Suncorp has announced that it has chosen the Anthony John Group‘s Southpoint development in Southbank as their new Australian headquarters.
The decision was between AJG’s Southpoint and Grocon’s 480 Queen Street proposal. Suncorp has decided to take up 33,600 square meters of stage one which will be a $350 million, 18 storey office tower built by Brookfield Multiplex.
The lease will be 15 years and will bring together 3000 Suncorp staff from up to 10 different offices spread across Brisbane. Suncorp will spend up to $80 million on its new office fit out, while rents were rumored to be negotiated at $600 a square metre.
Suncorp chose Southpoint as their new home because the company wanted to make a visible statement as well as a cultural shift to a new exciting environment. The development has been designed by architectural firm Jackson Teece who originally worked on a design concept for the Southpoint project.
Anthony John Group Founder and Principal Tony John said AJG was committed to delivering outstanding design outcomes and saw the Suncorp brief for a Campus Building as a perfect fit.
“Southpoint is unquestionably in the best location for this style of accommodation in Brisbane and offers Suncorp the opportunity to leverage a building’s design, operations and the amenity of the location to help transform the culture of their workplace” , he said.
Mr. John said that Southpoint will bring together what will be a uniquely Queensland Development.
“A Queensland based developer, a Queensland iconic building purpose designed in a Queensland precinct that is the cultural and sentimental heart of Brisbane in a partnership with Queensland’s largest corporate”.
Stage 1, to the South of the site and incorporating the heritage-listed Collins Place will be a 43,000 sqm A- grade commercial office building anchored by Suncorp which will pre-commit to 70% of the commercial space.
This 18-storey office building will be built to a 6 Star, Green Star (Green Building Council of Australia) standard and be designed to deliver an excellent standard of performance relative to its operational impacts on the environment.
Directly below the office component will be two levels of retail, including a neighbourhood-style retail offering and a 1700sqm full-range supermarket. Stage 1 will also include a major upgrade to the SouthBank Rail Station, including new station facilities, ticket office, sheltered passenger waiting areas and retail concourse
Stage two of the development will comprise of 179 residential apartments, a 178 five star boutique hotel which will become Brisbane’s second Emporium Hotel, cafes, restaurants, bars and a day spa.
Southpoint had already received planning approval from the South Bank Corporation, therefore it was seen as a more stable choice. With approval given, and a major anchor tenant now in the bag, it won’t be too long before we hear the rumble of construction.
Premier Anna Bligh today said, “My understanding is this will be one of the most significant non-CBD developments in Brisbane’s history.”
5
/5Based on 17 rating(s)
Architectural design
Building amenities
Building greenery (Buildings that breathe)
Public realm / Street activation
Sustainability
By 13 reviewer(s)
2breastplate
2prescribed
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Choofa
Failed. Suncorp Pulled out of the deal.
Better start scrambling for somewhere new before all their leases run out end of 2013
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Kate
Disagree 100% with Numbers, I think you should get out there and walk around to see what a top location this.
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mar
Numbers…….get this, my daughter who works for Suncorp at Toowong lives in East Brisbane, a mere stone’s throw but has to catch two buses to get to work. Only other option is $10/day parking which is what she’s elected to do. Southpoint is by far the better choice………and ditto to all the other Southbank supporters.
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Sarahlea
Being a long term Suncorp employee, I for one am very excited to move into this new building! @Cloud, that you have rated the plaza as second best goes to show the lack of quality office space currently owned by Suncorp. I would much rather be surrounded by parklands at work over congested city streets. Good job Suncorp!! (one little negative however, I will miss my view from level 30+)
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Desmond
Goma was designed by Lindsay and Kerry Clare who are definately from Queensland. Architectus is the national firm who partnered with them on the project.
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oikster
Bigbuildingsarebetter, ? stacked floor space and cold atrium? Do you even live in the sunshine state. ? Some comments on here sound to me like people who have no idea what they are talking about. Look at this place, open light and cold? if it is cold then they have succeeded. You do realise that Brisbane is sub-tropical, so cold is good. Even in Winter during the day it can get warm, and most people i know work during the day.
Now, lets have a look at this building itself, i had those building blocks issued at school as a kid, remember those. Now if you stacked a few green o9nes i think were worth 7, on top of each other and slightly twisted it at one end, this would be the result, simple but effective. We are not trying to build a bee-hive, thank goodness, it is just a nice working inviroment in a fantastic area, i would say the best work and play area in the world, if you can find better, get back to me, we can debate your findings.
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bigbuildingsarebetter
Oikster Goma was designed by Brisbane based architects… the Claires who directed the brisbane office of architectus. Also the grocon building would have been considerably better for the pedestrian realm than this budget conscious stacked floor plate and cold atrium.
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Cloud
What does CBD mean? Isn’t it for business purpose? How long does it take from Square to Southbank?
In my mind, Brisbane Square is the best location for all, Plaza the second. There is no express bus to Southbank !!!!! and the train line will across city and for those who would enjoy the environment and fresh air, can I ask how long would like plan to spend outside there?
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BlackNganga
“heavy handed”, “oikster”, what are you talking about, “doom and gloom”…What on earth are you raving about? Grocon are building community housing for homeless/low income earners in South Brisbane, also building the ATO building in Elizabeth St, you would hardly call these developments “heavy handed”. I’m keeping an eye on your comments to see whether you improve their quality.
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