[+] Aria Resurrects ‘World’s Greenest Apartment Building’ for Brisbane

Adorned with a vertical forest of about 1000 trees as well as other shrubbery, it was mooted to become the world’s greenest residential tower. But not even an unsolicited endorsement from renowned environmentalist Sir David Attenborough on social media was enough to prevent Aria Property Group’s proposed “Urban Forest” high-rise being chopped down. Or so it seemed. A little more than 18 months since a NIMBY (not-in-my-backyard) army of inner-city residents wielded their collective axe and kiboshed the project after filing an appeal in the Planning and Environment Court against its approval , the South Brisbane tower proposal has been resurrected. Aria has submitted updated plans with the Brisbane City Council for its ambitious and innovative tree-covered “highly liveable ventilated tower”. Designed by internationally acclaimed architect Koichi Takada, it represents a transformative approach to green living with groundbreaking initiatves realised through dense landscaping and energy efficiency. The development application takes the proposal back up to 30 storeys, its original height when first lodged in July, 2020 . By the time council approval was initially granted in November, 2021 it had been scaled back to 20 storeys—not only significantly trimming its apartment yield by almost half but also its vertical forest to about 500 trees. According to Aria, the newly filed $300-million tower plans are greener with “a greater abundance of trees and vegetation and community enhancing features”. Overall, it incorporates 827 trees and more than 27,000 other plants covering 200 per cent of the site area—equivalent to 5600sq m—with 251 plant species. ▲ Aria’s Urban Forest takes learnings from the developer’s other inner-city projects and the groundbreaking Bosco Verticale in Milan. A total of 321 apartments—including 39 one-bedroom, 94 two-bedroom, 108 three-bedroom, 74 four-bedroom and 6 five-bedroom units—will sit above seven basement levels with more than 450 carparks. Three sub-penthouse levels from floors 26 to 28 and a penthouse on level 29 will top the residential component. The tower’s design also features 3000sq m of communal facilities, including a 1554sq m rooftop recreation area. As well, it integrates a 1452sq m publicly accessible park under the building—echoing Aria’s nearby Fish Lane Town Square development—with a stage, outdoor classrooms, amphitheatre and event space, information hub and a floating canopy bridge. World’s greenest residential building “We always wanted to do something pretty bold and pretty big and we felt that Brisbane was ready for a building that was going to be arguably one of, if not, the most sustainable and greenest residential buildings in the world,” Aria’s development director Michael Hurley told The Urban Developer . “So that was always our goal. That was always our intent. Obviously, however, life sometimes throws a few curveballs and there has been a lot that has happened in 3½ years. “But it has never once dampened our motivation or desire for what we believe is a long-term trend towards clean, green and sustainable buildings that is only going to get bigger and bigger.” Hurley says the concept of the Urban Forest tower was inspired by exemplar green buildings around the world. In particular, the Bosco Verticale in Italy as well as Singapore’s cutting-edge green buildings such as Parkroyal on Pickering. And he says with its vision for the 2784sq m site spanning 23-25 Glenelg Street and 82 Merivale Street in South Brisbane, Aria aims to “achieve similar architectural excellence for Brisbane as a sub-tropical city”. ▲ Stefano Boeri Architetti’s Bosco Verticale, a two-tower vertical forest prototype in Milan. Shortly after the initial DA was lodged in 2020, the project was thrust into the global spotlight when British broadcaster, biologist and environmentalist Sir David Attenborough gave it the thumbs up by sharing a render of the tower design on his Facebook page. Hurley describes the moment as “very humbling … yeah, pretty cool”. But in May, 2022, Aria scrapped the project and pursued a 12-storey healthcare scheme in its place after the West End Community Association filed an appeal in the Planning and Environment Court against the scaled-back development’s approval. Policy landscape change paves way At the time, Hurley said the objections against the Urban Forest proposal coupled with an overheated construction market had conspired against it, making it unfeasible. In recent times, however, green shoots from a fertile post-pandemic development landscape—driven by a critical housing undersupply, forecast population growth and government policy changes—have emerged, prompting Aria to revisit the project. “We were going to move forward with the project a few years ago but for whatever reason things happened and we weren't able to do that,” Hurley says. “But now the time is potentially right.” ▲ Aria lodged plans for a medical building comprising 15,642sq m of net lettable area. The Kurilpa Sustainable Growth Precinct Plan temporary local planning instrument (TLPI)—encompassing South Brisbane and West End—was passed in council in June and recently gazetted by the Queensland government. It paves the way for CBD-style height limits for residential buildings in the area in a bid to accommodate the additional 500,000 residents predicted to call the Queensland capital home by 2046. Any new applications lodged for taller developments within the precinct must meet green design and community benefit standards. “We were obviously waiting and watching as the TLPI worked through the process and once it got signed off we went, ‘Okay, lets start working on it again’. We had the confidence to continue to move forward with the project,” Hurley says. In the meantime, Aria has added three residential towers to Brisbane’s skyline in 2023—Upper House and Trellis in South Brisbane and Riviere at Kangaroo Point. Each tower features sustainable design, including EV ready carparks and car chargers and an array of solar panels. “This is not a fleeting thing,” he says. “This is something that's part of our DNA and we've committed to as a company.” The recently-completed 32-storey Upper House is South Brisbane's tallest building and Queensland's first standalone five-star Green Star residential building. ▲ The Urban Forest is being touted as one of the greenest residential buildings in the world. Green legacy in focus ahead of Games “As we head towards the 2032 Olympics, Brisbane should be embracing more green and sustainable towers that will put our city on an international standing,” Hurley says. Brisbane’s 2032 Olympics will be the first Games contractually obliged to operate as “climate positive” and the city's Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has committed to creating “a greener and more liveable city” leading up to hosting the world's biggest sports event. “It’s pretty simple, really,” Hurley says. “When they have the opening ceremony or the closing ceremony and they’re casting the cameras across Brisbane … do we want to see a sea of concrete and glass? Or do we want to see a sea of green sustainable tree-covered buildings? “In time, we want Brisbane to be mentioned in the same breath as Singapore as a global leader in green buildings and sustainability. “Urban Forest is that next step. It aims to reduce the urban heat effect, setting a new Australian benchmark for sustainability. “And we've put an additional 3½ years of experience, IP, innovation, knowledge and design into upgrading what might appear on the surface to be a very similar building. “But there are probably 100 things that we've done that are not visible from the outside and this is going to be a pretty significant building—not only for Brisbane but Australia. “It’s a big leap. It isn’t a small one. And we’ve been working towards this for a decade and we feel ready.” You are currently experiencing The Urban Developer Plus (TUD+), our premium membership for property professionals. Click here to learn more.

[+] Aria Resurrects ‘World’s Greenest Apartment Building’ for Brisbane

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