Carr in vintage victory". The West Australian. The Woodside building on St Georges Terrace will be officially opened and christened next week.
  25. Low, Catie (20 August 2003). "A-grade owners offer cheap deals". The West Australian. "With the completion of the new Woodside Building at 240 St Georges Terrace, the third largest building in the CBD, it is inevitable that there will be a short-term increase in vacancy rates," Mr Denny said.
  26. Gibson, Dawn (13 September 2000). "Retail Has Perth Vote In Survey". The West Australian. p. 54.
  27. Egerton-Warburton, Virginia (5 July 2000). "Clough Sells Markalinga For $21.3m". The West Australian. p. 51.
  28. Gibson, Dawn (31 October 2001). "Investors pull plug on hotels". The West Australian.
  29. Low, Catie (19 February 2003). "Hotel activity tip on tourist growth". The West Australian.
  30. "Woodside Plaza". Sandover Pinder. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
  31. Chandler, Ainslie (1 February 2006). "Deloitte wins fit-out award". The West Australian. p. 50.
  32. Cook, Tracey (16 October 2003). "Woodside Plaza snares top law firm". WA Business News.
  33. Cook, Tracey (26 February 2004). "Perth grid-locked on power". WA Business News.
  34. Carey, Adam (September 2004). "New Perth landmark raises the bar" (PDF). EcoLibrium. Australian Institute of Refrigeration Air Conditioning and Heating. pp. 18–19. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
  35. Bolton, Hayley (23 March 2008). "Urinals a big splash in water savings". Sunday Times. p. 82.
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