Tall tower plan rises again
Just six months after plans to build an 11-storey luxury hotel alongside Elizabeth Quay were rejected by the City of Perth because it was deemed too tall and too bulky, consideration is now being given to an 18-storey hotel on part of the same site.
The Campion Design Group has designed the 260-room hotel on Barrack Square after months of discussions with the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority, the Swan River Trust and the council.
It said the bid to reduce the bulk and scale of the previous submission "without losing room numbers" had resulted in an 18-storey "slender tower" and a five-storey podium building that would be mostly hidden by trees along Riverside Drive.
The podium building would "engage" with the heritage-listed WA Rowing Club and the tower would "react" with the proposed Elizabeth Quay developments.
Campion Design's plan, on behalf of registered company SKS Waterfront Pty Ltd, has rooms from 24sqm to 50sqm and includes three bars and three restaurants.
The podium building will have a recessed, roof-top restaurant.
"About four million people are expected to visit the Elizabeth Quay area annually, a number that will automatically raise the demand for short-term accommodation," the company's application documents say. "Already, the huge shortage of quality and reasonably priced accommodation is deterring tourists from visiting Perth.
"The potential to offer accommodation at a major city destination for tourists and residents couldn't be any greater or crucial.
"Barrack Street is a shared pedestrian zone with access to public transport, restaurants, bars and small shops.
"Revitalising this area with a frequent number of visitors, plays an important part in its success and gives short-stay accommodation a key objective to achieve."
The submission said that, given the proposed heights of building at Elizabeth Quay, it was important that the proposed scale of Barrack Square buildings was readjusted.
"A shadow study on Barrack Square shows that the impact of a 12-storey tower has minimal difference to an 18-storey tower with the majority of the shading being cast over the water," it said.
The MRA and the Trust has invited public comment on the proposal, closing on October 30.
After the 11-storey building was rejected by the City of Perth in March, developer Bill Richardson said reducing the size of the development would "lessen the economic effectiveness" of the hotel.
