Big Names Vie for Melbourne Southbank Development

John Hill

26. April 2018

Low-rise building in center of photo is site for Beulah International's $2 billion development (Photo: Google Street View)

Melbourne developer Beulah International has announced the six teams competing to design a $2 billion mixed-use development in Southbank on a site currently occupied by a BMW car dealership.

The shortlisted teams:

BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group with Fender Katsalidis Architects
Coop Himmelb(l)au with Architectus
MAD Architects with Elenberg Fraser
MVRDV with Woods Bagot
OMA - Office for Metropolitan Architecture with Conrad Gargett
UNStudio with Cox Architecture

Chances are good that the winner will be realizing their first project in Australia. Only one lead architect among the six teams has completed a building in the country: OMA, which built the temporary MPavilion last year and is also, as ArchitectureAU points out, realizing a new building for the Western Australian Museum, set for a 2020 completion.

ArchitectureAU also tells us (our emphasis): "The shortlisted practices will present to a yet-to-be-named seven-member jury on 17 May. The jury will select a winner in July. The developer has appointed Ross Clark, former chief operating officer of the Australian Institute of Architects, as competition advisor."