Apartment boom drives up construction: Australia’s tallest apartment complex coming up in Melbourne

Australia is witnessing a revival of construction led by apartment housing boom even as engineering construction has lost its heyday as mining boom is making a retreat.

Braving the slowdown, the construction sector posted consistent growth for the third straight month in October led by the fastest-growing apartment construction, which is setting a 10-year record.

According to reports, apartment building zoomed at a faster pace in the 10-year history of the Australian Industry Group and Housing Industry Association index. It has compensated for the slowdown in standalone house construction and engineering construction, reports Australian Associated Press.

Index up

The Performance of Construction Index jumped 0.2 points to 52.1 in October and stood above the benchmark 50-points, showing expansion.

“More growth in the months ahead will be encouraged by the higher levels of new orders recorded for the apartment, engineering and commercial construction sub-sectors.” Ai Group head of public policy, Peter Burn said.

He called it a sign of the long-awaited broadening of the base of economic growth. Similar views were expressed by HIA chief economist Harley Dale, who said the surge in apartments is consistent with the considerable pipeline of activity.

Dale noticed a sharp monthly decline in the house building sub-index.

“But the overall trajectory for detached houses signals healthy construction in 2015/16, albeit off the cyclical peak of last year,” he said.

Tallest building

Meanwhile, construction work started for Australia’s tallest building which is to be the tallest apartment block in the Southern Hemisphere. Recently, Brookfield Multiplex began the piling work for Melbourne’s newest sky scraper. The 319-metre tall apartment complex (1040 feet) is coming up in Southbank, reports The Fifth Estate.

Named as Australia 108 building, the apartment complex is designed by architects Fender Katsalidis. It plans to house 1105 residential units over 100 levels on completion by 2020. The $900 million skyscraper’s first 40 levels are due for completion in 2018, followed by other levels in 2020.

Currently, the title of tallest building in Australia is held by the 322-metre Q1 Tower in the Gold Coast, which made record recently by selling the most expensive apartment in Australia. A 750-square metre penthouse was sold to a Chinese businessman for $25 million in early 2015.

Melbourne is known as a city of apartments with its apartment density at four times higher than Hong Kong and New York. To reduce the number of new high-rise buildings in Melbourne, the Victorian government has enforced some curbs to check congestion in the Melbourne CBD.

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