Melbourne | Eureka Tower

Eureka Tower is a 297.3 m (975 ft) skyscraper in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia's Southbank district.

Construction started in August 2002 and was finished on June 1, 2006 and it was formally inaugurated on October 11, 2006. ?Fender Katsalidis Architects in Melbourne designed the building, which was constructed by Grocon (Grollo Australia). ?

Eureka Tower Pty Ltd, a combined partnership of Daniel Grollo (Grocon), investor Tab Fried, and one of the tower's architects Nonda Katsalidis, was the tower's developer.

From 2006 to 2019, it was the tallest building in Melbourne, until the?topping out?of?Australia 108.

It is currently the third tallest building in Australia, behind the?Q1?in?Queensland?and Australia 108, as well as the second tallest to the roof (excluding spire) behind the latter skyscraper.?As of 2016, it was the?15th tallest residential building in the world.

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Design and features

Eureka Tower is named after the Eureka Stockade, a rebellion during the Victorian gold rush in 1854. This has been incorporated into the design, with the building's gold crown representing the gold rush and a red stripe representing the blood spilt during the revolt. The blue glass cladding that covers most of the building represents the blue background of the stockade's flag and the white lines also represent the Eureka Stockade flag. The white horizontal stripes also represent markings on a surveyor's measuring staff.

At the base of the tower is an art installation containing bees inside a white box, resembling a manmade beehive. There are two regular-sized bees outside the box and one queen bee on the top. The gold colour of the bees complements the gold at the top of the tower. The installation was created by Richard Stringer and Nonda Katsalidis and was completed in December 2007.

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Specifications

• 556 apartments
• 13 lifts travelling up to 9?m/s (30?ft/s)
• 52,000?m2?(560,000?sq?ft) of windows
• 3,680 stairs
• 110,000?t (110,000 long tons; 120,000 short tons) of concrete
• 5,000?t (4,900 long tons; 5,500 short tons) of reinforced steel
• Building weighs 200,000?t (200,000 long tons; 220,000 short tons)

Floors 82 to 87, marketed as?Summit Levels, contain only one apartment per floor, each with an original price of?$7?million for the unfurnished floor space alone.

The highest floors of the tower house an observation deck (level 88), restaurant (level 89), communication rooms and balcony (90) and water tanks (90 and 91). A system of pumps constantly moves water between the two 300,000-litre tanks to counteract wind-induced oscillations.

Overall, Eureka Tower is a striking and innovative example of modern architecture and design, offering luxury residential living and a unique observation deck experience that has become a must-visit attraction for visitors to Melbourne.