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<h1>
	By <a href="http://theconversation.com/profiles/kim-dovey-107660" style="font-size: 12px;">Kim Dovey</a>, University of Melbourne
</h1>
The celebrated New York <a href="http://www.thehighline.org/">Highline</a> is one of the world’s urban redesign success stories. Formerly an abandoned railway, it is now an elevated park running past, over and through the buildings of Manhattan. <a href="http://www.roberthammond.com/">Robert Hammond</a>, co-founder and Executive Director of “Friends of the Highline”, was in Melbourne for Melbourne Knowledge Week telling the story of the project.
But it’s not just the Highline. Around the world urban transport provides opportunities to revitalise cities, and Australia can learn from this too.
<h2>
	Ongoing gentrification</h2>
When I visited the Highline in 2004 the derelict remnants of this former railway snaked through the meat-packing district. Trucks unloading fresh carcasses shared the sidewalks with new restaurants, galleries, boutiques and nightclubs. The fresh meat added authenticity to the fashion, food and fraternizing.
Ultimately the meat-packing would be replaced: this post-industrial makeover is now largely complete, and the Highline can be seen as part of this gentrification process.
It is scarcely news that former rail lines become available for new uses such as parks and bikeways. The wonderful “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promenade_plant%C3%A9e">Promenade Plantée</a>” in Paris is an earlier example of something similar. The former orbital rail line that encircles the inner city suburbs of Carlton and North Fitzroy in Melbourne has long been a popular linear park and bikeway. Yet the lessons here go far beyond the upgrading of disused rail tracks.
<h2>
	How transport revitalises cities</h2>
A less celebrated part of New York is “DUMBO” (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass). An industrial zone in Brooklyn previously inhabited by artists from the 1970s, the area was steadily redeveloped with a new waterfront park and a great view of Manhattan.
This development is here because major transport infrastructure generally creates leftover spaces of low market value. Here, difficult industries and low-rent activities can flourish. Railways and difficult industries have long had an affinity because they can share the noise, vibration and dirt. Creative industries also move into spaces that are low-rent due to their proximity to railways or industry.
<h2>
	Could Australia do the same?</h2>
Rather than copy New York, a lesson for low-density Australian cities is to look for opportunities to redevelop over, around and under existing railways. We could even build new elevated rail.
We have traditionally managed the noise and vibration of railways by creating extensive easements and buffer zones. Yet new rail technologies and forms of encasement can make such leftover spaces much more livable than they once were. When noise and vibration is reduced, then the positives of being near a train station can make such spaces highly attractive.
Many existing railways travel through excavated cuttings. These could be roofed to provide both development opportunity and linear parks.
<h2>
	Creating opportunities</h2>
This is not just a matter of taking advantage of leftover spaces, but also one of creating more of them. We can do this through investing in public transport.
Our low-density suburbs are replete with level crossings. These embody the most glaring of urban dilemmas: the more we increase the frequency of trains the more we block the car and bus network. Erasing these level crossings, by burying them or elevating them, would do far more to ease traffic than any road tunnels or freeways.
Redesigning level crossings will also help Australia’s cities transfer to a more transit-based, low-carbon future. While underground rail is often the best solution, it is very expensive. Elevated rail is more affordable and less disruptive to existing services. If elevated rail is well designed it can increase rather than harm the local amenity.
There is something of an irrational fear of designing elevated rail in Australian cities. To be sure, the danger, noise and vibration need to be managed, but the sight of the train is not a problem and our proximity to it is a significant benefit.
Marginal uses around and under rail lines add spice and variety to urban life; they bring a social and functional mix to areas that are often socially homogenous and monofunctional. The recently redeveloped <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJzHXFsU8UQ&amp;noredirect=1">London Overground</a> has all kinds of activity - gyms, sporting fields, artist studios, industry, offices and housing - located both under and within ten metres of the mostly elevated line.
The obvious lesson from the Highline lies in the opportunities that emerge when trains are removed from the city. But the task for Australian cities lies in adding more of them and in resolving the level crossing issues.
The deeper lesson lies in how wonderful the relationship between trains and cities can be if the urban design is good enough. Linear parks are great but real railways are even better.
Robert Hammond <a href="http://www.thatsmelbourne.com.au/Whatson/LearnandSee/LecturesandForums/Pages/fae08541-8af5-4902-a696-7a95bd19909c.aspx" target="_blank">spoke</a> on Wednesday 30th October at the Melbourne Town Hall as part of Melbourne Knowledge Week.
Kim Dovey does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.
<img alt="The Conversation" height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/19681/count.gif" width="1">
This article was originally published at <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="http://theconversation.com/could-australia-build-a-new-york-highline-19681">original article</a>.
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theconversation

Could Australia build a New York Highline?

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<h1>
	By <a href="http://theconversation.com/profiles/steven-fleming-104420" style="font-size: 12px;">Steven Fleming</a>, University of Tasmania 
</h1>
This article was originally published at <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="http://theconversation.com/ride-to-work-youll-need-a-bike-barrier-for-that-19111">original article</a>
Between 1% and 3% of Australian commuters are out on the roads today proving cycling is often the <a href="https://theconversation.com/not-so-fast-how-car-commuting-is-taking-your-time-9682">fastest transport choice</a> in Australian cities.
Why don’t more people join them?
It is not for a lack of interest. Australians have already stocked their households with an average of 1.6 bikes. The reason most of those bikes gather dust in garages is that few of us are prepared to risk our lives riding near cars, as Australian traffic and planning authorities expect us to do.
Now even the US has decided to make it easier for cyclists. Will Australia ever catch up?
In-carriage cycling – mixing it with car traffic – is the primary reason our death rates per million kilometres cycled are three times higher than in the Netherlands. We may have helmets, but the Dutch have the protection that matters: barrier protection from cars.
<a href="http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/17/2/131.full?sid=21375136-54bf-4e1a-a192-9e448892d3cf">A study</a> led by Anne Lusk at Harvard found what common sense tells us, that injury rates are much lower on barrier protected cycle-tracks than on comparable roads without bicycle provisions.
<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23078480">Another</a> led by Kay Teschke, which interviewed injured Canadian cyclists, found barrier protected cycle tracks were one-ninth as likely to have been the site of their accident compared to a randomly selected control site on the route they were cycling.
Studies such as these highlight the greater risk of what <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12971922">Herslund et.al.</a> call “looked-but-failed-to-see errors” by drivers when cyclists have to use roads, plus the well understood danger posed by opening car doors.
Many cyclists have been killed when a carelessly-opened car door has clipped their handlebar and caused them to fall in the path of the vehicle travelling behind them. Many, many, many more have been injured.
A mountain of evidence favouring barrier protected cycle tracks over painted bike lanes has caused an about-face in policy direction in the United States. In July 2013 the US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) put an invitation out to protected cycle track experts, after 40 years of their advice being ignored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Engineers.
The journal Injury Prevention rightfully <a href="http://blogs.bmj.com/injury-prevention/2013/09/20/u-s-federal-highway-administrations-new-policy-informed-by-cycle-track-research-published-in-ip/">takes some of the credit</a> on their blog.
A sad irony in the history of bicycle transport is that keen cyclists aided and abetted motoring lobbyists, who wanted the whole road for cars.
<figure><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="350" scrolling="no" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/hleXB6oXAJ8?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="100%"></iframe>
	<figcaption>Painted bike lanes don’t get much respect from certain motorists.</figcaption></figure>Bike store owner <a href="http://www.johnforester.com/">John Forester</a> was a keen “vehicular cyclist”. He could keep pace with cars, assert his right to a lane, and gracefully somersault onto the grass if ever a driver looked but didn’t see him. He published these tips in his 1976 book <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/http://www.amazon.com/Effective-Cycling-John-Forester/dp/0262516942">Effective Cycling</a>, with some good intentions, but also a hint of male pride.
By the way he opposed the Dutch-modelled cycle tracks he feared would spread to the US, you could be forgiven for thinking his secret fear was being made to <a href="https://theconversation.com/bikes-as-transport-getting-australian-women-along-for-the-ride-2157">ride beside women and children</a>.
Authorities throughout the Anglosphere nations where Forester’s book was read most were happy to listen to a male voice of cycling. There was no way though that Forester’s ideas were going to have sway with the Dutch.
Too many Dutch mothers were already active in the <a href="http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/2011/01/stop-child-murder">Stop the Child Murder</a> rallies that began in 1973 after 450 children were killed on their bikes in one year. The Netherlands was developing feminine and juvenile bike infrastructure that did not exclude men. Australia, like the US, did the opposite.
In every nation, including Australia, bicycle transport was <a href="https://theconversation.com/wide-open-road-how-did-australia-plan-pedestrians-cyclists-and-transit-out-of-its-cities-3944">mainstream</a> until the second world war. In every nation, including the Netherlands, most of those cyclists were wooed, cajoled and bullied into driving during the 1950s and 60s.
But then the Dutch, closely followed by the Danes, gave bikes their own protected space in the road matrix. Each nation’s bike patronage soared and with it their economies benefited from increased discretionary movement and chance interaction, and their hospitals had less road trauma and morbid illness to treat.
With the rest of Europe, the UK, and now even the US moving to broad-appeal bike transport policies, we must ask why Australians still mistake paint on the road for bike infrastructure.
That could be changing. A few local governments are already defying state level policies by building protected cycle tracks, like the <a href="https://theconversation.com/biking-bourke-street-sydneys-cycleways-make-sustainable-transport-possible-6032">Burke Street cycle track</a> in Sydney.
Transport economists serving the former Labor commonwealth government issued <a href="http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/infrastructure/mcu/urbanpolicy/active_travel/files/infra1874_mcu_active_travel_report_final.pdf">a report</a> last July recommending protected bike infrastructure be included with every new urban road, because A$14.30 indirectly <a href="https://theconversation.com/bike-lanes-economic-benefits-go-beyond-jobs-6081">flows back to our economy</a> each time one of us chooses a bike for a 20 minute commute.
The automatic association Australians make between cycling and sport indirectly hinders the development of bike transport infrastructure. As a competitive cyclist myself for more than 20 years, I would be the last to <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-cadel-effect-australias-cycling-industry-enters-a-yellow-jersey-era-3546">blame Cadel Evans</a>, or even our <a href="https://theconversation.com/amgen-and-abbott-whos-that-on-the-pms-cycling-kit-18142">MAMIL prime minister</a>, for how things have played out.
I would blame any daring competitive cyclist though who presumed to speak on behalf of all cyclists, from their experience, without recognising that most other Australians can ride a bike too, but are rightfully scared to.
Steven Fleming does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.
<img alt="The Conversation" height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/19111/count.gif" width="1">
Lead image credit: City of Melbourne
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Ride to work? You'll need a bike barrier for that

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<h1>
	By <a href="http://theconversation.com/profiles/peter-newman-1858" style="font-size: 12px;">Peter Newman</a>, Curtin University
</h1>
Sydney’s West Connex Motorway, one of Australia’s biggest infrastructure projects, is <a href="https://theconversation.com/abbotts-transport-priorities-drive-australia-into-the-past-17988">not without its downsides</a> but may provide a potential model on how future urban public transport projects can be financed.
The first phase of the $11 billion project has been funded by the NSW government with <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-we-selling-off-the-family-silver-by-privatising-australias-ports-13824">the sale of Port Botany</a>. The failure to properly predict vehicle patronage in the past decade has resulted in a series of <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-14/cross-city-tunnel-owners-blame-government-for-debt-woes/4958084">tollway business failures</a>. So by opting to build the first phase itself, the government can accurately assess patronage estimates and hence toll income, then sell it off to private owners and operators, using the resulting funds to begin the next stage of the system.
Across Australia there is a backlog of urban rail projects that are now not in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-not-in-the-knitting-urban-rails-growing-significance-13754">Federal knitting</a>. Perhaps the West Connex model provides a way forward on urban public transport – with some advantages over motorways.
I’ve argued before about the <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-not-in-the-knitting-urban-rails-growing-significance-13754">dramatic shift</a> in urban rail patronage, with rail transit in particular becoming more market-based due to its ability to by-pass traffic. Economically it has an important role in making urban centres viable and attractive to global capital in the knowledge economy.
We know the arguments around it: reducing carbon and sprawl, improving air quality and health; but the new factor is its importance in improving urban productivity. <a href="http://glossary.econguru.com/economic-term/agglomeration+economies">Agglomeration economies</a> occur around urban rail stations due to the extra synergies between different parts of the workforce; international examples such as <a href="http://www.crossrail.co.uk/route/">London’s Cross Rail</a> have delivered a cost-benefit ratio of between 1.5 and 3.0.
While European and Asian cities traditionally show a strong market case for urban rail, now the car-dependent cities of America and Australia are demonstrating through patronage demand that there is a market for urban rail.
Figure 1 shows the recent growth in urban public transport in in Australian cities. The major growth has been driven by new infrastructure, so new rail projects in Adelaide and Sydney are likely to affect their trajectories to resemble the remarkable growth in Perth, Melbourne and SE Queensland.
<figure class="align-centre zoomable"><a href="https://c479107.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/31827/area14mp/rz78sff7-1379989372.jpg"><img src="https://c479107.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/31827/width668/rz78sff7-1379989372.jpg"></a>
	<figcaption> Author's own.</figcaption></figure>The data indicates substantial growth in public transport; patronage averaged out at 65% higher than was being attracted just over a decade ago – nearly 100% growth in Perth. All Australian cities now have large scale plans to complete their urban public transport systems.
Perhaps the West Connex model could be adapted to help cash-strapped states fund and construct this type of rail infrastructure, in the following way:
<ul>
<li>
		Build the first phase of urban rail projects based on private sector consortia bids that include the development of land around stations.
	</li>
	<li>
		Prove up the patronage income from fares and alternative funding sources like parking levies and especially <a href="http://www.committeeforperth.com.au/images/stories/NewsMedia/Publications/16-Discussion%20Paper-%20Alternative%20Funding%20Mechanisms%20for%20Public%20Transport%20in%20Perth,%202011.pdf">land value capture</a>. Put this in a special Transit Fund.
	</li>
	<li>
		Place the newly operating first phase urban rail project onto the market as a privately owned and operated rail service. Use the capital raised as the basis for the next stage of the urban rail project and repeat the process until the full network is created.
	</li>
</ul>
The key advantage in this process over the West Connex and other road projects is that rail can produce land value capture revenue. Motorways do change the value of land but it is highly dispersed and residents are not keen to live near them due to traffic and noise.
However modern electric rail focuses land value increases near to rail stations due to their market attractions. There is a willingness to pay for accessibility that translates into higher real estate values. Perth’s new Southern Rail has <a href="http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=31822">attracted 78,000 users a day</a> due to its significant speed advantages over traffic; as a result there has been a 42% growth in land values near stations over five years.
This translates into higher land-based tax revenues such as council rates, state land taxes and stamp duty, Federal capital gains and GST on land sales. These can be hypothecated into a fund along with fares and relevant other funds like parking levies.
Across the world, a range of cities have used this Tax Increment Financing method for urban rail; Delhi is looking at more than half of the potential income for their new regional rail from this source.
Australian state governments are looking at this possibility but the West Connex model suggests that instead of leaping into private rail they could test the real size of the revenue that could potentially be created by the new rail project.
Apart from lobbies that do not want to see urban public transport at any cost, there are <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/our-22infrastructure22-prime-minister3a-the-future-of-transp/4946194">some prevailing views</a> that transit is not a 21st century economic instrument. This is because it is not seen to have a true market that could stand on its own without government.
Like toll-ways.
Peter Newman does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.
<img alt="The Conversation" height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/18506/count.gif" width="1">
This article was originally published at <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="http://theconversation.com/a-road-less-travelled-funding-australias-urban-rail-18506">original article</a>.
Lead image credit: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Metro_Trains_Melbourne_Hitachi.jpg" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>
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A road less travelled - funding Australia's urban rail

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By <a href="http://theconversation.com/profiles/jane-frances-kelly-2567" style="font-size: 12px;">Jane-Frances Kelly</a>, Grattan Institute and <a href="http://theconversation.com/profiles/paul-donegan-102513" style="font-size: 12px;">Paul Donegan</a>, Grattan Institute
The strength of Australia’s economy depends on how well our cities function – yet right now, it’s as if we’re driving with the handbrake on.
Cities are crucial to productivity. When they work well, they offer businesses the chance to bring together the biggest and best pool of available skilled employees.
As the Business Council of Australia recently stated in its <a href="http://www.bca.com.au/Content/102223.aspx">Action Plan for Enduring Prosperity</a>: “cities play a significant role in supporting economic growth… [they] are very much engines of commerce, science, innovation and progress.”
But the reported dismantling of the <a href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/commonwealth-agencies-to-be-cut-by-abbott-government/story-fni0xqrc-1226724733088?utm_source=The%20Australian&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=editorial&amp;net_sub_uid=58372232">Major Cities Unit</a> – which provided advice on developing Australia’s 18 biggest cities to the federal government – suggests that the new government may not understand how urgently reform is needed.
<h2>
	More time in traffic, less time with family</h2>
In our biggest cities, our transport infrastructure is too often holding us back. In many areas, particularly outer suburbs, <a href="http://grattan.edu.au/publications/reports/post/productive-cities-opportunity-in-a-changing-economy/">residents can reach fewer that 10%</a> of all metropolitan jobs within a reasonable commuting time.
Indeed, the OECD’s Head of Regional Economics Dr Rudiger Ahrend recently described Sydney as being so badly connected that its economy functions more like a city of 1 million people, rather than the 4.5 million people who call it home. Opportunities are similarly limited in some outer suburbs of Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.
Increasing congestion makes it harder and more time-consuming for businesses to connect with customers, potential employees and each other. It is perhaps even more important that time spent in traffic is also a drain on people’s family and leisure time.
<a href="http://www.melbourneinstitute.com/downloads/hilda/Bibliography/Working+Discussion+Research_Papers/2005/Flood_etal_Commuting_in_Australia.pdf">A 2005 study</a> found that more than 10% of parents in paid work spent more time commuting than they did with their children, travelling for between ten and 15 hours weekly to and from work. Eight years on from that study, as our cities continue to grow, the situation for families is getting no better.
Meanwhile public transport is stretched to the limit at peak times and many people living further from the city have little access to it at all.
<h2>
	Unleashing frustrated commuters</h2>
Poor transport links, which cut many employers off from potential employees, are a big drag on our economy, especially when employers frequently cite a lack of skilled workers as a barrier to growing their business. People poorly served by transport are likewise cut off from better job opportunities.
Many parents – particularly women – caring for younger children are especially disadvantaged. Childcare and school hours limit the time parents can spend commuting, putting them on a “spatial leash”, limiting how far they can live from their work, and in the process often drastically reducing what work they can do.
Tony Abbott was right to recognise the need when he said that he wanted to be known as an <a href="https://www.liberal.org.au/latest-news/2013/09/05/only-coalition-will-deliver-infrastructure-future">“infrastructure Prime Minister”</a>. This would be a valuable legacy.
But the Prime Minister’s view that federal government should not fund urban rail projects is troubling. Roads alone will not overcome the costs of congestion and poor access to transport.
There is limited space to expand road access to the inner suburbs and CBDs of cities like Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth – areas with the highest concentrations of the knowledge-intensive jobs that are central to strong productivity growth. Demand for public transport is growing in all these cities, but existing infrastructure can only do so much.
<h2>
	Federal funding and tax fixes</h2>
National funding of major public transport projects will be central to enabling our cities to work well and therefore to productivity growth. State governments have an important role to play in building and funding transport infrastructure. But the funding need and importance to the national economy are too great for them to do this alone.
The federal government collects most of our taxes. It must do its share of the work to help businesses to connect with more of the employees they need, and help people to spend more of their time working or with their family, rather than stuck in traffic or on overcrowded public transport.
Enabling more people to live closer to where they work can also help slow growth in congestion. Our homes are our castles, but housing is also economic infrastructure – where people live is critically important to the strength of a city’s economy.
The federal government has an indirect but substantial influence on the housing market. Buyers, builders and developers' decisions are shaped by the taxes levied by local, state and national governments.
Taxes affecting the housing market include municipal rates, stamp duty and capital gains tax, as well as settings such as negative gearing rules. Examining how these taxes shape our $1.6 trillion housing market – and how they could be improved – could make a big difference to ensuring that the housing Australians say they want is built closer to job opportunities.
There is room for improvement. Taxes and charges on buyers and sellers of housing in Australia are some of the highest in the world. The Coalition’s commitment to a tax white paper is a great first step.
Let’s hope the critical economic impact of where we live and how we get around is at the centre of reforming our tax system. If not, we can expect economic decline as our cities buckle under the weight of neglect.
The Grattan Institute’s Productive Cities report is <a href="http://grattan.edu.au/publications/reports/post/productive-cities-opportunity-in-a-changing-economy/">available here</a>, along with detailed reports on Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.
Paul Donegan has previously worked in public strategy and policy roles for the Commonwealth and Victorian governments, including as the disability reform adviser to the Commonwealth Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs Jenny Macklin at the introduction of DisabilityCare Australia.
Jane-Frances Kelly does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.
<img alt="The Conversation" height="1" src="//counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/18446/count.gif" width="1">
This article was originally published at <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="http://theconversation.com/stuck-in-traffic-how-to-get-our-cities-and-economy-moving-18446">original article</a>.
Lead image credit: UM Forum member Glenn Wilson.
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Stuck in traffic: how to get our cities and economy moving

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By <a href="http://theconversation.com/profiles/leonhard-bernold-9320" target="_blank">Leonhard Bernold</a>.

According to <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/boost-for-rail-tunnel-20130404-2h9wq">a report</a> in Fairfax media on the 5th of April, the Labor government is set to announce funding for Melbourne’s A$9 billion <a href="http://www.railpage.com.au/news/article-7974/">metro rail tunnel</a>, in addition to the A$40 million it has already contributed towards getting the project “shovel-ready”. Sounds good? Well, let’s see …

Before any shovels have broken earth, the rail tunnel is facing a <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/major-engineering-hurdles-remain-for-new-rail-tunnel-beneath-city-20130227-2f6dd" target="_blank">series of engineering challenges</a>.

These reportedly include deciding if to run the new tunnel below or above the existing <a href="http://corp.ptv.vic.gov.au/managing-victoria-s-public-transport-network/history-and-heritage/city-loop-history/">City Loop</a>, the start of construction work on the <a href="http://www.vcccproject.vic.gov.au/" target="_blank">Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre</a>, and the existence of the aquifers beneath and beside the Yarra River, where the proposed tunnel will run.

The project, <a href="http://www.realestatesource.com.au/melbourne-metro-train-tunnel-and-new-parkville-station-announced-by-government" target="_blank">announced in 2009</a> by the former Brumby Victorian state government, involves <a href="http://corp.ptv.vic.gov.au/projects/rail-projects/melbourne-metro/" target="_blank">a nine-kilometre tunnel</a> between South Kensington and South Yarra, with five new Metro stations, that will eventually carry up to 60,000 passengers an hour.

Previous tunnelling projects in the Melbourne area have taught us that none of the options for constructing the proposed tunnel will be a cakewalk.

But it should be reassuring to note that there are many global examples that provide evidence that this type of construction can be done safely.

While not wishing to get involved in proposing one tunnelling technique over another, it might be worthwhile to look at some of the technical issues, and the state of best practice, for tunnelling underneath a city such as Melbourne.

<h2>Going down</h2>

Any deep excavation study starts by establishing a clear understanding of the geology that has to be “broken through” and of the water level connected to the site. Adjacent water sources, such as rivers or aquifers, that are fed by a well that may be tens of kilometres away, need to be accounted for.

A detailed soil profile, based on soil samples along and next to the future tunnel line, is essential for the final design. Before those are established, geological maps and reports from previous projects in the area are extremely valuable.

For the Melbourne Metro Tunnel project, the initial source of information would be the <a href="http://dpistore.efirst.com.au/product.asp?pID=145&amp;cID=32" target="_blank">Geological Map of Melbourne</a>, SJ 55-5, published by the Victorian Department of Primary Industries.

As might be expected, the map matches the observations by the engineers involved in <a href="http://books.google.com.au/books?id=KuUtzTWzN-8C&amp;pg=PA158&amp;lpg=PA158&amp;dq=about+burnley+tunnel&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=pZFNO8xw6b&amp;sig=0LUsSSjdZD8VSZPtz7a_3rJwa2Y&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=jJg-UZ_sI8rLmgXi6IDYBA&amp;ved=0CC0Q6AEwADgU#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false" target="_blank">constructing the Burnley Tunnel</a> between 1996 and 2000. They reported a weathered basalt layer sitting on top of a thick band of silt and clay.

A vertical shaft to the tunnel had to dig through a 20m layer of sand and gravel aquifer referred to as the <a href="http://dbforms.ga.gov.au/pls/www/geodx.strat_units.sch_full?wher=stratno=12317" target="_blank">Moray Street Gravels</a>. At the bottom of the aquifer starts bedrock moulded like a flat bowl and made of the <a href="http://dbforms.ga.gov.au/pls/www/geodx.strat_units.sch_full?wher=stratno=5213" target="_blank">dargile</a> marine deposits, called <a href="http://ascelibrary.org/action/showAbstract?page=875&amp;volume=110&amp;issue=7&amp;journalCode=jgendz" target="_blank">Melbourne mudstone</a> (made of silt and sand).

As the mudstone is porous, the water from the aquifer was able to leak deeper and engulf the Burnley Tunnel tube, which had to be made waterproof as a result. In addition, the tunnel walls needed to be designed to be strong enough to sustain the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluid_statics#Hydrostatic_pressure" target="_blank">hydrostatic pressure</a> (the pressure exerted by a liquid at rest) from all sides.

Of course, these different soil types are not nicely lined up: they are folded and intertwined like a squeezed tablecloth, mixed with small-to-large stones. Finally, the top layer usually consists of a surface soil that could be from previous man-made fills.

Based on the information from these two collaborating sources we can conclude that the proposed Melbourne Metro tunnel will have to be dug below the water table through varying amounts of alluvial, marine and some weathered volcanic material that is considered “soft” ground.

<h2>Going soft</h2>

The emergence of <a href="http://www.mindfully.org/Technology/2004/Underground-Boring-Machines1sep04.htm" target="_blank">tunnel boring machines</a> (TBMs) – built by the American engineer James Robbins in the 1950s – were designed to drill through hard rock made of granite, and were ten times faster than using <a href="http://www.miningaustralia.com.au/features/the-days-of-drill-and-blast-are-over-anglogold" target="_blank">drill-and-blast method</a>. This record has since been broken many times over, while the number of accidents has decreased.

The new <a href="http://news.discovery.com/tech/worlds-largest-tunnel-drilled-under-swiss-alps.htm" target="_blank">57km tunnel through the Swiss Alps</a> – the world’s longest tunnel – for instance required four 5 megawatt TBMs with drill diameters of 8.2m.

Because soft ground TBMs can’t utilise the “squashy” tunnel walls to push themselves forward, a different “footing” was needed. A simple solution was provided by the constructed tunnel wall – made of strong pre-cast concrete elements – being installed in the back of the tunnel.

Most large cities around the world are built on top of soft soil as they have evolved from ancient trading villages near lakes or major rivers.

Increasing population sizes demanded larger sewer and drainage pipes and – more recently – subways and motorways to be built underground. The softness of the soil gave rise to a special kind of TBM called <a href="http://www.ita-aites.org/index.php?id=152" target="_blank">Earth Pressure Balance</a> (EPB) shields or machines.

We shouldn’t be surprised to learn 50% of all EPB tunnels are built below the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_table" target="_blank">water table</a>. Some of the major cities in which EPB shields <a href="https://www.herrenknecht.com/products/tunnel-boring-machines/traffic-tunnelling/epb-shield" target="_blank">have been used</a> include Shanghai, Bangkok, Rome, Naples, Barcelona, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, Los Angeles and London.

<figure><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="260" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/z38JIqGDZVU?wmode=transparent" width="440"></iframe>

<figcaption>How TBM technology is working to build tunnels beneath London.</figcaption></figure>The key risk of any work in soft underground is the potential of soil settlements right above the tunnel caused by the re-arrangement of the soil by the tunnelling work.

Unsurprisingly, the key objective of a geotechnical engineer is to ensure that the equilibrium is preserved in such a way that no damages to surface structures occur.

This job has been made easier by recent advancements: in fact, during the past 10-15 years, EPB shield technology has added important capabilities.

Contributing to these very important enhancements are better computer models predicting the behaviour of soil under buildings; pre-tunnelling in-situ tests; grout pre-treatment or grouting of difficult sub-surface areas; new materials; and, of course, the large amount of knowledge gained from successful projects worldwide.

<h2>A perfect bore</h2>

Older metros in <a href="http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/explore/online/subway/construction.aspx" target="_blank">Toronto</a>, <a href="http://theboweryboys.blogspot.com.au/2010/08/new-york-city-subway-and-creation-of" target="_blank">New York</a> and <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/gallery/first_big_dig/" target="_blank">Boston</a> were commonly built underneath the pavement of major thoroughfares, applying what is referred to the <a href="http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/tunnel/pubs/nhi09010/05.cfm" target="_blank">“cut-and-cover” method</a>.

As the term implies, the construction starts by cutting out an initial space, possibly covering the large opening with beams and steel plates. Excavation advances downwards while the traffic is directed around the necessary openings to lower or raise material.

Of course, trucks, cranes and concrete mixers associated with construction disrupt the pedestrian and vehicular traffic along the tunnel route. Community and business pressures have resulted in the usually-cheaper cut-and-cover option being eliminated in favour of a “<a href="http://www.damninteresting.com/the-deepest-hole/" target="_blank">deep bore</a>”, using boring machines.

<h2>Station to station</h2>

As mentioned, five new stations will be built as part of Melbourne’s Metro project, and these present challenges independent of the tunnels. Stations not only require additional space: they also need to connect to the surface. Underground access to adjacent shopping malls or office buildings is also a very attractive addition.

Circular boring machines are not designed to construct stations. While the cut-and-cover method is used, stations can also be built from the bottom up using the <a href="http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=9&amp;cad=rja&amp;sqi=2&amp;ved=0CF0QFjAI&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fweb.inonu.edu.tr%2F~mkarakus%2Fpdf%2FInsight%2520into%2520the%2520New%2520Austrian%2520Tunnelling%2520Method.pdf&amp;ei=jqQ-Ueu6MoT8iAeDuYDwAQ&amp;usg=AFQjCNGK9BhoFsqQoCxSRLC83PGSsZpUaw" target="_blank">New Austrian Tunnelling Method</a> (NATM).

The basic premise of the NATM is to create a solid roof and side walls before digging underneath the shell with large equipment.

<figure><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="260" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/LxdWlSCVqdQ?wmode=transparent" width="440"></iframe>

<figcaption>How NATM works.</figcaption></figure>Not only viable for stations and cross-cuts between two tunnels, NATM could be combined with a “cousin” of cut-and-cover to create a <a href="http://www.cif.org/noms/2002/06_-_Up-Down_Construction.pdf" target="_blank">up-down construction approach</a> where bearing walls and columns are drilled first from the top.

This is followed by constructing the visible part of the station upwards while concurrently digging underneath (upwards from the tunnel using NATM, or downwards) with the removal of the large amount of excavated material through the already existing tunnel sections previously drilled by the EPB-shields.

This would not only eliminate the need for large dump trucks on the surface but it would also speed up construction.

<h2>Light at the end of the tunnel</h2>

<figure><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="260" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/U6p8YuyVir4?wmode=transparent" width="440"></iframe>

<figcaption>Melbourne Metro – ‘Transforming Melbourne’s Rail Network’</figcaption></figure>Finding the best solution for Melbourne’s Metro tunnel will require a close collaboration of all stakeholders advised by tunnel engineers and contractors with expertise in state-of-the-art tunnelling techniques.

Regardless of which route is finally chosen, EPB shield technology appears to present the safest, most productive and economical alternative for building the tubes through Melbourne’s soft, “water-filled” underground.

With an eye to minimising the effect of large truck traffic in the city for excavating the stations, it seems combining “up-down” construction with NATM, protected by advanced grouting – and the removal of the muck through the tunnels – will provide the most desirable solution.

The politics of the project (which is now nudging for top spot in Infrastructure Australia’s <a href="https://www.nics.gov.au/Home/PriorityProjects" target="_blank">National Priority List</a>) will continue to be fascinating; but so will the technical challenges, and solutions to those challenges, going forwards.

Should you be counting on jumping aboard a train on one of the new Melbourne Metro lines any time soon? Probably not. As on so many occasions when it comes to building such large projects underground, we have to expect delays mainly caused by geology.<img alt="The Conversation" height="1" src="//counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/12588/count.gif" width="1">

Leonhard Bernold does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.

This article was originally published at <a href="http://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="http://theconversation.com/dig-this-how-to-construct-melbournes-metro-tunnel-safely-12588" target="_blank">original article</a>.
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Dig this: how to construct Melbourne’s Metro tunnel safely

The residential transformation of St Kilda Road is set to continue into with more new apartment plans for the sought-after boulevard.

Wing Tai Asia has lodged plans for a major residential tower at 464-466 St Kilda Road, replacing the former VACC House with an 18-storey mixed-use development designed around a retained heritage podium and a sculpted contemporary tower.

The proposal, prepared under Victoria’s Significant Residential Development with Affordable Housing pathway, would deliver 325 apartments and ground-floor retail across the prominent 4,653 sqm boulevard site in Melbourne’s St Kilda Road North Precinct.

The project centres on the adaptive reuse of the site’s heritage-listed VACC Building, an eight-storey office designed by Bernard Evans that has occupied the address for decades. Planning documents state the development would involve “carefully dismantling and conserving off-site the original metal fabric of the podium visible from St Kilda Road,” before reinstating it as the defining frontage of the new scheme.

Above the restored podium, Wing Tai is proposing a curvilinear residential tower. The scheme includes 172 one-bedroom apartments, 63 two-bedroom apartments, 66 three-bedroom apartments, and 24 four-bedroom apartments, alongside two ground-floor food and beverage tenancies fronting St Kilda Road.

The tower has been designed with substantial articulation and variable setbacks to minimise perceived bulk and maintain view corridors along the boulevard. Urbis, which prepared the planning report, said the design “has been significantly articulated through a curvilinear design” with “an interplay with materials, façade expression and depth” to create visual separation and visual interest.

The proposal also includes 254 basement car spaces, landscaped pedestrian links connecting St Kilda Road and Queens Lane, and a biophilic landscape strategy featuring canopy trees, raised planters, cascading greenery and a glass oculus pool overlooking the eastern frontage.

Planning documents confirm the $270.1 million development will contribute 3 per cent of project costs to the Social Housing Growth Fund as part of the application process.

Wing Tai acquired the St Kilda Road property in 2018 alongside Abacus Property Group for $95.38 million, before later consolidating ownership of the site. The property previously served as the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce headquarters for around 60 years.

The transformation of the St Kilda Rd boulevard is already beginning to materialise, with a number of high-profile projects recently completed, launched, or approaching launch as developers continue to back the long-term appeal of the precinct.

Among the most notable recent completions is Louise by Samuel Property Group, just off the strip on Queens Lane, the same pocket Hirsch &amp; Faigen recently launched The Queensbury. Mirvac is too on the same street with The Albertine, which is approaching completion.

Dexus recently secured approval for its slice of St Kilda Road, while Gurner also has approved plans for the precinct.

Joel Robinson

Wing Tai unveils 325-apartment St Kilda Road tower on former VACC House site

Malaysian developer <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/s-p-setia">SP Setia</a> is the latest to jump into St Leonards booming Transport Oriented Development precinct.

The developer, which has previously delivered Sapphire by the Gardens apartment development in Melbourne, identified the Atchison Street site in 2023. It filed a Scoping Report around 12 months ago, and now has revealed the designs for the new&nbsp;40-storey mixed-use tower.

The State Significant Development Application covers <a href="https://next-portal.urban.com.au/projects/14650/summary">20-22 Atchison Street</a>, a 1,374 sqm site positioned between St Leonards Station and the new Crows Nest Metro station.

Designed by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/cox-architecture">COX Architecture</a>, the project would deliver 181 apartments, above a four-storey commercial podium, five basement levels, and new public domain works along Mitchell Street. The apartment mix comprises 35 one-bedroom apartments, 39 one-bedroom-plus-study apartments, 85 two-bedroom apartments, and 22 three-bedroom residences.

The proposal has been lodged as a shop-top housing development under the NSW Government’s TOD planning pathway, which allows increased density around key transport infrastructure. The site sits within the recently rezoned Crows Nest Accelerated TOD Precinct.

<img alt="First look: SP Setia targets St Leonards skyline with 40-storey TOD tower" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="b799673d-48e2-46b0-801a-0e33a9330100" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/atchinson%20site.png?VersionId=dPh0UfwfaHpbFL1R7H1cbZNbIW0CHbCC" />

SP Setia acquired the Atchison Street site as part of its continued expansion into the Australian apartment market. In comments made to City &amp; Country (The Edge Malaysia) in 2023, SP Setia President and CEO Datuk Choong Kai Wai described the acquisition as “a strategic move” aligned with the group’s post-pandemic market recovery strategy.

“Our target for this exceptional development is local and overseas buyers, including first-home buyers, downsizers and investors,” Choong said.

The tower has been designed as a slender vertical form rising from a mixed-use podium, with COX Architecture positioning the development as a response to the evolving St Leonards and Crows Nest skyline.

“The purpose of the project is to facilitate the delivery of high-quality housing at a strategically located site and deliver a built tower outcome that is consistent with the desired future character of St Leonards and aligns with the TOD controls,” the design report stated.

<img alt="First look: SP Setia targets St Leonards skyline with 40-storey TOD tower" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="b1a85eee-76f7-436c-a6da-73ba827b9b13" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/atchinson%20entry.png?VersionId=dA9jHGPMcm.dDbwk4QfxqWiY5bfh3UVt" />

The podium would incorporate retail uses fronting Atchison Street, commercial tenancies, landscaped communal areas, and pedestrian improvements along Mitchell Street. Vehicle access and loading would be consolidated via Atchison Lane.

Residents would have access to more than 665 sqm of communal indoor and outdoor spaces, while the development proposes 96 parking spaces across five basement levels.

The proposal also includes a commitment for 10 per cent of residential floor space to be allocated toward affordable housing through a monetary contribution.

COX said the tower form responds directly to the emerging high-density character of the precinct while seeking to maximise solar access, cross ventilation, and outlook from apartments.

<img alt="First look: SP Setia targets St Leonards skyline with 40-storey TOD tower" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="2163f85c-f63b-4be3-aafa-f8763976cec5" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Article%20Feature%20Image%20%28Grid%29_5.png?VersionId=WiAmtIKJ6.ZQ41EtYEQ1fol7AeorKBlL" />

“The building is orientated towards north,” the Apartment Design Guide compliance report noted, adding that the tower’s slim form was driven by the constrained inner-urban site dimensions.

The design also incorporates landscaped setbacks and communal open space at podium level, intended to soften the interface with surrounding streets and improve pedestrian amenity.

The project adds to a growing wave of redevelopment proposals reshaping St Leonards and Crows Nest following the opening of the Sydney Metro City line and the NSW Government’s push for higher-density housing around major transport nodes.

Last week Stockland filed plans just down the road. They want to build a <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/601-pacific-highway-st-leonards-nsw-2065">52-storey tower on Pacific Highway</a>.

Read more:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/news/nsw/first-look-stockland-plans-52-storey-538-apartment-st-leonards-tower">First look: Stockland plans 52-storey, 538-apartment St Leonards tower&nbsp;</a>

First look: SP Setia targets St Leonards skyline with 40-storey TOD tower

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/urban-property-group">Urban Property Group</a> has revealed plans for a new mixed-use tower at 10 Dangar Street, Wickham, advancing a proposal that would reshape the southern gateway to Newcastle’s city centre with one of the city’s tallest residential buildings.

The State Significant Development proposal, now on exhibition, seeks approval for a <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/bowline-10-dangar-street-wickham-nsw-2293">43-storey tower</a> immediately adjacent to the Newcastle Interchange. The project would deliver around 200 apartments, including 42 affordable housing dwellings, alongside 99 co-living units, a 171-room hotel, retail space, and new public domain integrated through the site.

The scheme marks a significant escalation of plans previously approved for the site. Urban Property Group took over the prominent 2,904 sqm parcel, where excavation and demolition had already commenced under an earlier consent for a 14-storey mixed-use development.

<img alt="First look: Urban Property Group unveils Newcastle’s next supertower at Wickham interchange" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="58a96dd9-407f-4d20-86b4-94e4bfeef74b" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/wickham%20podium.png?VersionId=LGlf08pdFGAZDzvx_CXC4XakHNZRuEE0" />

Designed by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/sjb-architects">SJB</a>, the tower has been conceived as a landmark transit-oriented development anchored to the Newcastle Interchange precinct. The proposal includes 245 build-to-sell apartments across a mix of one, two, and three-bedroom residences, as well as two penthouses. Fifteen apartments and one operational unit are earmarked for NDIS housing. The co-living component would add a further 99 units, while the podium would accommodate retail uses and hotel facilities.

SJB said the site presents “a valuable opportunity to anchor the precinct by setting the standard for design, active ground planes and character at the key southern gateway.”

The architecture responds directly to the site’s position beside major transport infrastructure and within one of Newcastle’s fastest-evolving urban renewal precincts. The tower form sits above a sculpted podium designed to frame new public spaces, including a through-site pedestrian link connecting Station Street to Hannell Street, landscaped plazas, and activated retail edges.

<img alt="First look: Urban Property Group unveils Newcastle’s next supertower at Wickham interchange" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="a7bd6ff0-f7db-4ce8-a6dc-ea56e72c6149" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/wickham%20lanne.png?VersionId=xzf39VADyhj7zBQY2I9fx9vI62u2tuSb" />

The design report describes the project as part of the broader transition of Wickham into “a vibrant, high-quality mixed-use urban precinct” that leverages proximity to the station, open space, and regional connectivity.

A detailed public art strategy has also been prepared for the development. The strategy positions the project as “a transit-oriented development of state significance at the gateway to Newcastle’s city centre” and outlines a series of integrated artworks responding to Newcastle’s industrial and transport heritage.

Creative Road’s curatorial framework for the project, titled Unveil, draws on “stratified surfaces, carved volumes, and light-filled apertures” while referencing Newcastle’s transformation from an industrial city into a contemporary education and technology hub.

<img alt="First look: Urban Property Group unveils Newcastle’s next supertower at Wickham interchange" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="77a882bb-14b1-4d28-99ff-9438e39508c0" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/wickham%20site.png?VersionId=cevgo_vN0eKPK78P8YcEu3mKPLkpFqE7" />

The proposal is being advanced through the NSW Housing Delivery Authority pathway after being declared State Significant Development in June 2025. The accompanying scoping report states the development aims to “maximise the site’s proximity to the Newcastle Interchange by delivering transit-oriented development” while increasing housing supply and affordable housing provision within the Newcastle LGA.

Urban Property Group’s plans align with the long-term strategic vision established under the Wickham Master Plan, which identified the interchange precinct as suitable for substantial uplift in height and density. The current proposal would significantly intensify that vision, positioning the tower among the tallest developments proposed for Newcastle.

The site sits immediately north of the Newcastle Interchange, bounded by Dangar Street, Hannell Street, and Charles Street. It is surrounded by a rapidly growing cluster of residential towers and mixed-use projects that have emerged following the completion of the light rail and transport interchange.

First look: Urban Property Group unveils Newcastle’s latest tower at Wickham interchange

Bottega House has completed settlement of a landmark riverfront site in Macquarie Street, St Lucia, representing its first major Brisbane development.&nbsp;

Positioned on the banks of the Brisbane River, the <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/180-macquarie-street-st-lucia-qld-4067">premium site at 180 Macquarie Street</a> features uninterrupted river frontage in one of Brisbane’s most tightly held residential precincts.&nbsp;

The proposed development, currently under assessment with Brisbane City Council, has been designed by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/plus-studio">Plus Studio</a> with interiors by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/interior-designers/mim-design">Mim Design</a> and will deliver a boutique collection of premium residences positioned specifically for owner occupiers and downsizers.&nbsp;

The residences are set to redefine luxury apartment living in the area, with a focus on architectural quality, refined finishes, landscape integration and elevated amenities including curated wellness facilities, resort-style pools and recreation spaces rarely seen in the local market.&nbsp;

Exclusive sales for the project will be led by Keenan &amp; Byrne, ahead of an anticipated launch later this year.&nbsp;

Bottega House Managing Director Nick Malloch said the project reflects the group’s ambition to deliver a highly curated residential offering within one of Brisbane’s most tightly held precincts.&nbsp;

“This is an incredibly rare riverfront opportunity and one we have approached with a long-term perspective,” Malloch said.&nbsp;

“Our vision from the outset was to create a boutique collection of residences that feel more like private homes than traditional apartments, with generous proportions, refined finishes and exceptional amenity throughout."

Malloch says there is a&nbsp;lack of premium owner-occupier stock of this quality in the market, particularly for downsizers wanting space, privacy and a true lifestyle offering without compromise.&nbsp;

"Demand is expected to be strong given the scarcity of premium riverfront opportunities of this nature within Brisbane’s inner-west."&nbsp;

Bottega House secures landmark riverfront site in St Lucia 

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The arrival of the first piling rig officially marks the commencement of construction at SIERA’s new beachside apartment development, Exhale, in Northcliffe.

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/exhale-surfers-paradise-8-enderley-avenue-surfers-paradise-qld-4217">Exhale</a>, a glass-encased tower featuring 54 large-scale apartments at 8 Enderley Avenue, is SIERA’s third Gold Coast development. It follows the recently completed PIPIS Bilinga beachfront project, which achieved suburb-record prices, and the soon-to-be-completed Chevron Island development, Tapestry.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=112661 project_image_fid=359603]

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/siera">SIERA</a> Founder and Managing Director Brent Thompson said the arrival of the piling rig represented a significant milestone for the development, which is scheduled for completion in late 2028.

Over the next month, around 260 piles are expected to be installed as work progresses on the basement structure. The building is anticipated to rise above ground level early next year, before unveiling its sculptural glass curtain wall, developed in collaboration with specialist façade engineers.

“The façade was designed to maximise panoramic coastal views while creating a distinctive architectural identity,” Thompson said.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=112661 project_image_fid=355935]

Designed by BDA Architecture, Exhale will comprise just 54 two- and three-bedroom residences across 26 levels, a level of low-density living rarely delivered in this beachside pocket between Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach.

The project has been conceived as a resident-only building, with no short-stay accommodation permitted. SIERA says the model is intended to appeal to long-term owner-occupiers rather than transient holiday demand.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=112661 project_image_fid=361052]

Residences have been designed with large-format layouts and expansive glazing, with most apartments featuring more than 30 metres of glass frontage to maximise natural light and ocean views.

The amenity offering spans two levels and centres on wellness and lifestyle, including a heated magnesium pool, sauna, yoga and Pilates studio, gymnasium, private dining facilities, cinema lounge, and dedicated surfcraft storage.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=112661 project_image_fid=359607]

More than half of the apartments have already sold. SIERA has also opened a sales gallery for Exhale at its Chevron Island commercial premises, near its Tapestry tower and the site of its second Chevron Island apartment development, which is slated to launch in early 2027.
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[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=112661]

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